4wd problems

Got a 15 tundra with over 102000 mi on it. The first time I had this problem was about 78000 and has happened several times. Had Toyota go thru 4wd to fix problem and it worked twice and now back to old problem. IE: Go to 4h then 4l and do what I have to do. Now! shift trans to neutral then switch to 4h and this is where it is out of 4l and won't go to 4h, shift to forward or reverse and have a bunch of grinding as trans is stuck between low and high. Switch to 4l and 4h back and forth then within 5 or 10 minutes it's back in 4l. Pull forward and back then try to get it out again and go thru the same thing for another 15 or 20 minutes. At some point it finally gets into 2wd and all is well. Sat in the woods Sunday morning for about 35 minutes pissed off to highest degree of pisstivity before it finally went to 2wd. The longest it's ever taken was 55 minutes and Toyota said I was not using it enough. Question, can this be fixed, how!! Would love to be able to go back to manual transfer case, never in 35 years had a problem. But wait , should I just jack the radiator cap up and drive a new truck under it? This is getting toward the last straw, like the Toda but could start looking at other makes. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

When changing from Hi to Lo range (or the inverse), do so on a grade that is just barely steep enough to allow the vehicle to move. Then while the system is futzing around, allow the vehicle to ever-so-slowly creep. See if that works. What usually happens is that things in the Transfer Case aren't quite lined up and allowing for vehicle movement permits this. The simplest analogy that comes to mind would be to visualize how a square peg/hole arrangement have be in alignment, whereas a round peg/hole doesn't.

 

Do you happen to know what type of fluid you’ve been putting in? They are pretty specific about what they want in the third GEN transfer cases. Just throwing it out there. You don’t want to use the same stuff you put in the differentials. On the second generations it was specked the same. But on the third generations they are a totally different transfer case.

 

Sorry 2.5 gen

 

Thanks, I will try that next time and see if that helps.

 

For what it's worth, you're safe to do this on pavement. You won't need to travel more than maybe 1/2 a tire rotation, tops. Let us know.

 

“15” that would have been a possibility even 25 yrs ago but now it goes straight to Toda for any work. Thank for the input.

 

A lot of dealers are known to just dump standard gear oil in the new transfer cases. It’s been talked about around here that that’s what they do. Some even think it’s OK even though the service manual states to use a straight 75 weight. And it’s not just any 75W. The safest bet is to use the Toyota fluid. I am personally using Ravenol with no issues.

 

The best way to go into and out of 4 high is while moving. Then you can stop, put it in neutral, and shift to 4lo. May need to creep as mentioned. Have patience. Even moving it takes about 10-15 seconds to come out of 4wd. But 25 minutes is too long, time to creep.

Also, you should drive in 4wd at least 10 miles a month. I do this usually when it rains and drive on straight roads. Exercise the system by taking it in and out of 4wd on a monthly basis. I agree, I miss the manual 4wd levers. Had one recently in my 4Runner and it was very nice.

I used Royal Purple Syncromax in my 4Runners transfer case. Royal Purple states it is compatible with Toyota transfer cases.

 

Wynnded where I’m at it’s flat and bottom land. Sunday I was bout 4 miles from an incline that would be enough to let it roll and that was still muddy. I was just thinking if I had a winch that would be enough of a roll but at this time I don’t. Your idea does make since and I will be thinking out of the box to try and come up with an idea that would work.

 

I use the creep method between hi and low. And I also used the Ravenol. The Toyota 75w is like $90/quart, or something crazy. I think the Ravenol off Amazon was like $18/quart. Works great