Stuck in 4LO: Replaced TRD Sport Transfer Case At 4,500 miles

Purchased a 4dr long bed TRD sport end of last summer. We had our first major snow event in the PNW last week. Engaged into 4LO to get up a hill in our neighborhood and that's when things went pear shaped.

The truck engaged into 4LO, but the indication light just continued to blink. Switching back to 4HI / 2WD didn't resolve the issue. 4LO kept on blinking. There was lots of backing up and going forward and switching back and forth between 4LO, 4HI and 2WD per the manual's instructions, but nothing resolved the issue. I ended up having it towed to the dealership under Toyota care to avoid an hour long drive at 20mph in 4LO.

The dealer replaced the whole transfer case under warranty. No questions, no hassle. (3,200 dollar part) They said it wasn't a mechanical fault, nor operator error, rather some kind of electrical / computer issue that was preventing it from disengaging. They also said it was very unusual.

I found a few old threds reporting similar issues in previous gen Tacomas, but nothing for 3rd gens. Anyone else encountered this?

 

Dang, sorry to hear about that man! Sounds like they went above and beyond by replacing the whole t-case.

 

There have been many threads on this subject, with the same exact issue. My friend is a mechanic at a local Toyota dealership and has also personally worked on a '16 truck with this same problem.

 

That's what I figured. Anytime a dealership tells me something is a rare / unusual problem the hair stands up on the back of my neck.

I definitely appreciate their no hassle swap, but I wonder if the new part is any better than the one that crapped the bed at 4,500 miles.

 

Lucky you didn't get stuck with the bill that hurts the wallet. The part is probably not any better since "its an unusual problem" they probably aren't working on a solution yet. But at $3200 a pop if this becomes a trend they may look at it sooner then later. GL with the new one OP

 

It was no hassle because they've seen it enough to know what the problem is, and how to fix it .

I do hope that the replacement is an updated part, but wouldn't hold my breath.

 

It is rare, but there have been a few cases of this hapening here on the forum.

 

As for where in the PNW you live, must be low elevation because everywhere I've seen in WA/OR/ID has been hammered with snow since late November.

 

This is one of the issues keeping me from buying another Tacoma. It would be a sizeable expense out of warranty.

 

That's shitty man. There have been a few threads with this issue but I don't think it is very common. I have 10k miles on mine and use 4x4 quite often and haven't had any issues with the T-case... yet

I'm sure it's probably around the same price no matter what brand you drive.

 

Yup, happened to me my son and I after using 4lo to get out of a situation (snow) and would blink and not dis-engage and in fact I lost D-R for about 15 minutes. That coupled along with a Cam tower oil leak, a weak ass tranny that flashes couldn't repair and hood issues...we went into negotiations to get me out of that truck and into a 2017. I haven't had any problems since (although I did get a standard in lieu of an automatic) and have tested the 4hi/4lo and no issues.

 

For those that have had issues.....Was this the first time you used 4 LO? I have tested mine about 4 or 5 times now just to confirm it works and to do a bit of a "break-in".

 

You should use the 4WD system at least once a month to keep everything lubed and running smoothly.

 

It was the 2nd or 3rd time for me, I run in 4hi on and off because the side roads usually aren't plowed but the main highway is. I was fooling around with the crawl control and 4lo mostly to make it work and check it out so I knew how to use it if/when I got stuck...and I got in a sticky situation so needed it and that's when it decided it didn't like work.