Water in actuator, now stuck in 4lo, and how to fix it

Was out on the Mojave road this weekend and drove through the pretty deep water crossing (so did about 20 other trucks). After I came out all the 4WD lights started blinking (4WD, 4LO, center diff, VSC Off). My first thought was that some water got into the actuator connector. After drying it out and driving for a bit nothing changed so I opened up the actuator a crack and about 1/2 a cup of water came out. Turns out the breather tube on the actuator was split and came off! After draining the water the VSC and center diff lights went off, 4WD light is solid but 4LO is flashing and the truck is stuck in 4LO. Turning the 4WD switch does nothing. I towed the truck home today so I have time to look at things and decide what to do. Everything was working perfect until that moment and I used 4HI and 4LO regularly.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I know how to switch in and out of 4LO, have tried driving forward and backward several times, disconnected the battery and 4WD ECU, have driven the truck in 4LO for about 60 miles now and opened up the actuator again to make sure it is dry. No luck so far. I also used the search function and found these threads:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/132119-transfer-case-actuator-water.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/151582-4lo-actuator-rebuild.html#post1492153

I don't think that I am ready for a rebuild myself but would be nice to know what the options are before taking it to my mechanic or worse the dealer. If the water damaged the motors or sensors in the actuator can the actuator be replaced without replacing the full transfer case which should be in perfectly fine condition? Any estimates on costs? Thanks.

I had this exact thing happen to me a few months ago...actuater breather fell off somehow and it took up water. 4lo light was stuck on. Ended up having dealer do it. Pretty precise job from what i understand. Cost for me was 3k unfortunately. Now that its done, I wish I would have done the "fj manual t-case swap". Eliminate having this problem again.

Take the motors out, clean them and replace them or clean them, dry them and reinstall them. Be sure to mark the position of the blue external dial indicator with a sharpie before you remove the cover and the secondary indicator inside for the 4lo motor. Additionally, as a trail repair, it is possible to spin the actuator motors by hand to get the shift rods to move to the correct position to get out of 4lo. Also, if you do put a new actuator on the t-case, just seal the pressure drain hole on the top permanently so that no water can ever get into the actuator again. After I fixed my actuator motors, I have no interest in ever taking it apart again. Also, as a precaution, I put some marine grease on the gears when reassembling them as a water repellent.

whte4r said:

...Now that its done, I wish I would have done the "fj manual t-case swap". Eliminate having this problem again.

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I think you're supposed to replace the front diff with one with ADD capabilities if you go FJ T-Case (like the FJ is from the factory). And that uses what looks like the same exact actuator. And it would probably be in a worse location vs ours.

Inv4drZm said:

I think you're supposed to replace the front diff with one with ADD capabilities if you go FJ T-Case (like the FJ is from the factory). And that uses what looks like the same exact actuator. And it would probably be in a worse location vs ours.

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I have the fj t-case. My mechanic did not have to replace the front diff. Also, it is all manual. No actuator.

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UnJeep said:

I have the fj t-case. My mechanic did not have to replace the front diff. Also, it is all manual. No actuator.

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Wyatt at Rocksolidtoys mentioned it:

https://www.rocksolidtoys.com/single-post/2017/08/19/4RUNNER-FJ-T-CASE-SWAP

I guess without it the chain will spin inside the t-case 24/7. Every Toyota with that t-case from the factory has it.

Though I have seen others do the swap without the ADD differential with no ill-effects (at least yet), and it seems to be a PITA to clearance for it, so I'm not sure what to think.

Ouch

I should probably inspect my breathers... make sure they are not damaged.

I don't spend a lot of time in the water, but this seems like a good warning thread about this sort of thing before I have a to take a dip.

Inv4drZm said:

Wyatt at Rocksolidtoys mentioned it:

https://www.rocksolidtoys.com/single-post/2017/08/19/4RUNNER-FJ-T-CASE-SWAP

I guess without it the chain will spin inside the t-case 24/7. Every Toyota with that t-case from the factory has it.

Though I have seen others do the swap without the ADD differential with no ill-effects (at least yet), and it seems to be a PITA to clearance for it, so I'm not sure what to think.

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Just talked to Wyatt and he said FJ swap for a 4runner is a LOT of work. It would require a dual stick conversion, new floor panel etc.. He said it would be about $6500, so that's a no-go. It would have been a great solution. Tacomas seem to be a lot easier and would only be $2700. Would have done it for that price.

Will take another look at the actuator. It's hard to do anything on it without taking the t-case out since the gears tend to fall out. Not sure if I have accidental already moved some of the gears.

I wonder if replacing the actuator alone would be a good or bad idea.

BagiMT said:

Just talked to Wyatt and he said FJ swap for a 4runner is a LOT of work. It would require a dual stick conversion, new floor panel etc.. He said it would be about $6500, so that's a no-go. It would have been a great solution. Tacomas seem to be a lot easier and would only be $2700. Would have done it for that price.

Will take another look at the actuator. It's hard to do anything on it without taking the t-case out since the gears tend to fall out. Not sure if I have accidental already moved some of the gears.

I wonder if replacing the actuator alone would be a good or bad idea.

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the t-case has to come out for that.

well, I suppose it doesn't HAVE to, but the shift rails are pinned inside the case. getting it timed correctly is very difficult.
dropping the case to replace the actuator is the PROPER repair.

I went round and round with this just over a year ago. I found a new actuator on Amazon for about $500. The intent was to transplant this over onto the t-case using the existing shift rods.

I was finally able to do it and get everything timed correctly but it was a pain. I damaged a set of the shaft oil seals in the process and had to order those (down for another few days). Overall....it probably would have been almost as fast/easy to just pull the T-case, crack it open, and do the "proper" repair. I was just paranoid about opening the T-case and creating one or more leaks down the road.

Good luck....

BagiMT said:

Just talked to Wyatt and he said FJ swap for a 4runner is a LOT of work. It would require a dual stick conversion, new floor panel etc.. He said it would be about $6500, so that's a no-go. It would have been a great solution. Tacomas seem to be a lot easier and would only be $2700. Would have done it for that price.

Will take another look at the actuator. It's hard to do anything on it without taking the t-case out since the gears tend to fall out. Not sure if I have accidental already moved some of the gears.

I wonder if replacing the actuator alone would be a good or bad idea.

Click to expand...

Aha did his swap by himself. Actually mentions something about the ADD front diff too, has a whole writeup if you click through a few pages.

If you don't swap the front diff and cut into the oil pan like Wyatt does you could save some money.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/116561-has-build-20.html

Cracked the actuator open again today. Everything inside looks very clean and dry. This is not a surprise since the water had only been in there for maybe 30 min and I let it dry out after draining. After reading some more my hypothesis is that when I opened it the blue position switch got moved (I had no idea what it was at the time and did not mark the position). I guess I can try to time it as others have done but still not quite sure how to go about that. I also really don't want to mess up the t-case since everything in there should be ok.

BagiMT said:

Just talked to Wyatt and he said FJ swap for a 4runner is a LOT of work. It would require a dual stick conversion, new floor panel etc.. He said it would be about $6500, so that's a no-go. It would have been a great solution. Tacomas seem to be a lot easier and would only be $2700. Would have done it for that price.

Will take another look at the actuator. It's hard to do anything on it without taking the t-case out since the gears tend to fall out. Not sure if I have accidental already moved some of the gears.

I wonder if replacing the actuator alone would be a good or bad idea.

Click to expand...

No twin sticks for me. He did have to hack up the floor board and the center console. Obviously, I lost a cup holder. I have the v6. So I did lose the 4wd without center diff lock (aka AWD). There is a switch on the dash to let the ecu know it's in 4wd. Cost was about $2200.


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I noticed a leak on the transfer case/actuator seal. While I was cleaning off the leaking gear oil I noticed that the vent tube had split on the end and come off the nipple on top of the actuator This should be a sticky for regular maintenance. Thanks for the write up. Well done. Phil

Could anyone with a V6 do me a big favor and shift to 4lo and take a picture of the position of the blue indicator (remove the small metal plate on the actuator to see it's position). This would give me a better starting point. Thanks.

BagiMT said:

Could anyone with a V6 do me a big favor and shift to 4lo and take a picture of the position of the blue indicator (remove the small metal plate on the actuator to see it's position). This would give me a better starting point. Thanks.

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This post should help and the entire thread is a good resource:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/151582-4lo-actuator-rebuild-3.html#post3019237

eleven14 said:

This post should help and the entire thread is a good resource:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/151582-4lo-actuator-rebuild-3.html#post3019237

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Yes, I have gone through that whole post and it's very useful. However, the V6 and V8 actuators are different and I think the motors are reversed. Before I tear apart the whole actuator I would really like to try to find the right position for the blue position switch which I think is the one causing my issues. The switch can be read from the outside by removing the small metal plate.

BagiMT said:

Yes, I have gone through that whole post and it's very useful. However, the V6 and V8 actuators are different and I think the motors are reversed. Before I tear apart the whole actuator I would really like to try to find the right position for the blue position switch which I think is the one causing my issues. The switch can be read from the outside by removing the small metal plate.

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Gotcha. I'm sure you've seen this as well but posting in the event you haven't. Based on it, 4lo is controlled by a secondary actuator.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/156898-transfer-case-actuator-4.html#post3030093

Good luck

eleven14 said:

Gotcha. I'm sure you've seen this as well but posting in the event you haven't. Based on it, 4lo is controlled by a secondary actuator.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/156898-transfer-case-actuator-4.html#post3030093

Good luck

Click to expand...

I have not seen that one. That's really useful and might have some of the information I need. Thanks a lot!

BagiMT said:

Yes, I have gone through that whole post and it's very useful. However, the V6 and V8 actuators are different and I think the motors are reversed. Before I tear apart the whole actuator I would really like to try to find the right position for the blue position switch which I think is the one causing my issues. The switch can be read from the outside by removing the small metal plate.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the madness my friend. I spent about 2 weeks sorting this out (thank goodness I have another vehicle. FYI....the actuator I bought off Amazon was listed for a V8. As far as I can tell they're exactly the same. One rod moves back and forth for hi-lo range. The other rod is 2wd-difflock-4wd. The middle position is the diff lock. There's a sleeve I think that slides across the internal planetary gears to engage the front shaft or lock the front/rear together. So the V8 has both rods, but one of the rods only uses 2 of the 3 possible positions....and there's no ADD.

I took a bunch of photos and measurements with the new actuator in the various positions. I ended up disassembling the whole thing, reinstalling it on the t-case, then going through several iterations to get it to time correctly. In fact....I ended up having to modify the center "shelf" so I could install it without re-timing the parts already installed.

Chances are you haven't killed the actuator. It's a little grungy perhaps and only part of the timing is off. If you don't do anything crazy you can probably salvage this. There's a thread on here somewhere I read at the time about a guy hooking up a variable power supply to the motor inputs to give it a little extra "bump" to un-stuck his. You might even have to hose it out with some electrical cleaning spray if you got some grit/grime inside one of the motors. This was a truck like many was hung in 4Lo. If I had that knowledge when I had my breakdown (and some equipment), I'm sure I could have "fixed" it. As it was...I was 10 hours from home with minimal equipment in the middle of nowhere. I cracked the thing open, manually shifted back into 2-hi and zip-tied the shift rods in place. I wouldn't recommend it!!!

Also...that 4wd computer is a petty little beast. The first thing it seems to do on startup is some sort of self test of all the various position wheels. If anything is "wrong" it goes into some kind of failure mode and does nothing until a reset (cycle the power with the key off seems to do the trick).