Difficulty Shifting into L4

Greetings - as a Californian living in the Napa Valley, we rarely see snow. However, my place at 2000' got hit with 2 feet overnight. Using H4 was easy and a Godsend. However, when I tried to drop her into L4, the shift simply wouldn't engage. I followed all directions in the owner manual, and still it just wouldn't cooperate.

Any thoughts?

 

How old is your vehicle. Have you ever engaged L4 and if so how long has it been?

 

2015 - and (my bad) no I have not. maybe once when I first got her.

 

There is a widely used phrase in this community regarding transfer case actuators... "use it or lose it".

They want to be exercised regularly or they tend to seize up over time. Unfortunately it's not a cheap fix.

 

Alrighty then. I'll see what they say at the dealer when I take it in next time. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yeah, I've seen estimates in excess of $2,000. You might find yourself leaving it as is since you haven't needed it so far.

I would try tapping on the actuator a few times and try a few times a day every day for a week or two to engage 4LO just to see if it might break free.

 

OK....once I locate the darn thing ;-)

thanks

 

Oh, wait a minute. I just saw your profile. You have a trail edition. You have a manual lever for shifting in and out of 4WD rather than a dial do you not?

 

What is it doing? Beeping? Manual case or electronic?

 

Yes....a manual stick/lever.Very stiff (uncooperative) to shift into L4 position. Handles H2 and H4 just fine.

 

Looks from profile it’s manual 2015 trail. I notice after giving advice that would not apply.

 

nevrmind my photo link and actuator suggestion. You don’t have that black box actuator. Something else is going on.

 

Don’t take any offense to these questions. Did you shift to 4H and have it fully engaged? Then, shift your transmission to neutral before going into 4L?

 

Should just knock right in. Are you in neutral?

 

If the shift lever doesnt move to the right and forward, something must be physically interfering. Hopefully it’s not inside the transfer case.

Did you check inside the shifter well where the boot is? Sometimes I’ll put something in there because I’m out of space elsewhere, but forget it’s there and freak out a moment when I try to shift. Check to see there is nothing hiding on the shift boot.

You could also take the center shifter console plastics off to make sure something didnt get jammed around the lever where it goes through the floor.

If it’s not that, I’d be worried it’s going to be expensive since it would probably be inside the case. Does anything weird happen in 4hi? Odd noises etc?

 

What we don't yet know is what all "when I tried to drop her into L4" actually entailed.

 

Good point.

@DezynGuy: Just to be sure, when you tried to shift the transfer case into 4L -
Starting from 4H:

• You brought the 4Runner to a complete stop.
• You shifted the automatic transmission into Neutral.
• You moved the transfer case lever to the right and forward.

Those are the instructions from the manual.

 

Historic snowfall all over California. Down to 700 foot elevations. A view of the east bay hills from San Jose:


If the OP really followed the owner manual instructions and still it won’t go into 4LO then it’s a job for the dealer (or trusted mechanic).

 

Thanks for all the input and advice. All is well - she runs like a dream - managed to shift into L4, and as it turns out, only needed to use H4. This rig is worth her weight in gold - if only from a peace-of-mind standpoint. Survivor's guilt as I cruised by other folks in the ditches or side of roadway (emergency vehicles were on scene, so I didn't need to do the Good Samaritan routine)