Are the actuator rods supposed to move freely when the truck is in Park?

I am new to this forum and I try to do most of my mechanic work that is not super complicated and is a one man job. I need a help with the issue below and I apologize for the length.

Let me preface my question with what is happening. I have a 2008 Tundra, 5.7. My 4wd initially was having a problem unlocking from 4Lo, to get it to disengage I would have to turn the engine off and back on again. It has just started doing the same on 4Hi. I pulled the truck into my garage while it was in 2wd, put jack stands under all four wheels, pulled both actuator motors off, cleaned them, tested the motors and both motors ran fine. I have pushed both actuator rods back into the transfer case as far as they would go then I pulled them out approximately 2.5 mm, this was pointed out in several YouTube videos as being the 2wd setting for the actuator. I put both motors back on and I still had the flashing 4 Hi lights. I pulled the motors off again, pulled actuator rods as far out as they would pull, and then pushed them back in as far as they would go, replaced the motors, and set the gears with what I have learned, via YouTube as the proper timing for 2wd , turned the front and rear driveshafts both forward and Reverse. When I started the engine, I shifted the transmission to neutral, turned on the 4wd to Hi and it was working, both rear wheels and right front wheel were spinning, but would not engage into 4 Lo. When I shifted back to Reverse there was a horrible grinding of the gears, I shifted through Reverse into Park and the grinding stopped. I adjusted the 4 Lo actuator rod again to 5mm out, this setting came from a new AISIN SAT-013 actuator I purchased from RockAuto, I took the covers off to look at how far beyond the teeth the rods in a new actuator were set, assuming it came from the factory set for 2WD. I replaced the 4 Lo motor, started the engine, 4 Hi light is flashing, shifted transmission to neutral and turned the 4wd shift knob to Hi, it does not engage. Shifted transmission back to Reverse, grinding noise has stopped in Reverse but when I shifted into Park the grinding noise starts. I can turn the engine off, start it back up while in Park and no grinding noise until I shift through Reverse to neutral and back into Park, 4 Hi light is still flashing. When I put the truck in Reverse and Drive and get out of the truck the wheels are no longer spinning while in gear. I turned off the engine and took both motors with gears out again. I tried to pull the actuator rods out to their full extent, and they will not move more than 4-5mm back and forth, they appear stuck in the 2wd mode, even though when the transmission is engaged to drive nothing spins.

My questions. 1. Are the actuator rods supposed to move freely when the truck is in Park? 2. If so, mine are stuck and I would like to know what can be done to get them free? 3. If they are not supposed to move freely in Park, will they move freely if I put the truck in neutral and will this help resolve my problem? 4. What are your recommendations if the above does not work?

Thanks

 

The rods should move freely but, the gears may not be meshing perfectly. Kinda like when it doesn’t shift in or out sometimes until the truck moves a little. I think I would try moving the shift rods, if the rods have limited travel I would try turning the driveshaft (may need to do the front and rear but would start with the rear first) while trying to move the rod. It could be that the gears are not meshing exactly right and a little turn of the driveshaft will fix that. It should be in neutral.

As far as the grinding noise. Mine did that once when I had trouble getting out of 4L when it was really cold outside. After I shut the truck off, put it in park, and restarted the truck it was fine. I’m guessing that something about the 4Lo is out of time if it keeps doing it.

 

Thanks for the reply HunterTN. I Have been back to the garage working on it. I have taken both motors off the actuator, then unscrewed the three bolts that hold the actuator housing in place and removed the housing, exposing the actuator rods. I have been able to get a better grip on the rods and believe I have freed them up. I have also taken a rubber mallet and bumped the ends of both actuator rods to see if they would move further inside the transfer case. Since videos on YouTube are a mirror image of the actual video shot, I am going back and reconfirming the timing settings of the micro switches to the gears. I will mark the timing locations, once I have determined it to be accurate, with a Sharpie pen. If this works I will post a response.

 

Ok so I just bought a 2012 Tundra 4wd not working. No lights on except traction control light on. Went thru all wiring diagrams. I was an A master tech at yota back in mid to late 80's and owned my own restoration shop for over 30 years after that. Just a preface/ i.e. lots of experience. Spent hours pouring thru videos and forum posts. My specific truck the used car dealer had his mechanic fix it to sell. He pulled 4wd fuse to kill the light and pulled front actuator motor apart so he could wind gear back to disengage front diff actuator. (Mechanic needs a new job)! So my issue turned out to be main transfer case actuator had been hardly used and the 3 trace contacts in 2WD to 4WD actuator motor housing were gunked up. So back to your question. When both actuator rods are in you are in 2wd. To reset timing on actuator motors follow this procerdure. Remove bottom actuator cover make sure the outer most of the 3 contacts on the gear line up with the RH straight trace in the housing. (SEE PDF) Push down on gear, hold housing so gears won't fall out and have someone turn key to on position. Motor will cycle if timing is not correct and will stop when gear timing is correct. Turn key off. When you install housing cover on actuator hold it so it's slightly towards transfer case. After gear engages you twist it slightly away from transfer case. You will feel slight spring tension when it is correctly positioned. Tighten screws. Next take top actuator motor off and position gear the same way 3rd contact aligned with far rh straight trace in housing. (See PDF) On top cover this will put the slot in the gear so it goes right past the micro switch. Hold gear and repeat as for bottom cover. Motor will cycle and gear timing will be correct. OK tricky part how to turn over and install without dropping gear. Because the 3 contacts will push gear out of position if not held tightly into cover. Push gear in/ hold with finger. Push teeth on gear into teeth in actuator rod. Hold tightly against rod and remover fingers. Do not let tension off gear or you will lose the timing. Push the cover down and as you look in you can see where pin in top of gear fits into actuator housing/ align pin in hole push cover down the rest of way and now put screws back in cover. OK back to last issue. Google factory youtube video on how to engage disengage 4wd. (See Link TO Video Here) To shift in and out of 4wd to 2wd truck has to be moving slightly to allow transfer case and front diff to disengage. Video explains how to get it to disengage. Not thrilled with Yotas design but that's the only way it works properly. Same with 2wd to 4wd, truck has to be moving to allow all gears and front diff to align properly. Once in 4WH stop truck. Hold foot on brake/ a must not for safety it tells 4wd module what to do. Shift to neutral/ also a must do. Same reason. Switch to 4WL front diff actuator should just engage no issue. Once you shift back out of 4WL to 4WH truck has to move again to allow transfer case and front diff actuator to disengage. If it has tension on the drivetrain it will not disengage most of the time. Here's TRD video you'll see it's not an exact in and out procedure! 2007 Tundra How-To: 4-Wheel Drive - Shifting Procedure | Toyota (youtube.com) Enlarge PDF (on laptop probably can't view it on your phone!) and you will see contact and trace with which to set initial timing of gears.