I Am A Happy Camper!

[Mistered]

Managed to get my 'new' (used) 4Runner out of 4WD high and got the 4 low actuator unstuck and working! It's warmed up a bit and all the recommendations and hints I have been reading about it to resolve this finally worked ! Just came in from about an hour of shifting it in and out of 4 low and high about 20 times and it's working well and getting smoother! Yay!

[GFK]

Awesome! Good for you. Happy riding!!

[markiver54]

Aisin hubs are relatively easy to service if your vintage has them.glad they are working right now. have owned an '86 and still own a '98,...love 4-runners!

[Mistered]

Nothing to do with hubs as Mine is a 2004 4th Gen with electric shift and it seems this is a very common problem due to the lithium grease the factory used on the actuators.
If they are not 'exercised' regularly the grease hardens up and can seize the actuators. Warm weather & continual switching it in and out along with repeated forward & reverse shifting are the recommended things to try to get the actuators freed up and fortunately it worked
In my case.

[Mags]

.
I've tried off and on, but will have to give that extended effort a try. Any other gems or details involved? During or after it came unstuck did you pull the actuator and re-grease?

Nothing to do with hubs as Mine is a 2004 4th Gen with electric shift and it seems this is a very common problem due to the lithium grease the factory used on the actuators.
If they are not 'exercised' regularly the grease hardens up and can seize the actuators. Warm weather & continual switching it in and out along with repeated forward & reverse shifting are the recommended things to try to get the actuators freed up and fortunately it worked
In my case.

[Mistered]

During or after it came unstuck did you pull the actuator and re-grease?

Well this only happened yesterday afternoon so no , but I eventually plan to pull the front diff 4 HIGH actuator and clean & lube it.
Do you have a Gen 4 or newer? If so the 4 LOW actuator cannot be removed without splitting the transfer case - and if one went that far then replacing the actuator would be the best course of action.

Any other gems or details involved?

What exactly are you experiencing?
I was stuck in 4 HiGH and 4 LOW was completely in-op but combinations of problems will vary on this particular model and depending on what your specific issue is will determine the actions to hopefully resolve it.

[ESquared]

Another testimonial to "working the action", huh? Good job and nice to have finally gotten it resolved!

[Mistered]

Another testimonial to "working the action",

Yep - and you want to hear those actuators moving with 'authority' !
They will eventually quiet down but it's nice to hear (and feel) them engaging & disengaging!

[Mags]

.
I have a 2000 Tundra. It has push button electric shift. No idea what gen it is. On mine 4 Low is inop. I can hear the solenoid trying, but the thunk of low engaging doesn't happen, just a blinking low button light that resets to off as soon as I put the the transmission in drive or reverse.

During or after it came unstuck did you pull the actuator and re-grease?

Well this only happened yesterday afternoon so no , but I eventually plan to pull the front diff 4 HIGH actuator and clean & lube it.
Do you have a Gen 4 or newer? If so the 4 LOW actuator cannot be removed without splitting the transfer case - and if one went that far then replacing the actuator would be the best course of action.

Any other gems or details involved?

What exactly are you experiencing?
I was stuck in 4 HiGH and 4 LOW was completely in-op but combinations of problems will vary on this particular model and depending on what your specific issue is will determine the actions to hopefully resolve it.

[Redthies]

My Land Cruiser is full time 4wd, and non electricfrom high to low, but this does remind me to exercise its diff locker soon. It will stop working just like the actuator in your T4R. To keep it relevant, here is my ‘89 4Runner that I just finished welding new quarters and front fender arches into. I also built the Bimini top to keep my dogs out of the sun. Frame on that is now black.

[markiver54]

My Land Cruiser is full time 4wd, and non electricfrom high to low, but this does remind me to exercise its diff locker soon. It will stop working just like the actuator in your T4R. To keep it relevant, here is my ‘89 4Runner that I just finished welding new quarters and front fender arches into. I also built the Bimini top to keep my dogs out of the sun. Frame on that is now black.

Nice Runner Redthighs. I had an 86 red. Looked very much like yours. That thing would go anywhere. Ended up selling it to a co-worker. Bought a 98 to replace it. Love 4-runners!

[Mags]

Our first Toyota was a 98 Tacoma 4 cycl. 4wd 5 sp manual, manual high/low with auto locking hubs. Son has it now. On second engine. He ran the oil out of the first.

[markiver54]

Can't beat a good 'ol Toyota! Mine is my daily driver.

[Mags]

.
Other than low inop we've never had a major problem with any of the Toyotas'. Got rid of the '95 Ford Windstar, 83 Pontiac and 74 GMC Suburban. The Ford was a LEMON and resulted in our rollover into Toyotas. Will never own another Ford.
Since 1998
1998 Tacoma
2000 Tundras (2 - another son now has the 2nd)
2000 Forerunner (College grad gift to my daughter)
2001 Camry (recently donated to sister inlaw)
2007 Prius (I like my Tundra, but for local runabout, can't beat the Prius for gas mileage)
2015 Lexus (wife's car)

Now I need as many Henrys and Ubertis....

Can't beat a good 'ol Toyota! Mine is my daily driver.

[Mistered]

I have a 2000 Tundra. It has push button electric shift. No idea what gen it is.

2000 would technically be a Gen 3 as the Tundra is essentially the same as a 4Runner.
I suspect however the actuator will be different but if you hear it is trying to engage then it could be a similar issue but I am not going to guess.
I would consider googling something like ‘2000 Tundra 4 low will not engage’ and see what you get.
This is what I did for my issue and got a plethora of good information - mostly due to it being a fairly common problem.
I did the same for Tundra and got a lot of good info as well - but different issues than what caused my problem.
One site was ‘Tundrasolutions.com’ and has a 16 page thread on just your issue. It should be easy to find.

[Mags]

.
Thanks for the info. I had looked up solutions a while back, but was reluctant to try some of them as I thought it might lead to getting stuck in 4-low. Hopefully new info in that 16 pager.

I have a 2000 Tundra. It has push button electric shift. No idea what gen it is.

2000 would technically be a Gen 3 as the Tundra is essentially the same as a 4Runner.
I suspect however the actuator will be different but if you hear it is trying to engage then it could be a similar issue but I am not going to guess.
I would consider googling something like ‘2000 Tindra 4 low will not engage’ and see what you get.
This is what I did for my issue and got a plethora of good information - mostly due to it being a fairly common problem.
I did the same for Tundra and got a lot of good info as well - but different issues than what caused my problem.
One site was ‘Tundrasolutions.com’ and has a 16 page thread on just your issue. It should be easy to find.

[Redthies]

My Land Cruiser is full time 4wd, and non electricfrom high to low, but this does remind me to exercise its diff locker soon. It will stop working just like the actuator in your T4R. To keep it relevant, here is my ‘89 4Runner that I just finished welding new quarters and front fender arches into. I also built the Bimini top to keep my dogs out of the sun. Frame on that is now black.

Nice Runner Redthighs. I had an 86 red. Looked very much like yours. That thing would go anywhere. Ended up selling it to a co-worker. Bought a 98 to replace it. Love 4-runners!

Just to clarify, my THIGHS are not red. I used to have a ‘96 as well, but I’ve had 7 Land Cruisers in 40, 60, 80 and 100 flavor. When you daily drive a Cummins powered Ram, you need a good backup plan!

[markiver54]

Looks exactly like mine. Just not lifted....yet...

[fortyshooter]

Great job on getting it unstuck!
I don't have a 4 wheel drive but DO have the Tremec TKO 600 trans out of my Mustang that is stuck in 2nd gear.
Parts came in today to fix that problem which can happen at times with the TKO 500 and 600 transmissions.
Now to get it back together!

[Mistered]

Great job on getting it unstuck!

Thanks! Not like I did anything particularly monumental - just followed the hints and instructions from MANY on the 4Runner.org forum who have/had the same problem.
I am glad however it was not a parts or systemic problem and nothing more than a 'owner maintenance' issue that was never followed.
The lithium grease that is the 'root' of the problem was probably not entirely necessary but the problems could have been avoided if owners had followed Toyota's recommendations.
A pic of mine just so we know what we are talking about.

IMG_1310[1].JPG (149.2 KiB) Viewed 2120 times