Good luck! Any update?

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden Ok, I could move the shaft freely, so I pushed it forward into transfer case. That's 2WD. I lined up the contacts for all three positions and made gray pen marks on the outside of the casing. After I hooked it all up, I turned on the key, put it in neutral, and the 4LO, indicator and button were flashing. So that means the contacts were in the 4LO position but the shaft was in the 2WD position. I did not touch any buttons at this time. I raised the truck back up on lift, removed cover, removed small gear, rotated contacts to other position that's not in the middle (4HI). reassembled and everything works great. I bought my unit from Amazon, $167. I did notice the inside coiled spring was set up backwards from OEM. but that did not make a difference. It was your insight on matching contacts with one of the three positions needed.. thx again.

@@Fishin_Fixin_things that is awesome! Congratulations on the success. Glad I could help!

I busted mine banging on it with a hammer but covered it immediately........but my question is regarding the two grey harnesses, are one of those the transfer case switch?

I believe one is the transfer switch, and the other is the position indicator!!

Dude, that is a legendary level of savagery! Stoked I could help you in that way. Cheers to that one.

That’s what I made this video for! Stoked you got that much value out of it. Congrats!

Did you clean it, or just replace the whole actuator?

@@eanibarra8019 @eanibarra8019 I cleaned out the gunk and corrosion, lightly sanded the contacts down until they were shiny, put a thin layer of dielectric grease on the contacts, and reassembled it. It still works great. The worm gear on mine was pretty rusty so I also brushed that out as much as I could.

@@eanibarra8019 @eanibarra8019 I cleaned out the gunk and corrosion, lightly sanded the contacts down until they were shiny, put a thin layer of dielectric grease on the contacts, and reassembled it. Still works great. The worm gear in mine was pretty rusty so I brushed that out as much as I could.

@@eanibarra8019 I cleaned all the gunk and corrosion out, lightly sanded the contacts until they were shiny, and covered them in a thin layer of dielectric grease. The worm gear in mine was pretty rusty so I brushed that out as much as I could. It's still working great.

Appreciate that !!

I appreciate your comment! Cheers.

That's what I'm talkin' about! So glad I could help you. The misinformation surrounding this device is certainly thick.

I’m stoked for you!! This made my day!

Thanks- glad to help!

I love to hear it! Congrats on the fox. Cheers.

I appreciate ya Ryan, glad I could help. Beer is good!

Make sure you check that your air hose is connected to the actuator. If it’s not, snow could have gotten inside and fried the electrical interior, as watery-mud did with mine. Cheers and good luck!

Same thing just happened today it got stuck in 4L. I hit it with a peace of wood and didn't do anything it took me over a hour to get it in 4H. Unplugged everything then plugged it back in and finally when I was ready to give up I thought about when I start my truck I have to push the clutch to the floor so the sensor works so I did that when I put it back in 4H and it worked. So if someone has a standard try pushing the clutch to the floor. I have a 08 Tacoma

That’s awesome man. Glad it helped.

Oh, also my part shipped in 4H and I was stuck in 2H. I had to install/reinstall a few times to get the orientation correct and reset the 4WD ECU each time but it was really simple thanks to this video.

That is awesome Derek. Nice job! Glad I could help.

That's awesome to hear! Happy to help.

Shoot I’d say go right ahead and post a video! I’m interested in seeing myself...

That's what it's here for! Glad I could help you fix your Tundra. Cheers.

That’s awesome! Glad I could help!

Thank you! Good luck with that sir.

LOVE TO HEAR IT!

Awesomeness!

That’s an epic story! I’ve been in that exact spot and it is depressing! So glad to have helped. I honestly don’t even think the Toyota technicians / mechanics have this figure out because they always say they’ll have to pull and split the transfer case. This is what the internet is all about!

I think you have to split the case if you want to remove the whole assembly with the shift rod. Because there is like a detent lock up setup inside and if you just try and yank the rod out or shove a new one in you will do damage and screw stuff up possibly toasting the actual transfer case or at the least the actuator.

That’s unfortunate but I can sure relate. Good luck man. Feel free to keep me updated on that

Your issue is almost perfectly identical to mine; from messing with the front ADD actuator to having the broken TC actuator hose, to being stuck in 4HI- all of that was a total flashback for me to read. So, your new TC actuator will come in the mail and you won’t know what position the gears inside are in. Mine came in 4HI, so I didn’t actually have to open it, but there’s no way I would’ve known without opening it, and so I consider it necessary. You will want to make sure it is in the 4Hi position so that the TC axle rod and the actuator and the rest of the system are all on the same page. You won’t be able to hammer the TC axle rod into the TC into the 2WD position because, on our generation of Tacoma, the transfer case has an internal locking mechanism that holds the rod in place so it doesn’t come out of whatever “drive” it’s in. The actuator is the only thing that can move that rod in and out, unless you take the transfer case completely off and crack it open (absolute nightmare). With that said, the 5/16” of movement in the rod is totally normal and not a big deal. When you put the actuator on, you’ll probably want to have the rod pushed in as far as it will go, but even then it’ll likely get into that position once you tighten the bolts that hold the actuator to the TC. Make sure that you reset the 4WD ECU when you put the new actuator on. I like to unplug the 4WD ECU, put the actuator on (which, in our case, had its gears adjusted to be in 4HI), the rod will be in the 4HI position, and also have your dash switch on 4HI. This way, when you plug the ECU in, there will be no confusion anywhere in the system and it should be operating properly at that point. Cheers and good luck.

The pleasure’s mine!

Boo hoo :,( almost as bad as paying the dealership $3k to fix it! You poor soul

Sounds like you might’ve found your culprit! Good luck and feel free to let me know what happens.

Tragic! Hopefully no internal damage to your actuator.

I thought about doing this while I was angry about mine not working. You have to cut through the floorboard right? Did you swap the new FJ one in yet?

Cheers mate, sorry I lost your comment. I have to reckon the 4Runner would be the same or very similar. Did you end up cracking into it??

Hey John. Thanks for the kind words. Not sure if I mentioned it in the video but I gave sanding-and-soldering a real shot. I did not have success, though it did look a lot better and I was hopeful about it for a minute there. The inside of mine was very gnarly though; salvation was unattainable. However, it was also completely not functional at that time. With that said- since yours is still working intermittently, it may still be able to be saved with some sand n' solder. I'd definitely say it's worth a shot. Worst case your broken part is still broken and best case your broken part is fixed! Feel free to keep me updated on that, good luck

Good luck sir. I do not have an answer to your question. If you find any interesting info, please feel free to report that back here. I’m finding that this comment section is becoming a forum of it’s own!

Check the description of this video; I included two links for the part that should work. One of them is the link I used, and the other is a link that seems to be the same thing but for a cheaper price. As long as your Toyota isn’t a different generation then this part should still be available and will fit. Apparently some people have commented somewhere under this video of mine that the newer Tacomas & 4Runners have a different setup.

Mine shipped in 4Hi. I don’t know if they all ship this way but it doesn’t seem to matter in your case because you’re going to want to set it to 2WD anyway. Definitely make sure it’s set to 2WD before putting it on. 🤙🏼

Check the video description… I linked a video that shows what “drive” your truck is in based off the shaft’s position. This video of mine shows how to put the actuator into a position that matches your shaft positions, thereby getting your whole system on the same page. Don’t forget to reset the ECU

No you cannot because the rod is locked into place inside the transfer case. That’d be roughly the same as removing the actuator and trying to tap the rod into the right gear, but that’s not possible since that rod is locked into place inside the T-case. Cheers

I’m sorry but I don’t fully understand the question. I’m not sure what a j shift transfer case is.

I thought the new actuator came with a new hose attached to it. But now that I’m thinking of it, I might have just cut my old hose right above all the cracked and rotted areas and reattached it, since there was plenty of slack before. I think I only cut about an inch or so, the rest was good.

Probably what’s happening is you’re sending the signal to the actuator to shift into a different “drive” but it isn’t able to “shift” due to being defective. I’d bet your actuator is the problem

Perhaps you’re having an issue with the switch inside the cab? That’d be nice eh? 😅 apparently most people claim their front diff actuator motor goes out and that stops the vehicle from going into 4x4. There are tons of videos on that. If your t-case actuator is working well though then that is a good thing.

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden 4wd switch passed continuity test on the shifter. i might have to investigate the front add actuator. the actuator on the transfer case only works when i jump it and not with the 4hi button.

Hey Joey, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I know that some actuators are for the differentials, not the t-case. Was the part you ordered the correct one?

That gear fits in there very snug. If you can’t get the triangle plate off to access the gear then I don’t see any way you’ll be able to get it all off. Id say try getting that triangle plate off and then work the gear out with some pliers. You should be able to get that gear in and out whether the actuator mounting bolts are tightened or not. It’s only important to tighten the actuator bolts before inserting the gear when reassembling.

I’ll take a look tomorrow and maybe it won’t seem as challenging. Thank you for your response!

Interesting. Thanks for the comment. I don’t think I tried going to neutral and chocking the wheels. But I think I remember reading that there’s a magnetic system inside the t-case locking the rod. Maybe I’m wrong! Next time I’m stuck in 4L I’ll give this a shot!

Yeah I’ve never cracked into the actuator’s small motor but I’ve also never heard of any reason to do that. Even with my actuator having suffered major water damage, I believe the motor itself still worked perfectly.

It’s probably an actuator. Either the front diff actuator or the transfer case one. Try to get a diagnosis of the issue first

Only on the older generation Toyotas ... I tried hammering mine in and it wouldn’t move. There’s a locking mechanism inside the transfer case that can’t be undone from the outside. You’re totally stoked for being able to move it yourself! Those hoses are so crucial, it’s sad how easy they come off. Good luck.

Try resetting the ECU, make sure the pins are oriented correctly for whatever “drive” your truck is in, and then give that a go. If all that still fails then you may want to consider replacing.

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden this might be a dumb question but resetting the 4WD ecu is simply unplugging it ? Power off ?

This could work as long as the black cover can off while the actuator is mounted. I always just marked mine with sharpie on the edge once I had it off. Cheers.

Check the description now. Was meaning to do that. 👍🏼

Use dielectric grease.

I put the dash switch in 4hi so that the whole system would be on the same page when I plugged the CPU back in. I wanted the switch to match the actuator’s internal gears and position sensors, which would both match the transfer case rod position.

Essentially, I wanted my truck to know that it was in 4WD and, with everything operating correctly, get out of it just like it normally would if there had never been an issue.

thanks for the input! when you removed your old add did you notice some small play with the shift rod being in 4hi bc i noticed that on mine. the same thing happen to mine as yours. vent tube came off allowing mud and water to get inside. i cleaned it up then reassemble everything and it went back into 2wd but i'm hearing a gear winding noise inside when its in 2wd. I'm wondering if its the position of the shift rod going into the add. The add is bad bc the metal strips are rusted up and not reading properly, but the works thanks for responding

kristopher swann the rod does have some in and out play in it; it’s not rigidly locked in one position. I would advise you to take an extra look at around 20:00 of my video here. Ensure that those three mounting bolts are tightened BEFORE putting the gear that goes behind the triangle plate in. I made this mistake the first time I mounted the new one. Get it tightened first then get the gear in there (it will be harder to get the gear in this way- be patient). If you already did that then I’m not sure what else could be causing that noise.

This was my plan too. I wanted to get the new actuator in the correct position before I removed the old one. But, I was thwarted by the short length of the harness. With the original actuator still installed the limit switch connectors just would not reach.

Sorry for the late reply Christopher. I really am not sure what would happen in the case of your question. Did you try it? Did you fix your truck?

Yeah removing the cover then reinstalling it shouldn’t affect the positions inside. Even if you do move the gears around just make sure to put them back to exactly where they were.

@DirtBikes_MathGarden thanks. It was stuck in 4WD. Removed the two actuator sensors/ switches. Inspected, cleaned, and checked integrity, tested OK. Removed plastic actuator cover. Feared the worst as I noticed crack at the location of one of the three screws. Thankfully, the crack ran along outside of cover only, so it was really clean inside. There was no rust on the metal spirals, but there were a couple of large blobs of the white grease on a couple of areas. Wiped away blobs. Sprayed a little electrical cleaner. Buttoned everything down, and surprise, it came straight out of 4WD, no parts needed! I'm not brave enough to try and engage 4WD just yet. I will wait until I need it, up in Minnesota, so it won't be long 😆

@@robbflynn4325 congrats on the fix! That’s bold to wait until you need it to see if it works!

I tried to listen for an electric motor noise but mine was so fried that it wouldn’t move anymore. This could be your problem. Is your breather hose still attached to the actuator? That’s step 1. If that thing’s disconnected then that’s almost certainly the problem

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden I found my vacuum line was broken. I cut it off and reattached, but it’s more than a vacuum problem, still not shifting.

@@jmink water probably got in there when it was disconnected. You’ll probably have to take it off and inspect for damage

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden Probably so. Thanks for making this video! Also, thanks for the replies to my comments. I'll let you know what happens.

Update. Once I had an extra pair of hands to help me I was able to crawl under the try while the switch was engaged. The part in this video was the motor making noise and I could feel it trying to engage.

No fluid comes out. There might be a little bit of electric grease in there though. Thanks for watching

Hey Cecil, yes there is a reason I don’t install it in 2WD; my truck was stuck in 4HI. So, I needed the actuator positions to match the transfer case positions on my truck so that everything would be on the same page. I even flicked the dash switch to 4HI by the steering wheel so that there would be no contradictions in the system.

I’ve found that the flashing 4wd light on the dashboard indicates that the system is somehow disagreeing with itself on what “drive” the vehicle is in. E.g. you moved the switch to x but you’re still stuck in y. What I would recommend you try doing is to make sure that the t-case actuator and the shaft agree on what position they’re in (you might have to remove the actuator and manually set it, as described in this video- no problem there). Additionally, set your dash switch to whatever the transfer case actuator and shaft are at. So, get all three of those things on the same page (getting them all in 2wd wouldn’t be a bad place to start). Furthermore (and I don’t think I stressed this enough in the video), you want to reset your ECU, which is behind the glove box on passenger side. There is a “fuse” looking thing plugging into the ECU that controls/powers/does the computer work for the 4wd actuation system. I can’t remember if it is labeled “4WD” or not; you may have to do research to figure out where exactly it is, but if my memory is correct then it will say 4WD on it. So unplug that, then set those three things I listed in agreement with each other, then plug that 4wd “fuse” back into the ECU and your whole system should then be on the same page with itself. The switch, the gears in the actuator, and the transfer case rod will all be in harmony, and the ECU should know what is going on. Then you can try to change it up with the switch and if all goes well then it’ll work! Good luck

@DirtBikes_MathGarden Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond. I'm sure you're like everybody else. Have a lot of your plate and busy all the time. I do really appreciate the advice. I will try this weekend. I was up all night. Researching videos and forums going down this rabbit hole. It's crazy, but I pray God blesses you back a 100 fold. For taking the time and giving such detailed advice to a stranger. I really, really appreciate it.

No, the transfer case has a locking mechanism that keeps the rod locked into the position it’s in. Some older generation 4WD Toyotas allow you to push the rod in and out though!

Rod stays in tcase, actuator goes over that rod.

Perhaps your actuator is only partially fried. It can’t hurt to pull it off and look inside. Good luck.

I have same issue, did you fix it, what was the problem?

It was a simple fix. My transmission neutral safety switch went bad. Put your car in park and in each gear and make sure each gear light on dash lights up if neutral light doesn't come on its a transmission neutral switch issue, it uses the light signal to let computer know you are in neutral.

There is a variety of good videos all over KZfaq of people taking that front differential actuator off and opening it up and usually soldering the connection to the motor in there. Good luck & cheers

I took my new actuator apart as soon as I got it, set it to where it needed to be, slapped it on and haven’t had a problem since (and it’s been years). To each their own; I’m not very good with electrical stuff so mechanically setting it the way I needed it to be worked for me. Thanks for the comment- cheers.

Make sure you reset the ECU so the whole system can recalibrate.

Did you find out what happened? Same thing happened to me.

@@ryanpettersen3478 not luck . But I need to take off front transfer actuator , clean up or replace.

I believe so.

Sorry for the slight lag mate. So, there’s a couple of things here: 1) make sure you watch the video linked in the description. That gentleman does a great job of showing how the rod positioning determines the “drive” of the vehicle.... I.e. if the rod is all the way out of the transfer case, the vehicle is in 4lo, middle rod position means 4hi, and all the way into the t case means 2hi. Sadly, we can’t just hit the rod back and forth like he does in the video though because the rod is locked in place from inside the t case, and so we must put a functioning actuator that has been adjusted to accommodate the rod’s position onto the rod and bolt it onto the t case. Then, we must understand that the vehicle’s computer understands what drive the t case is in based on what the actuator’s sensors are reading. If they’re incorrectly placed (or not reading at all like mine were), then the vehicle can’t know what drive it’s in and therefore can’t adjust it. Take your actuator off your t case and inspect inside. Does it seem operational? Lots of yellow electrical grease isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it is in fact probably what you’ll find. As long as water didn’t get in there then you’re fine; you’re looking for corrosion. My actuator’s breathing hose was disconnected (for lord knows how long) and I went mudding regularly, and that’s how water got in. Now, to finish answering your question about positioning the three-pronged gear, you’re taking your actuator off and the vehicle is stuck in two wheel drive, so your rod is as far in to the t case as it will go (should still be sticking out a couple of inches to go into the actuator- refer to that video in the description to see what each position looks like). Look at the frame of 7:13 of my video here for reference. The three-pronged gear should be lined up all the way clockwise (about 2-3 o’clock in that frame at 7:13) when the actuator is assembled. This is easier to do than when I had to line it up into 4HI because I could have been slightly too far left or right in positioning that gear since it’s in the middle, but 2hi is all the way at the beginning. Do you see now? When the gear is all the way clockwise (in the frame at 7:13), the rod will be sticking out its maximum length from the actuator and into the t case. Move that gear back and you’ll pull the rod out of the t case into 4hi (middle position of both the three-pronged gear system and the rod with the t case). I hope this is making sense lad. And finally, but not leastly, don’t buy the t case actuator locally or from a dealership. They’ll charge u up the arse for it and buy it from Japan themselves, which is what you’ll do if you determine yours is bad. I wanted to include the eBay link in the description but I got lazy. It is about $500 or so. Comes from the mothership in Japan, the headquarters. Things are like gold, impossible to come by on Craigslist or junkyards. Good luck and I hope to hear good news of cheap success!

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden Your video is of great help. Any, FYI....I travel to Japan and I will look into getting a transfer actuator from the "Mothership Japan." lol

How do you know if the rod is all the way in versus just in the middle??

2 hi v 4 hi

@@spencerhargett442 typically the rod will stick out of the transfer case maybe 1.5-2 more inches in the middle position than in the “furthest in” position.

Thanks, for you answer, an help, now is working good.

I have no 4LO. 4x4 light flashing in 4hi or 4LO. Pulled the cap, cleaned the contact. I have continuity for 2wd and 4hi but nothing on pins 3-4 when in low.

@@tonyjackson8640 Flashing in 4hi or 4LO indicates that neither is engaging properly. When you took it apart are you sure you got the disk reinstalled so that it is in the right position? Use my guide above to determine what position it is actually in.

@@rcw3586 I suppose some helpful info would be that I did an sas swap so no front diff actuator. We bypassed it with a switch in the glove box. I’m certain I got it back together correctly as I had to use 4x4 today for a recovery. I have a very competent Toyota electrical buddy wanting to take a look this weekend. So hopefully he can sort it out👍🏼

Thanks for sharing I think this will help!

I’m rooting for you

The internal electrical components were fried from water damage

Haha I like it!

What a costly little issue! I check my hose regularly now. Glad I could help.

That wouldn’t fix anything though because the rod in the transfer case would still be stuck. Plus, that’s assuming that moving the switch would adjust the gears, which in my case it wouldn’t have since the electrical system was fried.

6 months later and I see what you actually meant. I have yet to confirm if that can be done. Have you seen this be done?

Good luck. I’m not sure I’ve seen just that part for sale

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden I went to the auto parts. Have to take the whole part off. it’s a 2014 it looks east just 4 bolts hopefully it’s the front part

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden the video did help when u said it was going to cost 3-4K to repair. Lol

Sorry no. I have no such diagram.

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden after two days under the car, I want to burn it! 😂

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden no where can I find instructions for setting up the actuator 😅

@@GornoeBezumie what exactly do you need to do? Does my video not have the information you need?

@@DirtBikes_MathGarden I need to put the gear in the correct position and properly screw the cover with the contacts to the actuator 😅 Unfortunately, from your video, I did not understand how to put the gear on the Contacts (Maybe due to the fact that I am not strong in English, and your video is too long and there are many extra words 😅

Pudiera tratar pero hay muchas palabras sobre autos que sólo sé en inglés. Este vídeo fue suficiente embarazoso en inglés 😂

I cri every tim:/