99 limited wont shift out of 4wd

[hillbilly345]

Thanks for any help. All is appreciated. 99 Four Runner bought from new always maintained by stealer, for peace of mind for gf that works at night. Last year had hard time shifting out and into 4wd , thought it was from nonuse, after winter it was acting OK. Now she accidentally hit the 4wd button and it wont fully engage or disengage. How can I fix this or atleast get it out of 4wd? Is this a problem with the actuator? Please help me , I would rather pay my mortgage than the stealer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jon]

Tried taking it off into the grass or sand and bumping on the throttle in forward and reverse? That may help thing align and make the tranfer case happy.

 

[hillbilly345]

The dash light just keeps blinking and wont disengage, you can feel the drag on the front drive line.

 

[TJLong]

well if its just the button you pressed and its not slid down in 4wd you're alright to drive it, that's the multimode 4wd you can drive around all day with it on. I would try the travel forward and reverse thing should click off.

 

[TheDurk]

It could be an electrical problem with the wiring of the ADD VSV's, a vacuum hose system problem, the VSV's themselves, or the actuator on the front diff. Read this thread to get an idea how to troubleshoot. Linky There are some pictures to show you what the VSV's look like.

Systematic troubleshooting beats guessing at the problem every time (except when somebody guesses right). That said, the intermittent nature leads me to think vacuum problem--these cars are getting to the age where these things act up. So I'd start there. See if the vacuum is strong coming out of the check valve ($3 at NAPA if it is not passing vacuum). Look for loose or leaking hoses. Then see if there is vacuum at one of the two VSV's (pull the long hose going down to the diff off the VSV to check if there is vacuum at the nipple on the VSV.) Then cycle trans/TC to 4WD and see if vacuum switches to the other hose. Report back and we will know what to do next.

You can drive it with the front diff engaged but the TC not. It's just extra wear on the driveline and an MPG or so. If you're stuck in 4WD you will feel it in slow speed turns and that's NOT ok to drive, as said above.

 

[pbcolt]

my 99 wouldnt disengage either when I bought it. turned out to be the transfer indicator switch.

try here 4WD won't disengage on 99 4Runner LTD - Page 6 - YotaTech Forums

 

[hillbilly345]

Thanks for all the replies fellas. Im gonna try everything I can . I ll keep ya informed.

 

[hillbilly345]

Tried the grass thing, stone road ditch, and nothing. Drove 5 miles to Walgreens for Tampons, could still feel the drag in the parking lot, drove back about a mile and slight thump, felt front fork I guess disengage and now its out, no more drag and flashing light. Told her dont touch til I check into it more. Could the front fork be a little dry from nonuse? what can I do for preventative maintanance? Again Thanks for all the help.

 

[theizzardking]

Tried the grass thing, stone road ditch, and nothing. Drove 5 miles to Walgreens for Tampons, could still feel the drag in the parking lot, drove back about a mile and slight thump, felt front fork I guess disengage and now its out, no more drag and flashing light. Told her dont touch til I check into it more. Could the front fork be a little dry from nonuse? what can I do for preventative maintanance? Again Thanks for all the help.

grease it up make sure you got fluid in the case and run it through a few times, short of that you may have some problems if it doesn't start working as normal, shift solenoid and postition indicators would be the first places to start if simply running it through a few times doesn't work, this is pretty common and most people usually just have to disengage and reengage it a few times to get it to work, the manual says to engage 4wd every few months or so i believe, i do mine every 3-4 weeks just to be sure.

in short the only maintenance for our 4wd is a few zerks,fluid in the case and to run it through every so often.