Seconding this. It could save some people a ton of time. Also, It's important to clock the actuator to the same position as the old one.

That’s great. Was the small vent hose connected to the actuator? That is what I see causing the water intrusion often.

@@ThePracticalMechanic It actually was connected, when I got to it (another tech looked at it first). Got the full story later. After backing his jet skis in the lake, the truck was stuck in 4wd. Did my best to seal up the housing, to prevent it from reoccurring.

I’m glad I could help you. Especially with that kind of savings. Have an awesome week.

I have 2003 Sequoia been looking thru videos I found yours to be very helpful. I am gonna try this fix hopefully I can get it out of four wheel drive! Thanks for posting this video.

No problem dinow1990. I’m glad you took the time to let me know. Most just grab the information and run. Have a great week and stay safe.

Was your 4hi light blinking when you would start your truck?

@@zachdatskiy3367 yes it would blink constantly

@@dinow1990 so it kept blinking or would it only blink a couple times when starting truck and then stopping and then start blinking again when trying to switch back to 2wd cuz I’m running into issues switching to 4hi fine but cant switch back to 2wd

@@zachdatskiy3367 I can't remember in detail because it was so long ago, but I do remember the 4hi and the 4 lo lights blinking together once the truck was running, the 4 wheel drive system never worked until I cleaned the motor, I also had to replace the computer control box under the dashboard that controls the operation of the 4wd

Thanks for stopping by today. Haven’t seen you in a while which must mean your super busy. Keep on wrenching buddy. 🔧🔧🔧

@@ThePracticalMechanic you betcha...it's 100 miles an hour starting at 730am 😂👍

Glad it helped

Thanks Burt! I’ll stick with my older Toyota’s with manual shift 4x4 system. Push buttons have way too many issues.

Exactly 👍🏻

@@burtpilon1735 totally agree with you there! I'll keep my S10 4x4 manual shifter too. Lol

I’m glad I could help. Have a safe holiday.

I might be having the same problem in my 03 sequoia. All 4 wheels are locked. Center icon of the 4wd indicator is a flashing orange circle. Can't get it out. Did you just remove and clean the actuator and put it back in? How long did this take you? Thanks!

I only took the actuator out I cleaned the dirt rust and grime out I applied a thin coat of super lube because it acts as die electric grease put it back together and immediately the truck shifted into two wheel drive and has been working fine since. I say it took me an hour but I was not working the whole time because I was ours in the cold😂

@@jeremybrunes38 this is so great to hear. Thank you so much. Were you able to do this on the ground, or did you have to lift the vehicle? It seems like I can reach it without lifting (in an apartment that prohibits jacks).

Yes I did it on the ground no jack. I have the SR5 so it is on all terrain tires but I doubt that makes any difference I am a big guy 6 ft 235 lbs so ya have an idea how how room ya got.

Glad it was helpful!

Good ol PHAD fix.

My thoughts too! Ivan would be proud!

Hi great video. I was wondering if this would apply to my 06 toyota sequoia. It goes into 4wd hi but for 4 lo it flashes and stops. Checked and listened for motor engagements but heard nothing what do you think?

Such great answers. Can i buy just the assembly and motor you cleaned? Unbolt unplug and replace.

Thanks Jay. I happy to help.

I couldn’t access the module with my Snapon scanner and wasn’t sure if the tech stream would give me more access. My brother asked me if I wanted to use Techstream and I grabbed the scope and a wiring diagram instead.

ThePracticalMechanic no, you can’t connect with the scan tool! Lol sorry for the miscommunication! That’s just where I hook up my scope, that’s all that I was saying lol

Voltage Drop Diagnostics That would make much more sense PJ. If scoping at the module you have access to all the same test points and if the shift motor is good you can jump straight to the wires for the front A.D.D. Actuator. Thanks for the tip PJ.

Glad it helped!

It's my pleasure

I prefer I shift lever any day over the auto systems. So much simpler and more reliable.

Thanks for watching!

Awesome! Ivan would surely be proud!! Love it when we can do this for customers. .. with a little side note of, "I don't know how long this fix will last though"

Thanks Brian.

Agreed. People have become used to the convenience of the automatic systems. Unfortunately the auto/electric shift systems are difficult to diagnose and expensive to repair compared to the manual systems.

We’re the parts from the salvage yard or new? Some times when they sit at the salvage yard for a few years they don’t like to shift and I have to manually override the motor to get it to move back and forth a few times.

Same issue on mine. Did you ever figure it out?

I have ! There is NO need to dismantle transfercase whatsoever !!! Remove black cover (3 bolts) then take picture of the chocolate colored rotor with your phone , you need to do this to remember angle or " timing " of the contact blades attached to rotor. Pull rotor towards you. Now you can remove the rest of the body. Reinstall new or repaired motor in reverse order . Timing of the rotor is critical fro proper operation. Remember if you were locked or unlocked ( 2wd or 4wd ) prior to doing this .

Thanks Jeff !

I believe there is a switch in the front a.d.d housing that indicate if it is engaged or not. If that switch is stuck the light will flash as well.

Welcome Dan. Thanks for checking out the video. I’ll have to thank Keith.

Matt DeWitt On the 99 4runner the actuator is designed a little differently. I think the contact plate is down a little deeper. It has been a while but I have disassembled them and cleaned up the contacts and the motor brushes. It seems like I normally just pull the steel motor cover off and manually move the motor and that is enough to get it working again.

Honestly most oring like that I have to match up from an assortment I have. There may not be a part number available for it

You should see the doodles I drew on the classroom board today.

@@ThePracticalMechanic 😂😂😂😂 "the artist" I bet very Picasso like. Lol.

I have the flashing light and no 4 low. Did you ever figure out yours?

I’m not sure what’s going on there since we don’t have that model available. The American models don’t allow diff locks unless your in 4low. If you engage the diff lock lock button in 4high the lights will just flash until you shift to 4low. The Landcruisers have a center diff lock in the transfercase but those are all wheel drive.

@@ThePracticalMechanic Thanks forthe reply. This has manual diff locks on the wheel hubs. Either, locked, or not. So, works in both 4H and 4L, except, mine jumps out of 4H. My Pajero was the same set up.

@@martynjames5963 ok I see what you talking about now. Does you Hilux have manual shift transfercase or does it have electronic shift. If it has manual shift it may have an issue with the detent spring that holds the shifter in place or there could be an issue internal of the transfercase. When the hubs are unlocked there is no power to the front wheels even though the transfercase is in 4x4 so there is less load on the transfercase.

@@ThePracticalMechanic Yes it is manual. I suspect detent. It was previously owned by contstruction. I wonder if they just left it in 4WD High, even on the road, and have worn stuff out (hope not). Hope it's the detent spring. Can it be accessed without removing the transfer case? I doubt it eh? Prob wirth a try first.

It typically isn’t the transfer case unless something was broken or installed improperly. The normal problems are the front ADD actuator or the transfer case shift actuator. Both lights are flashing all the time? Normally only one light will flash. It’s possible that the actuator is installed in the wrong position and the transfer case control module is confused about what position the actuator is in.

ThePracticalMechanic ok you can install the front actuator in the wrong position?

ThePracticalMechanic also the lights flash and the 4lo light goes out sometimes and comes back on, then it feels like it engages and then they start flashing again and no 4wd

@@ruboneoutbarbecue the front actuator typically gets install correctly but the transfercase actuator can be installed wrong. If the light is flashing then it failed to shift out of or into a different gear. Sometime the light will flash because the front differential didn't unlock either and that will prevent the 4hi-2hi shift.the lights could also be flashing because the controller can't tell what gear the truck is in. That is what was happening in this video. The readings from the sensor didnt make sense to the control unit so it stopped controlling it and just started flashing the light.

ThePracticalMechanic ok the light didn’t start flashing until we replaced the front diff actuator

transfercase will cost much more unless you get a used one. I used one is going to be a gamble since it may have the same issue. There are also some videos showing how to replace the actuator without taking the transfercase apart but you have to make sure to get everything back together exactly the same of it still wont shift properly.

@@ThePracticalMechanic well I'm having a mechanic replace it with a used Tcase and Actuator. 1700.00. I'll admit I was a little intimidated by the job and my schedule is nuts so I didn't know when I'd have time.

There is one on the transfercase(the one I repaired in the video) and there is another one on the front differential. The front unit may require fluid to be drained.

Southern Colorado

@@ThePracticalMechanic damm in in Los Angeles CA lol... I have not been able to find a mechanic that knows what is wrong with my se

Sequoia

Primary reason to demonstrate how the unit works and second is to prove where the fault is. If all the circuits looked ok on the scope we may have headed in a different direction.

@@ThePracticalMechanic brilliant, thank you. You helped me fix one of these today. What’s awesome is (to those who have never looked) these pico setups are many thousands to obtain. And vids like these allow me to not have to spend the money. Thanks again

Did you ever figure this out ?

@@jacobhudjack9243 Yep! I found a couple of sites online that referenced putting the gear at about the 3 o'clock position in the cap. Here's the process I used - 1. Pull the gear & cap 2. Pull the cover & small spline gear on the opposite side 3. Remove the actuator housing 4. Push the 4wd selector shaft all the way in (2wd) 5. Reinstall housing 6. Align gear in cap to ~3 o'clock position 7. Verify signal via resistance checks using a DMM (you can pin out the unit before putting the gear back in, you only want continuity between the inner ground ring and the 2wd ring. Not the other ones for 4wd Hi and Lo) 8. Pop cap & gear assembly into the housing on the truck (just hold in place for now) 9. Install small spline gear to clock larger gear to the t-case shaft 10. Pull cap & gear assy, verify proper continuity one more time 11. Assemble cap & gear assy (bolt in place this time, may need to remove that spline gear again and then put it back in to get things seated) 12. Put cover back over the spline gear 13. Plug everything in and you're good to go! Don't forget to RTV that small cover, it's also worth clearing out those threads while you have the housing off. Make sure to grease up the o-rings a little before reassembly, and I had better luck getting the cap seated with the O-ring on the cap side, not the housing side. When I was doing Step 8, I would just leave the o-ring off. One less thing to mess with for alignment. Hopefully this helps someone!

@@jasonvandort3517 thanks for the reply man. I took my cap off last night and it was extremely corroded to the point sanding wouldnt help make the connections look much better. The worm gear was also very rusty and wouldnt move when I applied power to it (hoping i was doing it properly) Picked up a new cap from the junkyard today and it all looks mint. Going to attempt to put it back together today. Is it okay if I direct message you if I need some help ? Thanks again

@@jacobhudjack9243 Absolutely! Good luck!

@@jasonvandort3517 can't figure out how to direct message of youtube. Email or ig?

Agreed!!!!!!! I think the FJ cruiser was the last one to have it.

that would make our life too easy. I got water in my elocker actuator and ended up needed to purchase a complete actuator to fix it.

There were multiple other people that noted that correction before you. No need to be rude, the video is great and there's still alot of good information that inspires good positive feedback.