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Flashing 4WD lights even after parts swap

Discussion in '4th Gen 4Runners (2003-2009)' started by truthsmiles, Mar 29, 2022.

  1. Mar 29, 2022 at 5:59 PM
    #1
    truthsmiles

    truthsmiles [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2022
    Member:
    #26351
    Messages:
    1
    Vehicle:
    2004 4Runner SR5 V-6
    Bone stock
    2004 V-6 4Runner, 300k miles. Girlfriend's car.

    A few weeks ago it snowed and she switched it to 4Hi (yes, probably for the first time in a year). Both lights flashing. She put it back to 2Hi and the lights kept flashing. She pulled over, shut the car off, restarted it, and the lights went out.

    When she got home she told me what happened. I went out and tested it. As soon as I switched to 4Hi the lights came on again, and no matter what I did they never went out.

    So, we traded cars, I drove it to my house (I could tell it was in 2WD), and parked it in the "garage" (outside) and let it sit while I researched. It seems there is very little "official" troubleshooting info out there, but lots of ppl sharing experiences, opinions, threads, videos, things to try, many on this forum etc. I ultimately made the probably stupid decision to open the actuator on the transfer case and tinker with it. I'm pretty sure I got it back together right but who knows.

    Anyway, last week I was able to get hold of a much lower mileage salvage (but supposedly good) transfer case with actuator, front diff actuator, and 4WD computer. I really like to understand what's actually wrong and NOT be a parts swapper, but now I had them, so what the heck..

    I put the transfer case in. No change. Well, that's not true... I did manage to snap one of the bolts off in the transmission, but fortunately it's not a top one and I think I can helicoil it.

    I put the front actuator in. Lights out! Yay! But as soon as I tried shifting to 4Hi the top (amber) light illuminated solid and only the bottom (green) light flashed. Also, the "VSC OFF" was now on solid.

    For giggles, I went ahead and swapped the computer. No change from the "new normal" of two solid and one flashing.

    Any advice on next steps? Anything is appreciated, even if it's "just take it to the dealer you idiot!"

    Thanks in advance :)
     
  2. Apr 14, 2022 at 9:53 AM
    #2
    Treephung

    Treephung New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2022
    Member:
    #25574
    Messages:
    13
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Trieu
    Vehicle:
    2004 SR5 4Runner
    So i'm having the same issue, but so far, I've only replaced my front diff actuator. After some researching, I found a diagnosis sheet that could potentially help. I replaced the front diff, but before installing it on, I plugged it into the wiring harness and tried to see if the forks would move and it didn't. I read that theres a chance that because your front diff actuator goes bad, it can cause the ECU/Wiring harness to short or something. Hopefully this sheet helps!

    http://alflash.com.ua/avtovideo/4run/T-TT-0047-104WD System Diagnosis.pdf
     

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