Hello All. New member here and first time Toyota owner. I have already done quite a bit of reading here and look forward to participating in this forum.

I recently picked up a 2000 4Runner SR5 4wd (J Shift) Automatic with 155k miles as a daily for my wife and a weekend toy for me. One of the issues with the truck is 4wd does not engage and no indicator light on the dash indicating you are in 4wd. I have already validated that the front diff is good by performing the vacuum line swap to force the truck into 4wd. When swapping the lines 4wd does engage and the indicator on the dash does light.

I checked continuity at the solenoid and the signal is not being sent to turn on the 4wd solenoid. Due to how difficult they are to get to I did not test the actual transfer case switches themselves. After much reading here I decided to gamble the problem is the switch and ordered all three since I will be in there anyway.

My question to those that have done this job, what did you determine was the easiest way to access the switches? I have purchased both a 27mm Angle Head wrench and a 27mm flare nut wrench in the hopes they will help me weasel into the area without too much disassembly. From my research it appears the available options are below with various levels of success reported.

1. Remove the switches from under the truck without removing anything else (somehow were able to get at them!?)

2. Do the same as above but lower the transmission in order to gain access

3. Remove the switches from inside the truck by removing entire shift linkage to gain access

Any suggestions are much appreciated. So far I am really enjoying this truck.

 

I take it not many have tackled this job. I'll post back how I accomplished the task after I complete the repair.

 

I removed, tested, and replaced the 2 sensors on the actuator and the one on the front diff and that solved my problem.

i have not done the Upper 2. If I were to do them, I think I would lower the crossmember for a little extra room.

 

What was the best way you found to get to the t-case switches?

 

Fortunately I never had to. The problem ended up being the relay in the passenger kick panel. I have read elsewhere of people having success with a crow foot wrench.