YotaTech Forums - View Single Post - Help: Do I need to Replace Rear Actuator on 99 4runner Ltd

EZs4runr · 11-25-2007, 07:47 PM

OK... its all fixed now!

So they say you have to cycle in and out of 4WD about once a month or so... Yep.. got to do it!!

So I fixed the problem with help from this site (and no one even replied to ANY of my posts!)

When I spoke to one guy (Fred at Mountain States Toyota in Denver) He said they might be able to fix the problem with just an hour of labor by just manualy cycling on and off the actuator. Well Fred was not there when I took the car in on saturday as it was his day off. I told the Other service guy Romney what I had tested in an effort to save some time in troubleshooting. When they gave me the price... $1700 to replace the rear actuator... I nearly messed my pants! I said I wanted to talk to the tech (Antonio Rojas Paz) and we went back to take a look. He said the xfer case had to be removed to to replace the rear actuator and thats why the cost was so high! I'm a sales guy and I know how to read faces... my instincts told me that Antonio was feeding me a line of crap... so I declined to have them do the work and paid their $109.38 diagnostic fee.... and got a free car wash. Woopie! This happened Yesterday Saturday 11/25/07.

Today using info I found on this site as I listed above, I cycled the rear actuator by applying 12 volts on Pin 2 and 3 and reversing polarity back and fourth. While still on jack stands... I plugged everything back together and then started it up. Pushed the button for AWD and after a clunk it was in Hi 4WD. Let the tires turn and shure nuff... all four wheels were doing their thing. Pushed the switch to turn it off... and let wheels turn again.... a little clunking and sure nuff it was back in 2WD. So ALL is working fine! I know for a Fact that Mountain States Toyota tech Antonio never did this cause it would have popped right out of 4WD!

This site and knowledgeable folks like "pilottech" who post excelent and Acurate info saved me $1700 bucks!

My next call will be to the service manager in the morning! Ill send them a link to these posts and see what they think.

Thanks YotaTech and everyone who posts here!

Eric "EZs4runr"
Denver Colorado

11-25-2007, 07:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
EZs4runr Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 8	Got Er all fixed! Saved $1700! OK... its all fixed now! So they say you have to cycle in and out of 4WD about once a month or so... Yep.. got to do it!! So I fixed the problem with help from this site (and no one even replied to ANY of my posts!) When I spoke to one guy (Fred at Mountain States Toyota in Denver) He said they might be able to fix the problem with just an hour of labor by just manualy cycling on and off the actuator. Well Fred was not there when I took the car in on saturday as it was his day off. I told the Other service guy Romney what I had tested in an effort to save some time in troubleshooting. When they gave me the price... $1700 to replace the rear actuator... I nearly messed my pants! I said I wanted to talk to the tech (Antonio Rojas Paz) and we went back to take a look. He said the xfer case had to be removed to to replace the rear actuator and thats why the cost was so high! I'm a sales guy and I know how to read faces... my instincts told me that Antonio was feeding me a line of crap... so I declined to have them do the work and paid their $109.38 diagnostic fee.... and got a free car wash. Woopie! This happened Yesterday Saturday 11/25/07. Today using info I found on this site as I listed above, I cycled the rear actuator by applying 12 volts on Pin 2 and 3 and reversing polarity back and fourth. While still on jack stands... I plugged everything back together and then started it up. Pushed the button for AWD and after a clunk it was in Hi 4WD. Let the tires turn and shure nuff... all four wheels were doing their thing. Pushed the switch to turn it off... and let wheels turn again.... a little clunking and sure nuff it was back in 2WD. So ALL is working fine! I know for a Fact that Mountain States Toyota tech Antonio never did this cause it would have popped right out of 4WD! This site and knowledgeable folks like "pilottech" who post excelent and Acurate info saved me $1700 bucks! My next call will be to the service manager in the morning! Ill send them a link to these posts and see what they think. Thanks YotaTech and everyone who posts here! Eric "EZs4runr" Denver Colorado Last edited by EZs4runr; 11-26-2007 at 05:27 PM.