2022 Tundra TRD off road 4wd light blinking

Just Bought a 2022 Tundra TRD Off Road, it has 425 miles and when I try to engage 4wd Hi, the light just blinks and is not engaging. Has anyone else had this issue?

I was super pumped about my first Toyota but this should have been caught by the dealer during their inspection, also by me when I test drove it but I did not even check because it was a new truck.

 

The 4WD actuator on Toyota trucks typically takes a little bit of blinking/time to fully engage. Does this persist even when you drive/steer a little?

 

thanks for your reply. Yes, it will blink for ver 30 seconds. Driving or steering seems to have no effect.

 

Have you tried shifting into neutral for 5 seconds or so and then into drive again?

 

Seems like an odd question, but you are definitely selecting 4Hi right? 4Lo would cause the issues you’re describing if in drive. Otherwise time to take it to the dealer I’d say…

 

Yes, seems to almost be a faulty actuator, it will go in sometimes(prob 1 out of 20 times) but most times just blink. I have contacted the dealer and have been told they will look into it. I am just curious if this is just a one off issue for me or this is reoccurring for others also.

 

When shifting into 4H, are you stopped? If the 4Hi is flashing than it's not engaging. You can shift into 4H while moving under 62mph. Try that?

From the Owners manual:

 

Sometimes you have to drive a few feet then reengage. It def helps too if you engage it a couple times a month.

 

I called the dealer today, they told me to bring it in and let them look at it.

it doesn’t seem to make a difference if you are parked or moving, it will engage at times and others will just flash for an eternity and never engage.

 

How did this turn out BMP1980? I have a Nov 11 build 1794 TRD and in today's snow I tried 4H for the first time. (only 150 miles on the truck). The first time in my driveway 4H stopped flashing quickly. Then on my return home I had to go up a one mile road that was mostly snow covered, so figured this is what 4x4 is all about. So while driving 35mph turned on 4H, and it flashed all the way up to the top of the hill at another half mile. Then back on the flat ground near my house tried again and 4H flashed a couple of times and then stayed on.

Seems that it should go to 4H at 35mph easily, this is what it's there for, yes. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

I'm going to guess that since you were going uphill the transfer case was under load and would not shift. If your putting power to the wheels or engin braking, the transfer case will not shift in or out of 4H.

 

Good point. I'll experiment with it more today as we have more snow on the roads. I hope that's all there is to it. But what a dumb implementation then, just when one needs 4H while driving into snow it requires coasting to engage. Thanks for the clarification though

 

Yeah, it can be a bit annoying as it would be nice to be able to shift it "right now". Hopefully the above is the case for you and it's all functioning properly.

 

Turns out this was the case. Drove out yesterday again on snowy and some clear roads. I would let up on throttle when going in and out of 4H and it shifted quickly. Still a pain though as it kills some momentum when going up a hill to have to back off on throttle. I'll probably get better at it with practice. And if might have been a bit sticky the first couple of times so will be easier now.

Thanks for the advice.

And Toyota if you read this, yes indeed not having 4x4 auto is not only dumb but some day somewhere this will cause a crash due to the driver having to mess with throttle to get in or out of 4H. Just saying.

 

I have had the same experience with 4H only engaging (or disengaging) when you let off the throttle. Ideally with wheels straight too. Fairly quick in general. Got a little stuck once trying to switch to 2H as I entered a windy shoveled drive-through in 4H… oops

@Paul Moll it’s fairly unreasonable to have it be able to engage/disengage under load. I wish the tundra had 4 auto too but most 4 auto systems are just like ours with the car deciding when it needs 2H vs 4H. You’re effectively changing how spinning parts are connected in the transfer case and while you can do that super quickly with some new technology, you can’t make it fully seamless with the throttle on consistently. The parts in there have to disconnect for at least a brief second

 

Yes it did shift pretty quickly once I started to get the hang of how to do it. Good inputs guys.

And yes I understand that the gears need to mesh and that takes time and no force on them. Gotcha. I guess I'm coming from my Can Am UTV where it will shift to 4x4 on the fly even without throttle gyrations, and it will even go in and out of "rear locker" on the fly. I understand that is a different animal where it's not designed to last 100k plus miles. And probably a much simpler mechanism...but it almost seems like a downgrade to have to mess with throttle in a $70k truck. Thanks for the inputs though

 

Today was the first drive in snow (3-4", not significant, but slippery) and first time shifting into 4H with slippery conditions. Seemed the 4H symbol would flash a long time working to shift, like for a minute or so, more than I was expecting, and the wait when needed was worrisome. In test shifts, I never noticed the delay to engage. I did shift to neutral but that did not seem to help. It eventually engaged, but had traveled probably about 1/4-1/2 mile while waiting.

 

I leave mine in 4H 24/7 just so I don't worry about it.