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My 2004 model has developed the dreaded seemingly common leak from the transfer case actuator. Only a slow leak but still needs to be fixed all the same. Taking it to a dealer and fixing it the official way would set me back $thousands (Toyota want $2,200 just for a new actuator part) as the official fix involves removing the transmission and dismantling part of the transfer case to fit a new actuator. There are internal clips that hold the actuator shaft in place. Guess it would be around $4 to 5K for a dealer to fix it.
So I'm going to do the repair using the cheat method of just removing the actuator housing leaving the shaft in place and replace the the seal and o-ring (two seal and o ring about $10). This involves removing the internals of the actuator. As these internals need to be refitted back in the correct 'timing' to work properly, and there seems to be a lot of uncertainty as to how to correctly time them, I'll document the procedure once I've figured it all out and its working so it is hopefully easier for the next person.
P.S. I've watched every Youtube video and read just about every forum discussion of fixing this problem (the USA's Lexus GX470 being just a V8 petrol Prado is the most documented). The method of just twisting it off leaving the actuator internals intact is pure butchery IMO, and not surprised so many people doing it that way run into trouble. The best videos on the subject are by a guy called Timmy the Toolman in the US, and a Russian one, pity don't understand a word they are saying but still had some good ideas e.g. taping the shaft shoulder so the seal goes over it without the seal spring popping out (the seal lip faces toward the transfer case so is prone to catching this lip as its refitted). Timmy was having this exact problem.
So I'm going to do the repair using the cheat method of just removing the actuator housing leaving the shaft in place and replace the the seal and o-ring (two seal and o ring about $10). This involves removing the internals of the actuator. As these internals need to be refitted back in the correct 'timing' to work properly, and there seems to be a lot of uncertainty as to how to correctly time them, I'll document the procedure once I've figured it all out and its working so it is hopefully easier for the next person.
P.S. I've watched every Youtube video and read just about every forum discussion of fixing this problem (the USA's Lexus GX470 being just a V8 petrol Prado is the most documented). The method of just twisting it off leaving the actuator internals intact is pure butchery IMO, and not surprised so many people doing it that way run into trouble. The best videos on the subject are by a guy called Timmy the Toolman in the US, and a Russian one, pity don't understand a word they are saying but still had some good ideas e.g. taping the shaft shoulder so the seal goes over it without the seal spring popping out (the seal lip faces toward the transfer case so is prone to catching this lip as its refitted). Timmy was having this exact problem.
Seems that's the end of the story. Took a stack of photos today and tried to upload them with ZERO result. No problem getting them into PostImage (I used to use Photobucket). But trying to link them to this site using the Image icon, could anything be harder. I read the how to post pictures in the sticky and in all honesty it wasn't at all helpful.
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