When I shift into 4wd Hi (whether stopped or under 55mph), it does not engage into 4wd right away. The light does not turn on and I can feel that it is not engaged. However, after driving another few minutes it'll engage. Also, if I park and turn off the car before the 4wd engages and leave it in 4wd Hi, when I turn on the car minutes later, it'll be engaged (I can feel the traction and the light turns on). Any ideas?

98 4runner Sr5 3.4L

 

The only thing I can think of it is just slow from not being used.

Dirt moisture who can say.

I shift mine in a maybe twice a month of course more in the winter.

If it is cold where you are the cold makes things move slower if they seldom get used

 

Thanks for the response. When it's engaged it works fine. The fact that it takes a while to engage (sometimes 5-10 min driving or turning off the car for 5 min then turning back on) isn't indicative of a major issue?

 

Not yet but it could become one!!

Quite a few different places it could be like I said could just be dirt or something on the verge of failure.

You really don`t want to have it fail at the worst time.

Get a copy of the FSM and figure out just how it works figure out the problem area.

 

The light doesn't come on at all? Mine blinks while it's trying to engage. Usually doesn't work if driving at normal speeds, despite what the owners manual says. I stop, press the button, and then slowly roll forward and it engages right away.

I would think if you get no lights at all when pushing the button that something is definitely wrong.

 

Mine is not push button. It's a very delayed in engaging. The light stays off even though I shifted it into 4wd. I know it's not engaged because surfaces I can get out with the 4wd engaged, the rear wheels are just spinning. I'll turn the car off and turn it on after 5 min, and the light will be on and I'll get out of the spot with no problem. The other day it was snowing most of the day so I kept the 4wd engaged most of the day when I was driving around. No problems. Once engaged, it stayed engaged. Turned off the car, returned to it, started it and it was engaged.