4wd issues

Long story short, wife drove in inclement weather this morning. She put her 4runner in 4wd but forgot to take it out and she made a few turns including the turn into her parking space in 4wd. She says it wouldn't come out of 4wd, which I know if its bound it wont come out until you unbind the drive train, and was grinding when trying to shift out of 4wd. She thinks it was in in neutral between 4H and 4L but that puts the whole vehicle in neutral. She say it was not in 4H as it drove “normal” meaning RPM’s and acceleration were she same as 2wd. Called me, got it out of 4wd, and now the dash looks like this. Any ideas?

Edit: i test drove it after she got home and 2H, 4H and 4L work as they should. Only thing I noticed was the transfer case lever seems to move easier than it did before.

 

I doubt she broke anything in the drive train. If she was in 4L she would of known.

Resetting it no idea.

 

Something is not happy.

 

read codes with OBD-II scanner, this will give a clue...

 

Have you considered divorcing her?

 

Why would it do anything to it just turning into a parking space? Here in the midwest now that we got hit with 12" or more roads are plowed, but still very slippery and snow packed. I'm new in the 4runner world. I've been driving it in 4H on the snow packed roads with no issues. 2H on some inclines or hilly neighborhood, just doesn't cut it. Am I doing it right? I had a 2005 Chevy crew cab 4x4 and when the roads were like this, I threw it in 4H. Never had any issues with it....

 

So you verified it could shift in and out of 4wd while the vehicle was in motion?

 

Autozone will scan it for free. Are you still under warranty? My drive sometimes includes long stretches of dry roads in between patches of snow and ice. I leave 4hi on without issues, if I am turning hard on dry pavement, I'll disengage 4wd. Pretty easy to tell when it's necessary, though. Teach her to stay out of 4lo unless you really think you need it. I haven't needed it in 25 years of driving Colorado winters, but some people live up steep driveways or roads and have different needs. Report back with your codes. Trying to clear codes without reading them first is silly unless you want to pretend nothing ever happened.

 

Snow packed roads are still slippery and is a perfect application for four high.

Sounds like the OP's wife was on dry pavement at the time.

 

This video will be in heavy rotation this week.

https://youtu.be/1EHcrjIlkHk

 

That sucks the 4Runner at this point is an enthusiasts’ vehicle, especially the part time 4wd trims.

casual wifey drivers need not be burdened with the additional decision of when to engage and disengage the part time 4wd.

curious to know what the error codes are

 

That’s where I’m at. I know they’re two different machines, but I’ve done way worse in my Tacoma. I asked if it accelerated any differently or if the RPM's were higher than normal and she said it drove like normal so I'm fairly confident she had it in 4H.

Yeah, me.

I'll do this tonight just to see what it says then disconnect the battery to see if it’ll reset.

I’ll read the codes tonight then disconnect the battery to see if that clears the codes.

I have never seen that one before either. It flashes and the manual says it stands for the same message being displayed in the center.

 

In 4H yes. It actually seemed shift easier than usual to put in 4H while going down the road. All modes, 2wd/4H/4L, seem to be operating normally and drive as the should. I confirmed each mode was operating correctly on a patch of snow. Went through all modes and drove in each mode. I think the computer has to just be confused about something.

 

Isn’t that green icon the mts icon? Do you have mts turned on?

 

It is but is continuously flashing which means there is a fault in the system.

 

That played a minor role in my decision to getting the AWD Limited. I thought if my wife had to use my vehicle at anytime I didn’t want her to have to think about the proper steps with engagement. She drives a Subaru now so that involves no thinking. I once let her drive my CJ5 4 speed granny low with manual hubs once. Only once. Ha ha.

 

A week after I bought my new 4R.. in laws fam came in town. I set expectations - don’t trust anyone else to drive my ORP (with the fking 4wd lever lol), esp during break in period..

 

Code thrown was P0500: Diagnostic trouble code (DTC) P0500 stands for “Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) Malfunction.” This code is set when the PCM or engine control module (ECM) detects incorrect speed readings or no signal at all from the vehicle speed sensor (VSS).


I cleared the code, took it for a little test drive with no issues. I will drive it to work, then run it through all modes again after work tomorrow to see if it pops back up. Then I’ll worry about it but I’m crossing my fingers it just got confused.

 

That’d be my guess in why it went haywire. Not sure on the history or active part of your question. Im assuming active since the dummy lights were still lit up? I used my scangauge out of my Tacoma to read and clear it. Not sure if that answered that question it not?

 

My dash did the same thing the other day. Checked under the hood and noticed the positive cable on the battery was lose.
Tightened it up and within a couple starts it went back to normal.
Now getting emails from the dealer telling me to bring it in and have it checked out.
They sure keep track of you.

 

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