Ok, So this whole time I thought my 4runners 4wd was not working at all..Nothing happened when I turned the switch and no lights on the dash... I recently decided to pull the dash and low and behold either the person I bought the it from or maybe the guy before that pulled the dash lights out!

I soldered the lights back in and the 4runner is stuck in 4hi...if I hit the diff lock it will light up on the dash. So now the actual issue that I'm having is that the 4runner is stuck in 4hi and will not go into 4lo or 2wd.

I did some research and saw that replacing the front actuator might fix the 4hi issue and get it back into two wheel drive (which is all im trying to do at this point). Ive watched some videos and read up in forums but after replacing the front actuator it's still stuck on 4hi. Was I supposed to manually move the part in the front diff to get the runner back to 2wd and then install the actuator?

Or does the rear actuator affect 4hi also? From what I read it seems like the rear actuator has two shafts, one for 4lo and one for diff lock.

Any suggestions to this nightmare would be appreciated. Also sorry for posting in this thread, I'm still new and can't start an actual thread yet.

July bump.

Previous Owners, apparently didnt work the 4x4 system out. the 4wd knob i had was broken so just got around to fixing it, was able to go into 4hi before but knob wouldnt turn 4lo. so replaced knob and when i put into 4lo didnt know you have to wait for it to stop blinking cause it took forever the first time, but it didnt engage. so played with it for the next couple days, drove in 4hi for a bit to warm it up, went from 4lo to 4hi a couple times and it finally engaged 4lo. so have been engaging it every once in a while to get it going again. does anything help this engagement??? fluid change??

Engaging 4HI and 4LO are different. It's all spelled out on a placard printed on the driver's side sun visor. To go into/out of 4LO, you must be in 4HI and stopped with the transmission in neutral.

Changing your fluids sure won't hurt and there are many writeups on this board on how to do it.

The 4wd switch could be unplugged from the back. I would check that.

August bump, stay lubricated friends.

Took care of the 4runner. Have yet to run the house generator. I usually do both (amongst other things).

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October reminder.

Belated November reminder.

I’m late to this thread…

4Hi gets activated weekly during the Winter months and never in the summer.

I haven’t put it in 4Lo or locked the diff in a decade. Should I do it or do I risk braking something at this point?

Come to think if it, don’t know the last time I greased the zerks either.

07 4WD V6 SR5

Won't hurt anything to try. Worst case the light will just blink and it won't engage. I'd recommend trying it after driving in 4Hi for a while to get everything warmed up. Mine wasn't working until I went on a long road trip and I tried it at the end of the day in 120 degree Phoenix.

Belated New Year reminder.

Groundhog reminder.

March reminder.

Missed April.

Here is the May reminder.