97 4rnr 4wd engagment problems

[Motoaxe]

Please accept my apologies that my first thread and post has to be requesting assistance.... But admittedly I am pretty green about all this stuff however I'm fairly handy with a wrench...

Also I did a little digging into previous threads however didn't find any that were identical to my situation however there are many many threads and I may have missed it..

Here is the situation... 1997 4runner automatic..
Will move in both high and low range
No indicator lights on the dash to indicate four-wheel-drive etc.
I check the operation of the VSV which seems correct
With the vehicle in park and in two wheel high I cannot spin the propeller shaft by hand
When I operate the four-wheel-drive switch on the shifter I can hear a click underneath the vehicle but nothing else
The 20 amp 4wd fuse under the dash is good

I just bought this vehicle and the previous owner indicated that one day the four-wheel-drive just stopped engaging..

Any indication or help that I could get as I come to you experienced guys would be greatly greatly appreciated!!

Cheeers!
Ron

 

[Motoaxe]

Update

It's pretty cold up here in Ontario which is making my troubleshooting A little spotty at best!! One thing that I have found out though however is that when I switch the four-wheel-drive button in both connectors at the VSV get power. When I deselect the four-wheel-drive button I only got power at one... To me that seems incorrect...correct?

 

[Chandlerdoom]

When you ware checking the VSV keep in mind that its only one end of the vacuum. You need to get at the front diff as well. Do this, make sure your truck is in 2wd and you can spin the driveshaft by hand. Now switch the vacuum lines at the VSV and see if the driveshaft locks. If it doesn't, go to the front diff and switch the lines there. Now see if the front diff locks, if it does either way, you have a vacuum leak or a rusted line thats preventing enough vacuum.

Now if either way did not work, pull the diaphragm line (car off) and see if you can move the actuator by sucking on the line. You should hear it move, as always just grab the driveshaft and see if it locked. Now if any of those ways worked, keep the line as is with the front diff engaged (driveshaft locked) and turn the car on and put into 4wd, now see if your 4wd light comes on.

If it worked sweet, fix the broken vacuum line. Now if the front diff is working correctly and still no 4wd light then you can move onto the transercase or the switch thats under the glove box

If you need me to clarify anything just ask, I know its kind of confusing at first

 

[Motoaxe]

Thanks,

I did run a vacuum line directly from the manifold to do the troubleshooting on the axle and was able to get it all verified... The problem is at the voltage readings at the vsv however... When the 4wd button is selected, I can get voltage readings at both connectors at the vsv's and only get voltage at one connector if the switch is off....

On another note, if the t-case is in high range with the 4wd button on, is there a dif active in the t-case?

 

[Chandlerdoom]

So you were able to get the front diff to engage? without being in 4wd?

Other than helping you verify if the front diff is working or not I can't help you anymore, I assumed you had a J shifter. Hopefully someone will chime in with knowledge