Originally Posted by Zaderhof

Hey friends, I have a 2001 4Runner ltd. Yesterday I used the 4Wd to get out of a snow drift (I have actuated the 4wd every so often as per the recommendations, even if it's not 100% necessary).

The vehicle never went into 4wd. The lights are blinking and there is a constant grinding noise if the vehicle is in forward motion or rear ward motion of any kind.

I tried putting it in neutral and doing every combination of h2-h4 / L4 / N / etc. All options result in a very loud grinding sound if the car is in any type of movement.

The truck has 325k miles, trans was replaced at 300 something, has hardly any milage on it.

Xfer case was replaced at 200k-ish.

Car was out all night in sub zero temps but I don't see this as too much of an issue.

As of now I consider it unable to be driven.

I feel like this is a simple matter of moving the leavers in a specific order to fully get the vehicle back into 2wd(?) Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tldr; 4runner won't go back into 2wd, very loud, violent grinding noise when vehicle is in any kind of motion