I follow and get great info from many posts/members. I don't feel like I contribute enough...so I thought I would share my experience with a new to me 4th gen. I bought a SR5 V6 with 188K, one owner. Great truck and nothing wrong with it except the 4lo. I read all the posts about what to do, nothing! Yesterday it worked out of the blue, did nothing different with the expection of being on slight incline and slowly rolling forward, I said slowly and maybe a foot. Now it works as designed. Moral, don't give up and keep trying...it's a Yota!
No 4lo, not anymore.
- Thread starter FOYOTA86
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sport2004
Member
I hope the same will happen for me, but I've tried A LOT with no success.
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paraordnance
New member
Haha, are you guys not worried that after engaging 4lo you not going to get stuck there. I once engaged 4lo at the lake playing in the snow. Result: I'm driving home in 4lo at like 40 mph on highway redlining all the way. I'm afraid to touch that switch now
No fooling, with that in mind kept at it in the driveway. Only a short 1/4 mile to my mechanic if needed. Seems to be reliable working now.
TowMeOut
New member
Mine got stuck in 4Lo 10hrs from home. The prospect of a 20+hr drive home at redline didn't suit me so I cracked open the actuator (damaging it in the process) and shifted manually. Long story short...I eventually got a new actuator and replaced it myself. What a pain.....
The white grease inside the OEM case was the consistency of school paste. I think with age the stuff drys out and gets stiff, jamming the gears a bit. Also, the seals get kind of dry and bind on the shafts. Lastly, the electrical terminals on the motors don't actually have a crimp or spade connection (horrible design). The molded plastic basically holds the leads against the motor terminals (just mild pressure). With age I think this connection breaks down.
So, now I have a pair of spare motors (in case the one in the front diff actuator dies I have a spare, and an extra set of actuator oil seals (long story). It seems if you keep the case "exercised" at least once a month the actuator will last for decades. Neglect it.....and you're gonna be stuck.
The white grease inside the OEM case was the consistency of school paste. I think with age the stuff drys out and gets stiff, jamming the gears a bit. Also, the seals get kind of dry and bind on the shafts. Lastly, the electrical terminals on the motors don't actually have a crimp or spade connection (horrible design). The molded plastic basically holds the leads against the motor terminals (just mild pressure). With age I think this connection breaks down.
So, now I have a pair of spare motors (in case the one in the front diff actuator dies I have a spare, and an extra set of actuator oil seals (long story). It seems if you keep the case "exercised" at least once a month the actuator will last for decades. Neglect it.....and you're gonna be stuck.
paraordnance
New member
Yeah, I'm quite mechanically inclined as my 4Runner have never been at dealership for service in 7 years as I all do it myself. But, getting that actuator fixed is quite frightening to me from what I have read based on other's experience. I will probably do this in the next 2 years but only as splitting the case. No frigging way I will try and play with those gears falling out or risk damaging the seal. For now, I shall stick with 4hi as getting that thing unstuck is really frustrating and not happening unless you carrying around rubber mallet with you all the time.
