4X4 Actuator replacement

My truck 2007 will not engage 4X4 and no blinking light, actually warning light. Talked to my local mechanic whom I trust and said call the transmission repair shop, who said it's electrical and need to be brought for testing. I think I need a scanner to see what codes it shows. Called my local Toyota dealer for an estimate and they quoted $1700 for the part and 11.5 hours labor for a total of $4200! Anybody else have any ideas the price seems over the top!

Ask my friend Sr. Toyota tech for almost 40 years and he said don't buy a used transfer case as the actuator might be the problem on the used one also. He said it's water intrusion that rusts the gears and inside of the actuator and causes the failure.

I'm not going to attempt working on it myself.

 

So local Toyota dealer charges $215/hr now? I guess that’s reasonable? Look thru different threads here on the forum, not the first guy to deal with this. Look up YT videos. Maybe you find a local guy, smaller shop who can do the work for half that hourly rate. This is an old truck, dealers are the last place to take a truck that isn’t under full warranty.

 

The truth is, if you’re gonna own an old ass truck, you gotta be able to work on them yourself, or be willing to pay ridiculous sums of money for someone else to. If you don’t wanna or can’t do the work, you’re at the mercy of the mechanic. You can shop around, but what you really want is the most competent and honest mechanic working on it, not the cheapest. Good luck.

 

I have a few old vehicles, a 2008 DC, 2004 LX470, 63 Corvette and a 67 Corvette big block. This particular truck is a 2007 RCSB and not available after MY 2013. I'm not a mechanic, but at 70 years old I really don't want to spend 11 hours lying on my back fixing this problem. YouTube videos say an experienced mechanic takes 10-11 hours to change out the unit.

 

$215/hr I can believe… 11.5 hours to due the job is BS.

quick search shows a new transfer assembly (whole, new, t-case) is about $2000-2900. Pretty sure swapping a T-case is pretty straightforward, maybe 2 hours… At $215/hr, should be under $3500. Still not cheap, but less risk involved with botched repair.

 

You could buy a used transfer case for cheap >$500 and save yourself a bit. It took me about 4 or so hours to remove and replace my transfer case when converting to AWD. Look for one with no rust on the actuator screw heads and I think you'd be good to go.