2004 4runner Limited 4.7L V8 full time 4x4 60K miles...
4x4 actuator is leaking, and dealer says I need it replaced. $2500!!!!
It's not leaking very much, just a drop or two each day onto my parking area.
How long should I put this off while trying to save the dough to have it replaced?
I drive a few hundred miles a week...
Thoughts, ideas? If this is a manufacturing defect, why the heck won't Toyota make it right?
Ran a 99 Tacoma for 250K miles with nothing like this happening....
The O-ring that seals the actuator body to the transfer case starts to leak. Mine wasn't leaking, but I understand this is a common problem.
My '03 SR5 would not go in to 4 low nor would it lock the differential. Original owner went 70,000 miles and 8 years without ever engaging either.
The actuator contains 2 DC motors(DC brush motors with bushings, not bearings), 2 rotary switches and a regular contact switch. The motors drive small worm gears which each drive the shift shafts through some other gears. Both motors in mine were completely seized.
To remove the actuator (to replace the Oring, or to replace the actuator itself) you are supposed to pull the transmission+transfer case, then split the transfer case and disconnect the shift shafts internally. If the seals which seal the shift shafts where they come out of the actuator are bad, you are in even more trouble since Toyota does not sell these and there is zero interchange on the part numbers found on these seals.
The seals on the shift shafts are sometimes damaged when someone unbolts the actuator, tries to slide it out, realizes it wont come off, and slides it back on - The damage occurs when the sharp stepped edges on one the shift shafts pushes back through the seal - Usually the 4 low shaft since this one seems to like to pop off the drive gear if in the 4 hi position. These seals also just go bad due to age, or wear, or whatever...
I refused to follow this ridiculous procedure. I found a source for the shaft seals. I got the oring, and then proceeded to take the whole actuator apart to get it off of the shift shafts.
I freed up the motors by forcing them to rotate by hand, then moved them with 12V/1A power supply back and forth and sprayed silicone spray inside them a few times. They moved great after that. I replaced all the seals. I was able to protect the shaft seals well enough to keep them from being damaged during the 10 or so times I removed/installed the actuator so I could develop a method for properly timing the gears and rotary switches.
All in all I have about 8 hours into the project, the timing is correct on the diff lock and I am pretty sure it is correct on the 4 hi/lo but I want to look inside the case with a fiber optic camera to make sure since i can't see it with the cover off the actuator.
The truck shifts into 4 hi/low super fast now and also locks the diff almost instantly.
Woohoo!
