Hello,
I have a 96 toyota tacoma 4x4 6 cyld. auto. The person I received it from was never able to get it into 4wd. My son and I are trying. We manually appled vacuum to the hoses at the vacuum switches <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />, no luck. We manually applied vacuum to the acuator, no luck. My son took the actuator cover off and manually moved it into position. Now the diff is locked, but no 4wd. There is no dash light showing the 4wd is on. I also noticed the hassard light, cig. lighter and horn do not work. The fuses in the cab check ok.
Any help would sure be appreciated. The truck is my bush buggy to use only on my property and we could really use the 4wd.
Thank you,
Sydney

Do you have the thumb button on the side of the transfer shifter? Seems to me that controls the power to actuate that front diff. You also might want to check the wire harness on the pax side of the tranny to make sure it's secure/clean.

Am still learning the Taco; picked up about 3 years ago; a 2004.

thank you for the suggestion. I will take a lot to see.
Noticed yesterday that when clearing snow off the truck the dome light came on. Very strange.The young lad I got the truck from installed fog lights. I thing when I brushed the snow off the head lights and fog lights, it made the cab light go on. Not sure if this has anything to so with the other problems or he just wired the thing wrong.
Sydney

no thumb button on the trans shifter, ther is one on the gear selector for overdrive. Will check the connection.
My son is sure the dome light has a bad connection in the door. Said he noticed the light going on and off when he drove it around.
Thanks,
Sydney

Hello,
On the dash of the truck, beside the hazzard button, is another button that says ECT. When pressed it lights up on the dash and says ECT pwr. Would you know what this is? I haven't a clue and can't find a reference for it in the manual.
Thank you,
Sydney

It stands for electronic controlled transmission; you've got an automatic I take it? It changes the shift points to higher revs. You'd use this for heavy towing or steep climbs. I don't have it on my rig (stick). That might be under instruments and controls in an owner's manual.

Check out article AT10 in the technical articles at www.autoshop101.com to read about how your OD and ECT are functionally related.

On all the other electrical issues, that might be better as a separate post. Sounds like you might be chasing some bad grounds. Door- switch or wiring.

Since you mentioned the previous owner had installed some auxiliary lighting, that should be the first place to start tracing it back. Could've used those crappy crimp-on splices.

ECT has nothing to do with 4wd.
I leave it on all the time, it feels a bit peppier (like driving a manual). My mileage is the same as before.

I know. He did ask what the ECT was for, however.

Greg, do you happen to have the EWDs for this generation? I know the Canadian wiring is a little different than US for what Syndey's looking for with the other stuff.

Nah i only have the mechanical FSM for a 98 taco.

The wiring diagrams should be 99% the same as US. The only main difference is DRL is standard here.