2wd, 4H wont work 4L will?? Whats up?

[manyyotaman]

Hey y'all, any help here you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
I've been reading a bunch of existing posts and havent found anything like my problem that i felt put an end to my searching and put me out to the garage.
Anyway- I have a 95 4runner 3.0 automatic 4x4 and
the vehicle starts good and sounds normal but when I put it into gear (forward or reverse) it doesn’t move and doesn’t make any unusual noises. When I look up under it while revving the engine while it is engaged in “drive” the main drive shaft doesn’t turn. I am able to drive it in L4- 4x4 mode but H2 and H4 act the same. It almost acts like it is trying to move but doesnt have any power to move unless I engage it into 4L. I just replaced the fan pulley bracket (and dis-connected the battery) so I dont have any codes to fall back to. I’m stumped -any thoughts? Is it possibly the converter? or transmission shift solenoids?

[fourwd1]

Wow. That's a new one.

When you're in 4LO and it moves, does it shift from 1st to 2nd to 3rd etc ?

[manyyotaman]

I dont know. I havent had it out since it happened. My daughter was driving it when the fan pulley bracket died and I had to tow dolly it back to the house. I pulled it into the garage- thats as far as it has been driven since I replaced the bracket. What scares me is what happened towing it but what is messin with my mind is that it doesnt make any strange noises. The tow dolly was borrowed but they had cut the tire bonnets down to fit what they needed (much smaller tires) and one of the straps came loose and fell off during the tow. When I made it home as I was making my way around a culdesac the drivers side tire came off the dolly on the front side of the trailer. I ended up jacking up the drivers side, fully enaging the emergency brake with it in park and pulled forward while turning right to get the wheel back onto the trailer-on second thought I should have just blocked the rear wheels I guess . As I said above when its running and what little its been driven it doesnt make any strange noises. why would it work but only in 4L? it seems to act like its trying to move in 2wd but doesnt have any power. From reading other posts it makes me wonder if one of the solenoids inside the tranny went bad and its trying to take off in 3rd gear or OD?

[manyyotaman]

heres a great link for anyone else looking for A340 transmission info.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=587521

[manyyotaman]

hey, well i put it back together after having torn it down 3/4 of the way to pulling the tranny. I'll drive it tomorrow after work in 4L and see if it'll shift thru any of the gears and see if it will throw any codes. i doubt i'll get enough driving time in for the codes. I'll keep you posted- tomorrow pm hopefully with something............

[manyyotaman]

"When you're in 4LO and it moves, does it shift from 1st to 2nd to 3rd etc ?"

Well I took it for short drive in 4L and yes it does shift from 1st to 2nd and to Drive. It doesnt shift up into OD but I feel pretty certain that it doesnt because of it being in 4L. I also jacked it up (all 4 wheels) to see if all 4 were turning or were the front wheels just pulling the back end along with it and all are turning in 4L.
Any suggestions anyone? thanks in advance.

[muncy]

mine is doing the same exact thing. please keep in touch and i posted something earlier so if anything works i will let you know.

[manyyotaman]

I ended up having to replace the tranny/transfer case. It apparently broke something inside the tranfer case and it was way beyong my ability to rebuild it. This is what I was told-
"2wd and 4 hi use the same gear ratio. 2 lo uses a COMPLETELY SEPARATE gear ratio, by using a DIFFERENT gear inside the transfer case. This IS an internal transfer case issue. You have a broken internal component".

[muncy]

the tranny and the tranfer case? damn! i was hoping it was one or the other. thank you very much.

[manyyotaman]

they are basically a 1 piece unit. you have to dismantle them to disconnect them.