My 4WD has not worked since the end of past winter. Sorry this is a long note, but I wanted to give the history of the problem and what was done to try to fix it.
My 4WD worked fine for most of last winter but at the end of the season it started to have problems. It was months ago but what I remember is that, when I put it in 4H, the green 4WD dash light started to flash, and the 4LO, ABS, and Trac lights came on and stayed lit. Also, the DAC light would not light. The SR5 would go into 4H when turned on and would go back to 2WD when I took it out of 4WD. I could feel it engage and disengage as well as the change in traction. I don’t remember if the lights went out when I took it out of 4WD but, eventually the lights stayed lit all the time, DAC did not work and putting it into 4H or 4LO did not work at all. If I turned the engine off and restarted, the light came right back on again without touching the 4WD knob.
I brought it to my mechanic. He had it for two days but could not diagnose the problem. When working on it, he couldn’t get any recognizable codes; he installed a new actuator but that did not fix the problem, so he reinstalled the original one. In the end, except for the Trac light, he got the other lights to go off and stay off. I haven’t tried putting it in 4WD since. That was back in March. I’ve been driving it since and, except for the Trac light always being on, it drives fine.
Two days ago, the behavior changed. After starting the engine, when I put it in Drive and started moving forward, all the lights came back on just like in March. Putting it in and taking it out of 4H and 4LO didn’t do anything. If I shut the engine off and turned it back on, the Trac light came on but none of the others, and they stayed off. If I started it again later in the day it did the same thing.
I brought it to the dealer today and gave them this history of the problem. I told them that a new actuator was installed but that did not fix the problem. I forgot to tell them that the old actuator was reinstalled. The Service rep called me and said that the tech saw that it had a new actuator and that he was getting codes c120a and c1268. When a new actuator is installed, a “zero point calibration” needs to be done. The codes indicated that was not done and that was what it needed to solve the issue. I was going to let them know that it did not have a new actuator but figured that would give them a reason to install one, needed or not. So, I just let them do the calibration.
I picked my 4Runner up and drove home with no dash lights on and the DAC working (at least the light came on when I hit the switch). I played with the 4WD in my driveway. When I put it in 4H and started going forward (I have a long driveway) the green 4WD light came on and was flashing. I think it was a slow flash, not a fast one but I have nothing to compare it to. None of the other lights came on and it would not go into 4H. When put in 4LO, that dash light did not come on and the green 4WD light continued to flash. The green 4WD light went out when I set it back to 2H.
I saw some 4WD posts here that said it could take a while for the 4WD to engage. Should I drive around with 4WD on for a while to see if it engages? In the past, when put in 4WD it always engaged in 2 or 3 seconds.
I’m going to call the dealer tomorrow to see if they verified the 4WD worked after the calibration. Any idea of what could be going on?
Thanks
My 4WD worked fine for most of last winter but at the end of the season it started to have problems. It was months ago but what I remember is that, when I put it in 4H, the green 4WD dash light started to flash, and the 4LO, ABS, and Trac lights came on and stayed lit. Also, the DAC light would not light. The SR5 would go into 4H when turned on and would go back to 2WD when I took it out of 4WD. I could feel it engage and disengage as well as the change in traction. I don’t remember if the lights went out when I took it out of 4WD but, eventually the lights stayed lit all the time, DAC did not work and putting it into 4H or 4LO did not work at all. If I turned the engine off and restarted, the light came right back on again without touching the 4WD knob.
I brought it to my mechanic. He had it for two days but could not diagnose the problem. When working on it, he couldn’t get any recognizable codes; he installed a new actuator but that did not fix the problem, so he reinstalled the original one. In the end, except for the Trac light, he got the other lights to go off and stay off. I haven’t tried putting it in 4WD since. That was back in March. I’ve been driving it since and, except for the Trac light always being on, it drives fine.
Two days ago, the behavior changed. After starting the engine, when I put it in Drive and started moving forward, all the lights came back on just like in March. Putting it in and taking it out of 4H and 4LO didn’t do anything. If I shut the engine off and turned it back on, the Trac light came on but none of the others, and they stayed off. If I started it again later in the day it did the same thing.
I brought it to the dealer today and gave them this history of the problem. I told them that a new actuator was installed but that did not fix the problem. I forgot to tell them that the old actuator was reinstalled. The Service rep called me and said that the tech saw that it had a new actuator and that he was getting codes c120a and c1268. When a new actuator is installed, a “zero point calibration” needs to be done. The codes indicated that was not done and that was what it needed to solve the issue. I was going to let them know that it did not have a new actuator but figured that would give them a reason to install one, needed or not. So, I just let them do the calibration.
I picked my 4Runner up and drove home with no dash lights on and the DAC working (at least the light came on when I hit the switch). I played with the 4WD in my driveway. When I put it in 4H and started going forward (I have a long driveway) the green 4WD light came on and was flashing. I think it was a slow flash, not a fast one but I have nothing to compare it to. None of the other lights came on and it would not go into 4H. When put in 4LO, that dash light did not come on and the green 4WD light continued to flash. The green 4WD light went out when I set it back to 2H.
I saw some 4WD posts here that said it could take a while for the 4WD to engage. Should I drive around with 4WD on for a while to see if it engages? In the past, when put in 4WD it always engaged in 2 or 3 seconds.
I’m going to call the dealer tomorrow to see if they verified the 4WD worked after the calibration. Any idea of what could be going on?
Thanks
