USB and radio stopped working suddenly.

I m going to check power to the head unit, but I’m seriously considering a replacement. People have reported that these Entune head units aren’t all that great and can get confused easily and reset often.

 

Right- I didn’t miss any details in your post. I have dug through the dash board of my Tundra pretty extensively and I have not run into a separate “GPS unit”. The GPS in the truck is a receiver in the head unit. There is a GPS antenna also.

There is a separate Satellite radio module, if the truck is equipped as “satellite radio-ready”.

So my question to you is- what part or parts of the truck did they remove?

It is fine to say “I don’t know”.

But if the car rental place was rooting around behind your dash, they could have conceivably disrupted something that is causing your issues now.

 

So there was a checklist of things when the truck was returned for the last time of rental and was being set to sell. It says “GPS removed” but the more I think about it, it was likely a handheld device and not something on the truck. It was an AVIS rental truck. Also, yesterday the backup camera came on and stayed on for about 3 minutes, instead of flickering. Doesn’t matter the position of the shift lever, it just stays on. It stopped working again though, and the head unit never powers on.

 

That makes sense. I would have to think that Avis and other rental companies equip their vehicles with some kind of tracking appliance, and I’ll bet they pulled that. It just sounds to me like your head unit is bad, and the timing with the LED installation was just weird coincidence.

You could try to bench test the radio. You could try another stereo, but like another poster warned- you might have something going on that could blow another head unit.

Do you have a trustworthy shop or dealer?

 

Yea I called a place yesterday. There’s an Apple play touchscreen with all the stuff to hook up to the steering wheel controls and all that. Basically the entire head swap with harnesses is $800. I can have them test the HU, but I think it’s fried. The rear cam has started turning itself on and off randomly, but I think it’s just a coincidence. Also if a reputable dealer installs the new unit, they might be able to tell me if it’s a bad head unit or an electrical gremlin. I think it’s just the head unit seeing as I’ve tested everything else. Only thing I haven’t tried is pulled the head unit and testing the power to the unit to see if it’s a paper weight or a short somewhere. The truck is virtually new and these heads and the entire Entune systems are sort of notorious for resetting and cutting out frequently. I think it was just it’s time. But if anyone still has ideas I’m game to try before I fork over the $800.

 

You’ll be way happier with any CarPlay HU. I made the switch a few weeks ago and could never go back.
Maybe the shop can test your Entune unit and have some idea if it just went bad or if something in the truck damaged it.

good luck- it would be very frustrating, but give you a great excuse to get a better stereo/HU.

 

I’ll for sure have them test the old HU. The entire thing is gonna be $800 up here in Alaska. How much did you pay for your new set up with harnesses, if you don’t mind me asking?

 

It’s ugly.

Pioneer NEX8600: $1250
Maestro RR2 module: $250
Other harnesses: $90

So about $1650 all in. No labor- I did it myself.

 

So my backup cam started working about all the time. It’s on now when I start the truck. Then shuts off after a bit, and then comes in and out. Also, the head unit started to go through the motions of turning on today and then just…didn’t. It’s really weird. I’m waiting for the decoder for the lights and gonna hope that’s the fix. I’m soooo confused by this.

 

At a last stab look on here https://www.toyota.com/firmware-updates to see if there's any updates that might work.

 

Does the new head unit maintain steering wheels controls?

 

Yes the Maestro RR unit will retain all steering wheel controls. You can actually flash the Maestro RR unit to redo the steering wheel controls map and change what the buttons do if you want to, but by default everything is more or less set to how they operate from factory. The guys at TrailGridPro sell pre-wired and pre-programmed bundles that are totally plug and play, some for under $1000 all in. They include the dash trim already attached etc. if you're looking to upgrade and don't want to tinker too much. As for swapping the head unit in a 2014-2021, it's probably one of the easiest vehicles I've worked on. The trim and AC controls come off easily and then it's just 4 bolts (need an extension for 2) that hold the stereo in. Drop in the new one, pop the AC controls back in and you're on your way. Total install time is maybe 1-2 hours. Of course you can buy all the pieces yourself but they are a great option and have fantastic customer support. I'm in no way affiliated with them just a happy customer!

Look in the Alpine and Sony bundles here, with year ranges for each stereo they offer:

Toyota Tundra Accessories | Trail Grid Pro

 

You need to purchase the Maestro unit. That is what works between the head unit and your trucks wiring to maintain all controls. If you do that- yes. You'll maintain all the factory controls, and in fact, you can get fancy and program some improvements in (if you want). I didn't go that far.