Memphis4X4

Well, here's another Success Story as far as the benefits of this Forum. My 4WD light had stopped working in my Runner. I noticed it when I dropped the truck into 4WD in the rain trying to get that 'added sense of security and safety' on slick streets. I thought that when shifting into 4WD, I could feel the ADD lock in the front Dif but no light was coming on. In the past I had the connector in the lead that runs from the front Dif up through the engine compartment and connects to the light in the dash come unplugged......that time, I was really shifting into 4WD but the dash light just wasn't coming on. This time my 4WD light had mysteriously stopped coming on after my last oil change and I thought that I had knocked the plug in this wire loose....the plug connector is right next to the oil filter on the 2nd gens. Upon inspection, I found the connector was still plugged in....so I knew the problem wasn't there. I thought that maybe it was the bulb being burnt out..... in one of the threads somebody had a bulb burn out. So, I disassembled the dash and took the bulb out and tested it....it lit up just fine. I reinstalled the bulb and put the dash back together and remembered that in the same thread it talked about the vacuum lines, so I traced the lines from the differential up through the engine compartment on the passenger side by the starter, and the exhaust header, and up to two vacuum hose switches on the passenger side fender next to the fuse box. With the truck running, I found that I had vacuum at the switches but down at the differential, I had no vacuum. Inspecting the hoses further, I found that one apparently had contacted the exhaust header and had burned through. I disconneted the vacuum hoses from the swithes on the fender and got down by the differential and pulled them down through the engine compartment. I cut out the burned section and using a Autozone vacuum union connector, I spliced the vacuum hose back together. I fished the hoses back up through the engine compartment making sure to keep them routed away from the exhaust header. I plugged them back into the switches on the inner fender, got in, fired up the truck, and tried out 4WD. When I pulled the 4WD lever, the relay in the dash clicked and the light came on!! I also felt the front tires bind when I turned the truck on dry pavement. I was back in business!!! I had replaced the spark plugs at my last oil change and had dropped a plug into the bowels of the truck..... I must had moved the vacuum lines enough when I fished around to find the plug and cause one of them to come in contact with the header....thus causing it to burn through and defeat my 4WD. I then realized that all of the times lately that I had been putting the truck in 4WD in the rain had only given me a false sense of security.

To make a Long story Short, this forum's vast amount of knowledge allowed me to learn from other's experiences and apply that to troubleshooting and fixing the problem on my truck.

Yotatech.....what a great Forum!!

David

Rayday81

Good job man, it's always nice to fix something yourself. Could you imagine how much the stealership would have charged to get it fixed for you.

rah1420

On my recent trip to Paragon, I had the 4WD light go on when I went to 4 High, but when I dropped it to 4 Low the light went off.

Is this normal behavior or should I be diving for a problem?


Couldn't have said it better m'self.

Memphis4X4

Yeah, Rayday81, this is the second problem in a month that I had asked a Toyota mechanic to look at and he did not/could not fix. The first was a loose engine ground that was making the Runner not start correctly and now this. On each, I spent the time and effort and now am pretty stoked that I fixed both problems when each had stumped the Wrench.

I guess my question is, can you tell a difference in the action of the truck when you drop into 4 Low? Mine in 4 Low really drives different.....it growls in a lower gearing and has power but no speed versus 4 Hi. If you can't tell a difference, I'd dive deeper. Once you drop it into 4 Hi, that activates the ADD and engages the front Dif.....then dropping it into 4 Low, should only affect the Transfer Case....the front Dif (thus the 4WD dash light) should still be engaged. Something just doesn't sound right about how yours is acting....I'd probably dive in and check.

David