Help, I'm stuck in 4WD

[_chassis_]

orangeblast, can you post a few photos of your instrument panel, the center diff lock button and the 2WD/4WD selector knob?

Is your differential lock light on? If yes, pushing the button will unlock the center differential and the steering will loosen up.

 

[ac1617]

So what would pressing the Lock Center Differential button do then at this point?

There is no seperate lock and unlock buttons for the center differential, it's all done with the same button. Your steering being tight is a guaranteed locked center differential I'm not sure why you are trying tow argue against that observation.
You say when you press the lock diff button... The orange light with the X in the middle flashes but I assume it never goes away? That's the center Diff trying to disengage (my orange light also flashes when it's disengaging) but can't because it's stuck.

I mean it's your truck, keep driving it all you want on dry pavement with tight steering. I'm just saying I personally wouldn't do it as Toyota also doesn't recommend driving on dry pavement with a locked diff. You can keep convincing yourself it's not locked and the tight steering is... Whatever you want it to be I guess.

 

[orangeblast22]

Hey hold up now, I'm not trying to argue anything. I'm simply trying to better understand what mode my 4runner is in right now and what I need to do to get it back to normal.

I thought pressing the button, the blinking orange symbol, and the beeping noise was my 4Runner was actually trying to lock the center. Seems I am mistaken so I will revisit this.

Edit: it's fixed. I was a fool and inexperienced with this situation and misread what my 4runner was doing. Thanks for helping me understand better.

 

[AuSeeker]

Hey hold up now, I'm not trying to argue anything. I'm simply trying to better understand what mode my 4runner is in right now and what I need to do to get it back to normal.

I thought pressing the button, the blinking orange symbol, and the beeping noise was my 4Runner was actually trying to lock the center. Seems I am mistaken so I will revisit this.

Edit: it's fixed. I was a fool and inexperienced with this situation and misread what my 4runner was doing. Thanks for helping me understand better.

Will you elaborate on..."it's fixed" please, what was the issue and how did you resolve it?
I'm not trying too put you in the spot light for not knowing how to use the 4WD system, only hoping you will elaborate to possibly help others who may end up having the same issue!

 

[ac1617]

Hey hold up now, I'm not trying to argue anything. I'm simply trying to better understand what mode my 4runner is in right now and what I need to do to get it back to normal.

I thought pressing the button, the blinking orange symbol, and the beeping noise was my 4Runner was actually trying to lock the center. Seems I am mistaken so I will revisit this.

Edit: it's fixed. I was a fool and inexperienced with this situation and misread what my 4runner was doing. Thanks for helping me understand better.

Sorry I just thought it was obvious that if your orange light with the X is on... And you notice the steering is very stiff.. that the center Diff is locked haha.

Anyways good to hear you resolved it.

 

[ac1617]

Will you elaborate on..."it's fixed" please, what was the issue and how did you resolve it?
I'm not trying too put you in the spot light for not knowing how to use the 4WD system, only hoping you will elaborate to possibly help others who may end up having the same issue!

If I had to guess, OP didn't understand that the diff lock button is to both lock and unlock the diff. He was probably thinking you switch to 4H with the knob and use the diff lock button to lock the diff... But to unlock you just use the knob (that's why he was confused what was the purpose of pressing the diff lock button if the orange locked light was already on). Add the fact that it sometimes takes a while after pressing the diff lock button for the diff lock to unlock (and the orange light flashes while doing so) he didn't think it was unlocking.
Someone should make a video and sticky how this all works haha.

 

[RTrickster86]

Don't mean to jump in on the OP post, but since it looks like his issue was easily resolved, perhaps you can all help me with a very similar conundrum that doesn't seem to have such an easy solution:

07 SR5 V6 w/around 140k- my wife's rig.

I recently built a gravel driveway down to our lower back property and took her rig down there to grab a small motorcycle trailer that I park down there, and put it in 4wd on the way back up to avoid chewing up the new gravel road.

The rig was in (P) when I shifted into 4hi. It went into 4wd just fine. I noted that the green 4wd icon was solidly illuminated, and the yellow diff lock symbol was flashing. I thought this was odd because I never hit the diff lock button. The yellow VSC off light is also solidly illuminated.

Once back up to the front of our house I disengaged 4wd, and noted that the symbols on the dash remained as described above. No big deal, as I've occasionally had our 4runner take a little bit to disengage 4wd. However, this time it simply never disengaged. We drove the rig about 15 miles that evening, and I tried anything and everything to get it to disengage, including coasting forward and back and finding a loose road to ensure no strain was left on the drive-train.

Making the situation worse is that the vehicle as stuck with the diff lock on! Even though the icon is blinking, it is most definitely on. I've had fully locked rigs before, and know the strain this puts on the drive-train. I brought it home and parked it ASAP.

The 4wd switch is doing absolutely nothing. It does not beep when trying to switch to 4lo when in (P), as it normally would. The actuator motors on the transfer case don't make any noise at all when adjusting the switch, and it also will not shift to 4lo when in (N). My parents also have the same model 4runner, and their actuator can audibly be heard on their rig with the ignition in the accessory position, shifting between 2wd-4hi, and then 4hi-4lo. With ours - nothing.

I've tried swapping the 4wd ECU from their 4runner, and that did not help the situation any. I know the transfer case actuators are problematic on these things, but I'm still not sold that is the issue, as it seems most people have issues with it initiating 4wd after a long period of disuse. In this case it shifted to 4wd just fine, and is now seemingly is locked there.

Is there a possibility this issue is tied to a faulty front differential actuator instead of the actuator on the transfer case? I'm thinking perhaps the front diff actuator engaged enough to lock the front end, but never hit the limit switch, which then locked up the ECU and entire system, so it won't even try to disengage?

I've banged on both actuators with a rubber mallet, but no joy. Very confused, as I have not been able to find a single documented case where someone experienced this exact issue.

Thanks all

 

[RTrickster86]

I'm thinking the process faulted at the circled step in the attached graphic freezing the entire operation. Just seems weird that I get no buzzer when attempting 4lo, and no noise @ either actuator motor.

 

[hanusa2005]

I have the same exact issue as trickster. Are there any links to a solution to this problem?

 

[hanusa2005]

I have the same exact issue as trickster. Are there any links to a solution to this problem?

If I had to guess, OP didn't understand that the diff lock button is to both lock and unlock the diff. He was probably thinking you switch to 4H with the knob and use the diff lock button to lock the diff... But to unlock you just use the knob (that's why he was confused what was the purpose of pressing the diff lock button if the orange locked light was already on). Add the fact that it sometimes takes a while after pressing the diff lock button for the diff lock to unlock (and the orange light flashes while doing so) he didn't think it was unlocking.
Someone should make a video and sticky how this all works haha.

Same issue as trickster what was the fix?