Stuck in 4WD?

[tonynorthwest]

Recently purchased my 86 4WD Tercel wagon. Had an 87 2WD for over 10 years with no problems. The newer 4WD has 222kms on it & has been doing great. Used it in 4WD mode yesterday in the snow. Worked great, went into 4WD easily, but now I can't shift it out of 4WD. Any suggestions as to the problem and how to fix this?

Tony

[Petros]

Welcome to the list Tony. Where do you live? Canada?

Difficultly getting out of 4wd is not uncommon when you do not have the same size tires on all 4 wheels. Even different brands, or tires with different amount of wear on them, can cause this. Also check the air pressure is all the same. Slightly different rolling diameters will cause the drive train to have stress on it, and that makes it hard to pull out of 4wd.

Some tips, besides having the same size tires and all inflated evenly, is to shift back into 2wd when still on a loose surfaced road (gavel, snow, etc.), have the steering wheel pointed straight ahead and the car rolling slowly, foot off the gas pedal. If there are no mechanical issues, it should slip right out of 4wd.

At worst you can jack up one rear wheel, that will take the strain off the drive-train, and you can get it out of 4wd. That should not be necessary if everything is in proper mechanical condition (including tires0.

Good luck.

[takza]

If you have 4 equal tires equally inflated you should be able to drive straight down a paved road for a mile and still get it out of 4x4.

If it won't come out of 4x4...you can still get it out by turning either left OR right ( on gravel or grass if at all possible) till it loosens up. The direction you need to turn to loosen it up indicates that that side has a SMALLER or a DEFLATED tire on it....OR that you were recently turning the opposite direction in 4x4.

Not a good idea to put a lot of force on the lever though.....,

This all assumes you have the same diff ratios front and back though....

[tonynorthwest]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I'll try these today. We really like this car. It's in great shape for an 86 & want to do a bit of work on it to restore it. Are there things I should look into or do with the tranny to keep it in good running condition? Like my previous 2WD Tercel wagon, it does have some carb issues. Is there a source you could recommend for purchasing a new or rebuilt carb at some point?

BTW - we live in Surrey BC, just east of Vancouver. We're approx. 10 min from the US border of Blaine Wa. My wife & I are US citizens who moved here 10 years. ago.

[xirdneh]

this works for me
put in reverse and back up faster than slow
while rolling backwards
push clutch and pull 4wd lever back

[tonynorthwest]

Thanks for all the input. I put it in reverse, went backwards for about 10', put the clutch in & it easily shifted back into 2WD. I've checked the tires so they're all even now. There were two that were just a bit low.