Troubleshooting and repair of a Second Generation Toyota Sequoia/Tundra with a flashing 4Hi /4Lo & Center Differential light error code.

*Sorry for the terrible canned audio levels first video from iMovie to Youtube fee free to turn it down and follow the captions (assuming they’re correct )

**This repair will also
relate to 4Runner and Landcruiser’s with similar components**

***See attached thread for deeper context and more debugging information here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/flas...

Use extreme care to notate the orientation of the gear clocking. I misread the orientation and this lead to trouble…I also wasn’t careful removing the lower (4Lo) actuator and it disturbed the clocking/orientation of the gear and caused two days of troubleshooting. Also, my initial thought process was that the transfer case pushrod needed to be pulled out to be disengaged this was incorrect. Doing so causes the transfer case to lock the truck into 4Lo and for me, it eventually put the transmission into either a limp mode or stuck in neutral. I lost forward and backward capability.
So be very aware of what you’re doing, how everything is initially installed/removed.

Lessons learned:

After reviewing previous video’s and screenshot’s, I realized the gear positioning (clocking) was wrong. I adjusted and thought the issue would clear.
The second mistake was the thought that the pushrod needed to be out, when in fact it needed to be pushed in.
After that, I disconnected the battery, and unplugged the 4WD computer module under the dash.
After reconnecting all the connectors and modules and the battery. All fault lights cleared and repair was successful.
I jumped to the conclusion that my existing 4Lo actuator was bad, and replaced it unnecessarily causing more heartache than needed. But live and learn!

Three days later, with two sleepless nights and more frustration than I bargained for, the reward of fixing this on my own is priceless!

Not having to pay the RIDICULOUS price of $4000 quoted by my Toyota dealership to “fix the transfer case” And not paying the $1200 +/ for the actuator motor assembly from the dealership only to need half of the assembly!?

I paid $100 for the parts off eBay and fixed this for a fraction of the price!!

Good luck!
Leave a comment or question. I’m happy to share my experience and knowledge.