GX470 VSC Off light on Center Differential Light Blinking

[adub1610]

2007 Gx470, new to me gx and used the 4wd for first time today. Shifted to neutral, locked the diff, shifted to Lo and crawled out of ditch. When I went to push the button VSC Off light stayed on and Center Differential light is blinking. I have tried rolling forward in neutral, reversing, accelerating forward, disconnecting battery, turning in each direction while rolling slowly, and there is no change.

Any help is appreciated. I am hoping something small is wrong and is probably due to the 4wd system not being used much or in a long while.

 

[adub1610]

Update: Turns out the transfer case shift motor is out. Going to be an expensive fix. Any one have experience with this problem?

 

[thzpcs]

It's not something that's fun to deal with. IIRC it's a full transfer case removal, and not particularly easy.

 

[adub1610]

That is what I am finding out. My independent mechanic is quoting me a price of $2230 right now. Not fun.

 

[thzpcs]

Do you have a breakdown on that, labor and parts?

 

[adub1610]

Not yet. I will talk more with them tomorrow when I have the time. He mentioned having to pull the transfer case.

 

[JLee]

How many miles are on it? I'm surprised to see a failure on an '07...I wonder if it was never used and seized up.

 

[adub1610]

95000 miles. I am pretty sure the previous owner never or rarely used it. I am going to wait on the work for the time being, hard time to drop $2k on it. All the lights are off and it is driving without any noises or tires lurching. The mechanic said it was definitely on the electrical side of things, stating that the transfer case shift motor failed. The diagnostics showed it was not giving out any signal.

Has anyone done this work themselves, or point me in the right direction to fixing this myself?

 

[BlackCat]

95000 miles. I am pretty sure the previous owner never or rarely used it. I am going to wait on the work for the time being, hard time to drop $2k on it. All the lights are off and it is driving without any noises or tires lurching. The mechanic said it was definitely on the electrical side of things, stating that the transfer case shift motor failed. The diagnostics showed it was not giving out any signal.

Has anyone done this work themselves, or point me in the right direction to fixing this myself?

If the light is out now, the car is happy, meaning it's not currently seeing a fault. If the motor was shorted open, or to ground, it would continuously throw the code and the light would flash. I'd try locking it in again and see what happens. If it hadn't previously been used much, it just might need to stretch its legs a bit and then be fine.

 

[adub1610]

I am hoping that is the case

 

[Clickws]

Reviving this old thread to see if anyone can help me.

I picked up a 2004 GX470 recently and when I hit the "center Diff Lock" button, I can audibly hear the actuator engage and lock in giving the correct grip while in 4 hi and 4 lo but the "Center diff lock" light flashes and the "VSC Light" stays on solid. From most of what I have read, usually when the "Center Diff Lock" light flashes, it means the actuator is not working at all. When I hit the "Center Diff Lock" button again, both lights go off as they should and I hear an audible "click" when the actuator disengages.

Any ideas? Is there a sensor that can go bad to tell when the actuator is fully engaged or is there a chance the actuator is still not engaging fully, even though it functions like it should?

 

[rommelrommel]

You probably have, but have you tried putting it on and off a bunch of times? If the actuator is working it might just not be quite getting to the end of its travel, but I'm not 100% on how/if it senses that.

 

[Clickws]

Yep, I've worked it a couple dozen times now. I will keep doing so. I am hoping it just needs to loosen up a bit after not being used much by previous owner.

 

[Anamness]

Yep, I've worked it a couple dozen times now. I will keep doing so. I am hoping it just needs to loosen up a bit after not being used much by previous owner.

Did you ever figure this out? I actually had the transfer case actuator replaced, and it definitely engages now, but the light still flashes.