Well, I need help. I'm getting frustrated and have a Moab trip this upcoming weekend.
I tried to engage 4wd by pressing the 4hi button, and got the dreaded 4hi blink. It was not constant, but only when the 4hi button was depressed indicating that it did not engage. I used 4wd a month ago, use it at least once monthly and haven't had an issue in years since I found a cracked breather hose on the front actuator that allowed water intrusion.
When pressing 4hi, both my actuators are making noise like they're trying to work but I still have the 4hi blink and am stuck in 2wd. I pulled both actuators. The front looked great but the transfer case actuator had some corrosion and a cracked breather hose. I was sure this was the issue like I had before. I cleaned a little corrosion, regreased and re installed it.
4hi and 4lo instantly flashed, so I took the rear actuator off and moved the round gear to a more neutral position and reinstalled since I felt like I may have messed that up. The 4hi and 4lo flash went away. It still would not engage 4wd and 4hi blinked as it did before.
After work today I got to more troubleshooting and found this article on installing the transfer case actuator -
http://www.yotatech.com/how-tos/a/toyota-tundra-how-to-replace-transfer-case-motor-actuator-414483
I knew I did this wrong, so I pulled it and the spring on the round gear under the plastic cover was under a ton of tension and spun the plastic cover around with it as soon as it was unbolted. I removed the metal part of the actuator and pushed the toothed shaft all the way forward to make sure it was in 2wd as per the article, and then installed the round gear, all the way rotated CCW up against the stop with the fingers in about the 3:00 position as the article says.
Now I suddenly have a flashing 4hi light that I did not have on my commute today. I changed the position of the round gear about 50x, and the blinking 4hi light did not go away. According to the article, this would mean the truck doesn't know it's in 2wd.
Now with the 4hi light on, pressing the 4hi button does not make the actuators make any noise as if they are trying to operate.
I jacked the entire truck, and had someone put it in gear and try pushing the 4hi button. Pushing the button did nothing, but I did notice that the front driveshaft is constantly spinning.
I am definitely not in 4wd because I have no binding in the front end.
It seems to me that the switches must be working since the actuators made noise when I tried to actuate them before I had the 4hi light constantly on. I have not troubleshot them yet, but will pick up a multimeter tonight.
Does it seems possible that since the front driveshaft is spinning, the transfer case actuator is engaged? I am not sure how it would be in 4wd since I am 100% certain that I pushed the toothed shaft all the way forward.
Could the front actuator be stuck?
Any ideas of what to troubleshoot?