2007-2020 Transfer Case Actuator

Hey sixweeds, so today i removed the guards and checked the vent, its was all good. I removed the lower assembly(which is 4-LO ?) and it looked pretty clean, probably first time ever opened. I just re-seated the cogs (referring to your photos) and felt like the actuator sticking out had a bit of "play". So i pushed it out a bit and put everything back together. Then tested and it all worked like a charm. So, in Aussie vernacular, thank you very much mate.

 

First let me give Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as there's some valuable information posted here.

I need clarification as to which Actuator to order. Truck is a 2007 Tundra Limited w/the 5.7 engine. When researching the part number for the actuator for this truck I came up with 41400-34020. When searching Rock Auto the picture of the actuator appears to be different from the one in the first post of this thread (the connecting rod). Can anyone confirm that there's a difference between the 2007 and the 2008, or is it based upon the engine (4.7 vs. 5.7)?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/toyota,2008,tundra,5.7l+v8,1441501,drivetrain,4wd+actuator,10456

 

To my knowledge, there is no difference between the 2007-08 (or any 2nd gen to 2014, and perhaps to present) transfer case actuator. And, though I have a 5.7L '07 Limited 4WD, Double Cab, I don't think the 4.7L is any different. But I won't swear to that. Can I ask what is the issue with your Tundra and why you need to order an actuator? I remember looking at that part on Rock Auto and thinking that the part shown didn't look like my actuator. It looked like the front differential actuator.

 

When I try to switch into 4Hi the 4Hi lights flashes and truck will not engage. When I try to switch into 4Lo the same thing, the 4Hi light flashes and the 4Lo light does nothing.

 

It sounds like then that you’re going to try to replace the four-wheel-drive actuator that’s bolted to the transfer case? Have you read this entire thread on this issue? Be advised that in order to do that you have to remove the entire transfer case split the case open and then reinstall the new actuator rods and clips into the transfer case both the transfer case back together and reinstall it in the truck. But if your problem is just with the motor and the actuator not turning because it’s rusted or frozen because water got in there through the vent tube, then you could save yourself a lot of time and just work on that little motor. This thread goes into great detail and how to do that and save yourself buchu bucks. Forgive me if I’m assuming too much here. What have you diagnosed is the problem if you don’t mind saying. You stated the symptoms, but do you know the reason? On mine it was because water got into the actuator and rusted the motor and froze it. So all I had to do was remove the little motor, free it up, little bit, and reinstall it. And it’s worked fine ever cents. Many other people have done the same thing. And if that motor is not salvageable, I found one on eBay for about seven dollars. Let me know if this is helpful and if I can be of any further assistance.

 

Thanks for the replies...........After reading the thread I'm aware of what's involved in replacing the actuator. Haven't had the problem diagnosed yet just trying to be proactive and prepare for the worse, while hoping for the best.

 

Joined the forum for help on fixing broken 4WD on my 2013 5.7. Thanks to all for the wealth of information in this and other related posts. Special kudos to sixweeds for taking the time to create a detailed write up to help others. I haven’t fixed the problem but made progress from my initial symptoms and want to post my experience so far. I’ll post periodically as I learn more.
Initial symptoms (in 2WD) were; 4Hi flashing, slip indicator solid and cruise control did not work. I checked the fuse, speed sensor wiring, switch and ruled out an ECU failure since I could read 12V on the transfer case actuator pins, breather tube was in place. When switching to 4 Hi, nothing happens, no sounds from either the TC actuator or front ADD actuator. I believe my TC case actuator motor is broken because I read 12V on the pins, it was getting the signal from the ECU. Unfortunately I was unable to remove the upper or lower half actuator screws to test the motors and switches since they were significantly rusted from Northeast driving and access is limited on the upper side. I decided to purchase a new TC actuator from Rock auto for ~ $500 Part number AISIN SAT014. I usually purchase OEM but for $1,400 from Toyota, I’ll pass. I read in another post about removing the actuator from the TC without having to drop the entire TC. Creative thinking from that guy and more up my alley as a DIYer. I used a Dremel to cut the rusted screws (4 of 5 on each half) that I could reach and that was enough to remove the upper and lowers half covers but the actuator body was ruined in the process and not reusable. I was hoping to avoid ruining the actuator housing but it wasn’t happening and the money was already spent. I removed the three bolts that hold the actuator to the TC and slid it off of the linkage rods. It took some persuasion but it will come off and you may have to rotate the drive shaft a bit to free it up. Installed the new housing and upper and lower covers. I reinstalled the gears in the same orientation I received them figuring it was set up for 2WD and the linkage rods were in the same position as on my truck. Turned ignition to aux power and put the truck in neutral. 4Lo light was flashing and I could hear the actuator motor spinning. I removed the lower half actuator cover and lined up three contact “fingers” as shown in this post. Turned aux power and 4Hi was flashing. Removed the 4Hi side and lined up the timing same as the low side with contactors lined up with tracer dimples. Started the truck and put in neutral. No lights flashing and slip indicator not showing. When switching to 4WD I can hear the TC actuator trying to engage then 4Hi blinks until I turn 4WD off. Oh yeah, the cruise now works I think it’s one of three issues; timing is still incorrect (don’t think it’s this); wiring from TC to front ADD has issues or the front ADD is broken. I’ll check wiring continuity and front ADD connector voltage.

 

I am in a very similar situation as turn005. 2013 Tundra Crewmax with the 5.7. I tried to put it in 4Hi, the 4Hi light just flashed, the anti slip light stayed solid, and no cruise control. Tried the simple stuff first with no luck. In my yard on grass I hit the gas briefly to see if the front wheels would spin, which they did not, so still in 2wd. The 4Hi and anti slip lights now do not go away, the 4wd switch does nothing when turning it to 2wd, 4Hi or 4Lo. The lights don’t change at all, and I could not hear the actuator doing anything. Thanks in a very large part to the immensely useful information on this post, I took off the top actuator motor expecting it to be seized up, but it looked brand new. Put alligator clips on my 4-wheeler battery and the contacts of the actuator motor, and the motor immediately spun freely. I put the gear back in the housing like you guys said it should go (thank you very much again for the information!) and pushed the toothed rod in all the way before putting it all back together. When I started the truck after it was all back together, no lights came on. Tried 4Hi, and exact same thing as before, I think I did hear the actuator do something, but it was stuck in 2wd, and the 4Hi light continued to flash and the anti slip stayed solid. Again, the switch did nothing and I could not hear the actuator trying to move at all. So I scratched my head for a while and took it all apart again, looked at everything, my untrained eye did not see anything that looked unusual. The thing was that the toothed rod was all the way out again, so I pushed it all the way back in and reassembled. The lights are all off now, cruise control works, and when the tires slip, the anti slip blinks briefly, then goes back out when the tires grip. So now I am really stumped. Wondering if you guys have any ideas because I am out of them. I am curious that the rod was out when I took it apart both times. Leads me to believe that the actuator must have pulled it out when I switched to 4Hi? So does that mean the problem is in the transfer case maybe? But then why would it not push it back in when turning the switch? Sitting here trying to think of my next course of action. I want to ask turn005 how he checked the switch, speed sensor wiring and ECU? Thanks a lot for all the information, you guys have already been very helpful. That word document was great.

 

What a great post by Sixweeds. I have an 07’ that wasn’t engaging with the flashing ‘4HI’ light. I followed the steps on here and now it’s working. I did have minor corrosion on the actuator motor but other than that nothing was obviously wrong. I did solder the connection points, re-greased what originally had grease and zipped tied the hose on top. I really didn’t think what I did would work but it sure did. Thanks!!!

 

NICE WRITE UP HUGE HELP SIR , THANK YOU

 

Sailornorm:I should clarify my prior post. I visually inspected speed sensor wiring, didn’t see anything unusual. I assumed the ECU was working properly because I could read 12V on the TC connector when switching to 4hi and low, therefore the switch was working.
In addition to installing the TC actuator, I purchased the front actuator Aisin SAT-011, $150 and a tube of FIPG (

$34 Toyota 00295-01281 Formed-in-Place Transmission Gasket - 3.5 oz. Tube

Toyota 00295-01281). Plugged the new unit into the connector without installing and no movement when switching to 4hi. I decided to install it anyway since the gear oil was due for a change and the installed front ADD was kinda rusty looking and my buddy talked me in to it. “We’re here, we have the parts, then you can rule it out. Plus you’ll have all new parts installed when you done and we have plenty of beer”. The install was straight forward, no issues but still no 4WD.

I suspected the problem was with the tension on the rod of the hi side of the TC case because I could hear the motor when switching to 4hi but it would not engage and just blink 4hi after a few seconds. Pulled off the top of the TC case actuator hi side and it came off very easy which confirmed my suspicion of insufficient tension. Tried resetting it but still no luck. Took it off again and made damn sure the rod was all the way in. Wiggled it back and forth just to be sure. Put the top back on and this time it took a little more persuasion to go on and it felt “snugger”.
Sure enough, took her for a spin, switched to 4hi and the 4hi light stayed on. Got some good snow here recently so I drove her to the park that has some unplowed roads and she ate em up.

Thanks again to everyone who posted on this issue. You helped to fix my problem, saved me thousands of dollars and I learned so much about my vehicle in the process.

 

Major kudos to Sixweeds for this information. I bit the bullet today and did the repair and my hi 4wd Hi is fixed. Low is stlll not there so going to do the lower actuator over the weekend. Mine was literally full of crap and mud (don't ask why LOL). Anyway, wanted to add a little trick I tried to keep the upper actuator together while reinstalling as I was afraid I could not keep it all together with a knife. I got everything all lined up and then tightly tied a length of dental floss around it all. I was able to hold the whole assembly upside down while calmly getting it lined over the 5 mounting holes. As I got the top down to a few thousands from bottomed out, I cut the string and pulled it out. Success!

 

Thanks to everyone in this post I was also able to get the 4wd to work properly again. Actuator motor was seized and was able to get it turning again.

 

Anyone removed the front diff ADD actuator? I followed this guide to remove and inspect my transfer case 4Hi actuator today and it looked brand new. My truck has 213k miles on it but it seems my front actuator is the one that's causing my 4wd engagement issue.

Here's a pic of my 4Hi actuator just for grins

 

Yes it’s is easy to replace if you drain the diff first. Just don’t let the slip collar slide too far towards the driver side.it has a robust motor and most likely is not the issue.
Did you verify that your motor turns freely?

 

No, that's what I need help figuring out how to test.

 

If you can easily turn the motor gear back and forth it’s probably good. If there is any resistance at all I’d replace it. I freed mine up and it stuck again a week later.
The way to test it is remove the motor and hook up to a battery. You will have to solder it back in place but that is easy.

 

You talking about the ADD actuator? I guess I'm not sure which part I remove. Is it the four bolts or the three screws in the plastic?

 

No, the 4 high actuator in your photo. You say it looks fine but did you see if the motor is free?

 

Yes, it is working. I have deemed the front ADD actuator the problem and I will be investigating it next.

 

I tried replacing mine without doing proper diagnosis of the high actuator first. I put a brand new ADD on and of course, it was not the problem. If you want to buy the ADD I took off, I'll sell it to you for $80 shipped. PM me if interested.

 

PM incoming

 

Update on my troubleshooting. I removed my ADD actuator and opened it up. It was beautiful, looked brand new, and I tested the motor with a 12V battery. Everything looked correct and the motor spun freely. Now I’m wondering if the ECU is delivering power to the ADD actuator at all. Is there a limit switch on the transfer case I can test?

 

Did you ever get yours fixed? I have an 07 Tundra. Like many others my vent hose split and came undone. I was tipped off by the flashing "4hi". I removed the transfer case actuator top motor and found it to be extremely rusted (see picture). I thwn cleaned and spun the gears until they broke loose. I hooked this lil guy up to a battery and remarkably it still works. I assembled the planetary/worm gears in the timing that those on this thread have recommended. I even used a knife to hold the gears together when I reassembled. The "4hi" was gone however when I try to engage it, it just starts blinking again. When I take it apart again I see it has moved but never fully engages unfortunately I need help! I really don't want to spend 4k at the Toyota dealership to have them drop the transfer case unless I absolutely have to. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Hey I'm still fighting with mine. I'm curious, did this technique work for you?

 

Glad I’m not the only one still struggling with this problem. I haven’t been able to find a solution yet, and it’s pretty hot to be out wrenching on my truck this time of year.

 

I had an issue with mine last week where it would not go into 4wd. When I flipped the switch all I got was a flashing 4hi light. It actually almost left me stranded in the boondocks on a steep gravel driveway with a trailer. I tore into it this weekend. I took the 4Hi actuator off and it looked brand new inside. I ran the motor with a 9 volt battery and everything worked fine. I went ahead and lubed it and change the grease on the traces on the case. I could not figure out why it would not work so I kept checking. When I checked the small switch I found a problem. I checked continuity on the switch with my ohm meter and it was very high. Like megohms sometimes and kilohms. After I cleaned the switch I was getting like zero to 1 ohm. Put it back together and have had no more issues. I have probably switched from 2wd to 4wd a couple of dozen times since then and no more problems.

I used @sixweeds instructions and write-up. Very helpful.

 

@huntertn all my actuators are functional, I think my problem may be in my actuator switch as well. How did you check, and how did you clean the switch?

 

I never messed with the switch in the dash it was the small micro switch in the actuator. I think we are talking about the same thing. All I did to check the switch was contact my ohm meter to each side of the switch and then push the gray switch arm. I can’t remember what the resistance was initially but it was crazy high. I tried it several times and it was not the same each time but it was always higher that what I thought it should be. It is just a simple switch so it should have very little resistance. Zero ohms or maybe 1 or 2. I was a little reluctant to take it apart at first so I tried spraying contact cleaner in it. I sprayed down through the top. I worked it a couple of times and it was a little better but still high.



This picture is after I took the mechanism off the top of the switch.

Before I took it apart I tried spraying contact cleaner in it and it helped the resistance some but it was still high. So I figured I had nothing to loose. There are two small plastic tabs that hold the top of the switch top to the switch bottom. You have to reach through the metal contacts that come out the ends of the switch ( you can see the rectangle holes in the metal tabs coming out of the switch in the picture below). It takes like an eyeglasses size screwdriver. It only takes a little pressure to get the tabs loose. Then the top of the switch will lift off. It has a piece of spring steel (the contacts), the outer housing, and the plastic switch arm. Once I lifted the top of the switch off I took the picture below.


I am not sure if the black stuff is suppose to be there or not but that was all that I saw. I took the end of a qtip and cleaned the two areas that the contacts touch (the small triangle in the corner and the end of the rectangle piece). The black wiped right off. That was all I did. The spring steel contact looked fine.

Be very careful when putting it back together. I tried just snapping it back together and ended up tweaking the spring steel contact. I took the switch back apart and straightened it back with a pair of tweezers. When I put it back together the second time, I put the switch mechanism in the switch body first lining up the hinge (the small slot in the switch body). While holding the mechanism in the switch, I snapped the upper housing back in place.

I would definitely check the resistance on the switch before I took it apart.

 

Thank you for the detailed response. I think I will try this on mine