I recently bought my 5th Toyota--a 2005 Tacoma 4WD Double Cab Manual-Trans. The truck is great. The only problem is the same one I had with a 4wd Tundra I had. I have a helluva time shifting from H4 to L4. I have the stupid automatic "shift on the fly" that is supposed to change it over with the turn of a little knob. However, what usually happens is that I'll follow the manual's directions (stop the car, press the clutch, turn the knob) and all it will do is beep at me. Even when I try to reverse and then move forward again to get it to catch, nothing happens. I've managed to get it to work after various random attempts, none of which are consistent with the last time. Anybody else have this problem? Or a solution? Thanks!
Maybe you should read the owner's guide. I don't have a Toyota, but all the other "shift on the fly" 4WD vehicles I have owned require you to be stopped with the vehicle in neutral (and in soime cases your foot an the brake) to shift into 4WD Lo. I'll bet Toyota has a similar requirement. The shift on the fly part only works for going from 2WD to
That sounds like you are driving on hard pack or clay or pavement in 4 high and have bound up the drivetrain so it won't release out of 4H. When that happens to my Jeep CJ7 or Cherokee, I have to spin the tires in reverse usually to loosen it up before it will shift. My CJ7 is a mechanical shifter that just plain won't budge and the Cherokee is vacuum that just hangs until it unwinds.
I never have this issue when going from 2H to either 4H or 4L, only coming out of the 4x4 mode like you mention. I try to read the trail so I can go from 4H to 2H before trying to hit 4L. Sometimes there is time, LOL! Or I goose it in reverse and spin them to release them.
Other than that, my 2H to 4H is seamless at any speed on the highway when there is snow and bare patches.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Hi guys, Thanks for the replies. I've looked in the manual and done exactly what it said, but the infernal beeping continues. I've tried it at a stop, below 2mph, and a rolling neutral. I've tried it with the clutch in and also with it in neutral. And as I mentioned earlier, reverse doesn't work either. Perhaps there's a circuit/connection missing?
Your original post steted that this is a problem going from 4H to 4L. If so, this isn't the sort of thing that rocking will cure as it does going from 2H into 4H or back (binding up between the front and rear drive lines). If putting it into neutral doesn't help (this should unload the low range gearing in the transfer case), there could very well be something wrong.
If this is a 2005, take it in under warranty. If you let the warranty lapse and there is something broken, it can get expensive. At least you'll have it on record that the problem began while it was covered.
THERE ARE NO SYNCHROS FROM HI TO LO, YOU MUST COME TO A STOP, OR A VERY SLOW ROLL BEFORE YOU CAN SHIFT INTO LO RANGE. With practice, you can shift from LO to HI at about 10 mph, give or take.
You can shift on the fly from 2HI to 4HI, but NOT to 4LO.
Actually, after reading up on this some more, I believe I used the wrong terminology. I meant "shift on the fly" in the sense that I don't have to get out of the car and manually turn the hub thingies on the wheels. It's all done automatically, while in the car. I do try the shift from either a standstill or below 2mph and it doesn't seem to work all that well... Sorry for the mixup in words! :o)
If you have to EVER get out to lock the hubs, then you ALWAYS have to get out and lock the hubs.
The front tires can spin freely on the front axles, and the hub locks physically connect the hubs and the axles so the drive can be directed from the transfer case to the driveshaft through the front differential to the front axles and on to the front tires. If the hubs are not locked, the front tires are not in the game.
To be sure, I was not aware tha tthe Tacoma had locking hubs that you had to ever get out and lock, and the hub lock was either built in as a permant lock, or was locked on demand via a vacuum or electrical mechanism. If you have hubs that can be turned by hand, then you have to turn them anytime you want to engage 4WD, either HI or LO range. And, if you fail to turn them, then you have to stop before you can select 4WD, but even after selecting
4WD from inside the cabin, if the hubs are not locked, you will not have
4WD.
I think (I don't have a 4WD Tacoma, but I have lots of experience with 4WD) that your Taco has either a lock on demand system -- vacuum or electric doesn't really matter very much -- or is always engaged -- where the front wheels are bound to the front axle all of the time. Either way, you can shift these systems from 2HI to 4HI at any safe speed. The idea being that if you can do 50+mph, then you don't need to be shifting into 4WD anyway because 50 isn't a safe speed if you NEED 4WD. But if you are tooling down a country road in 2HI at 20, and notice that there is a patch of mud approaching that you may not be able to navigate in 2WD, then you can shift into 4HI without stopping first. The front and rear differentials are turning at the same speeds (assuming the same size tires on all 4 corners), and engaging the transfer case is a very simple task that is accomplished by sliding a few gears around that are all going the same speeds so they should mesh easily. Shifting into 4LO is another matter entirely. The transfer case has some very large gears inside that are turning at basically double the speed of each other -- the reduction is typically about 2:1, there are options that make the reduction to be 4:1 -- and these gears are not syncronized, therefore they grind if the vehicle is moving, and they grind if the vehicle is an automatic and is not in P or N.
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