A few issues I need help with!!

[99yota4]

I posted this question under audio and electronics section while I was discussing some other stuff.

Anyway, I can't figure out why the 4wd indicator doesn't turn on when I engage the 4wd hi and low. do you think it's a dead bulb behind the instrument panel? The shifter lights never go on either as well as the left side of the climate control. THis was the way it was when I bought the vehicle. The clocks out too. I'm kinda worried that the instrument panel might have been swapped out because on some 99's I see that the 4wd indicator is in the middle top. But my 4wd indicator light is on the far right bottom.

OH! sorry i just thought of something else. My check engine light turned on after i drove my t4r hard to see what kinda power she had. Soon after the check engine light went out and i went to a buddy's place and read the code. It was P0420. Its the Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) error. Should I be worried about this? I already reset the check engine light so it's not on.

 

[Mr. Leary]

For the 4wd light, try puting the truck in reverse breifly after switching into 4wd, then back into drive. You are letting everything line up in there. If that doesn't work, repost and we can try to think of some other options.

For the error code... inspect your exhaust manifold and exhaust between the engine and catalytic converter for leaks. If you are lucky, there will just be a leak. If not, your honeycomb may have cracked inside the converter. You can test this by giving it a good shake after it cools down. This is a problem you will want to address sooner rather than later, as a problem such as this can cause an exhaust sytem blockage, which will rob your truck of both power and efficiency. It will bog down when you get on it. Worst case scenario, you will have to change out yout catalytic converter, best case, you have to buy some exhaust tape and wrap it up!

 

[steezemcqueen]

I posted this question under audio and electronics section while I was discussing some other stuff.

Anyway, I can't figure out why the 4wd indicator doesn't turn on when I engage the 4wd hi and low. do you think it's a dead bulb behind the instrument panel? The shifter lights never go on either as well as the left side of the climate control. THis was the way it was when I bought the vehicle. The clocks out too. I'm kinda worried that the instrument panel might have been swapped out because on some 99's I see that the 4wd indicator is in the middle top. But my 4wd indicator light is on the far right bottom.

in 99 limiteds with the multimode 4wd, the 4wd indicator was in the center of the dash like you are describing. if you don't have the multimode(which you don't because you have a sr5), then its on the bottom right side of the panel.

as for the light not turning on, are you sure 4wd is actually engaging?

 

[99yota4]

Mr. Leary, I will repost tomorrow when I do that. Thank you for your input.

Thegreenmonster, I'm pretty sure it is engaged because I feel the steering wheel get "heavier" when I shift into 4HI.

 

[99yota4]

So I tried putting the 4runner in reverse after putting it in 4wd and it still doesn't light up the 4wd indicator. The Check engine light came back on with the same error code p0420. I got it checked at autozone this time and they said it could by anything from an o2 sensor or my engine spitting out bad stuff from burning oil or a bad ignition causing fuel or something to go through the cat. I don't know how to diagnose these 2 issues! I'll have my 4runner in the garage this weekend because I'll be working on the security/remote start installation. Any ideas for the 4wd indicator light and error code??

 

[bhowle]

I posted this in response to a different P0420 thread, but it applies to you as well.

p0420 is a catalyst efficiency code, which doesn't necessarily relate to the front o2 sensor. Either your rear sensor has gone bad, or the converter(s) have gone out. How many miles are on your T4R? To properly diagnose this, you need to look at the o2 sensor readouts using a scan tool. Hold the engine around 2500rpm and you should see the front sensor switch between high (1.5v or so) and low (around 800mv) voltage, while the rear reads a nearly steady voltage. If the rear switches similar to the front, your converter is bad.

If your front O2 was the problem, you would likely have a P1130 (and one other code that I can't remember off the top of my head, though I think it is P1135).