Long story short...My problem is my wife drives a 2004 limited V8 4runner and used the hill decent control function to go down our gravel icy driveway last week. Her SUV is now stuck in 4-Low. I had it towed to a Toyota dealership and they can''t find a quick fix. They are quoting me $4300 + tax for a new transfer case or $600 to disasemble the transfer case to see if they can see something obvious. They said they tried to apply an external power source to the actuator to see if they could get it to kick out but no luck. They said even replacing the actuator is $1000+ just for the part. The SUV only has approx 60K miles. I''m pretty sick about having to dump this much money into it already. Can anyone lend me some advice?ThanksScott

 

don't know much about the 4th gen 4runners but aren't the T-case electronically controlled. Have they checked the electronic parts first. Dealer shops are usually just part replacement specialists and don't do much trouble shooting. Have it towed to a local specialists and have them look at it, one that works on newer 4runners. If its not under warranty any more there is no use of taking it to the dealership anymore, they charge way to much for everything. Find a good local shop and stick with them if its not warranty work. Sound like a lot to replace a T-case. I took my old VW to the dealer after it died and they wanted $4000 to get her back on the road, I said no thanks and found a good shop that charged $2500, never had a problem after that.

You have options, if you feel that is too much, tell them no thanks and have it towed to a shop you trust. Ask around on these toyota forums about good shops around your city that they trust and they can point you in the right direction. A good site that has a lot of 4th gen 4runner people is www.toyota-4runner.org.
Good luck.

 

Is this a full- or part-time 4WD system? If part-time, might just be some binding in the drivetrain. If so try backing up in a straight line and see if it'll shift into 4H then 2H. If a full-time system, then do as suggested above.

 

You don't have to buy a new T-case either.
Bunch of wrecked out cars out there. Check this site out and find the parts near you and have a local shop swap it out, if it is truly the T-case. Way cheaper than dealer new prices.

http://www.car-part.com

 

thanks guys

I learned a lot.

 

Well I had it towed to a different dealership (I did that prior to posting here). They say it's the actuator - out the door for about $2400.

One thing that confuses me is they say they can get it back into 4H for about 10 feet then it goes back into 4L. If the actuator is out how is it going back into 4L? Could this really be an electrical problem instead? I haven't had a change to ask this to them yet.

I tried to find a used part on the website you referred me to but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right thing. "Transfer case - electric motor" is what I can find. Is this the actuator and is one motor all I need? I can find one used for about $250 vs the $1100 the dealership wants for a new part. We plan to keep the truck so I don't know if I want to role the dice with a used part but I'd love to save that much money... any thoughts?

Scott

 

DO NOT PAY THAT MUCH!!!!

This is completely unheard of.

We have an '04 with 80k and have had no problems.

There has been a few people with problems where the actuator seal gets worn out and "supposedly" can't be replaced.

I'm thinking of an electric problem with the ECU,. Do you have any experience with cars, or want to? if you want either you'll save a bundle of money, and have the pride that you did it yourself, I started a few years ago and never looked back, and now I'm putting a new engine in.

I reccomend diagnosing the problem first and then look for used parts.