2000 Limited TRD refresh/repair story

I highly doubt it. There’s only two airbag-related connectors that you have to disconnect, and both gave a solid, sharp click when I put them back in.

I’ll leave the battery disconnected overnight. If that doesn’t do anything, I’ll take it apart again tomorrow.

 

Any FLAPS nearby to have them scan the codes?

Does the horn and cruise work now, or no? If not, I suspect bad clock spring. You can test it for continuity if you have a DMM, but I've never had to do it.

I think SRS codes are persistent and need to be manually cleared on all cars, using a scanner/reader that supports it.

You may find that just clearing the codes, they won't return, this is just a byproduct of your work.

 

The clockspring was what I replaced, the cruise and horn work now, and they didn't before.

I tried reading the codes and clearing them using the jumper wire method, closely following the FSM. No change in the light or it's blinking speed. I'm letting it sit with the battery disconnected overnight to see if that will do anything, and if not, I'll go to Orileys to have them scan it.

 

I thought the light was blinking the code at you, like Morse code?

 

Gotta ask...did you use an OEM clockspring?

Edit: I just read back and saw that you used Dorman. Look up the procedure in your FSM for "diagnosing squib circuit", or something like that.

 

Well, I connected the battery this morning, and there wasn't any change. Light turns on for the normal 6 seconds, then blinks slowly. I still can't get a change in the blinking when jumping TC and Cg on the OBD connector.

I think it's mechanic time. I don't have the tools (or confidence) to mess with the airbag system. I'd also really hate to further break something. I'll take it to a trusted mechanic on Tuesday but if I (or anyone else) thinks of something before that I might try it.

 

One choice is go to a dealer and ask for diagnostics only. Depending on what they tell you, you can authorize the repair, take it home and fix it yourself, or push it into the nearest body of water.

 

I'm 90% sure you can't clear SRS codes by jumping. SRS is 'a protected' safety system, bypassing/clearing codes by owners is too huge a risk to allow it being easily done.

You really should go to someone who can pull the codes. Any local auto parts store (LAPS/FLAPS) can do it. Get back to us with the code. Squib circuit fail?

And I'm fairly certain you'll need a code reader specifically capable of resetting SRS codes to clear things out.

You'll probably spend less on a code reader capable of clearing SRS lights than you would on a trusted mechanic. I wouldn't be surprised to see it holding a residual squib failure or similar because it was broken before. Every ODBII car I've had prior held onto its SRS codes.

@daveeasa did your SRS airbag light flashing codes stop on their own?

 

Once the tech disconnected my scangauge, yes, no more SRS lights

I got the new cable for it. Haven't re-installed though. Don't know if I will.

Got a steel rear bumper on the 2016 today though. And vled tail bulbs/harness. And a rear fuse box.

 

Ah - I forgot, that was more of a backfeed situation causing the flashing. Not really the same thing.

Did you ever check to see if you were actually tossing codes?

 

I hooked up techstream and grabbed a screen shot. 2 specific codes but they were traction related? I couldn't see detail on the SRS and cruise problems but that sort of makes sense as they would have gone away while TS was connected to the ODB port. I have the ss's if you want me to post? My root cause was super clear entirely self induced so I'm not sure I learned anything other than don't wrench your truck in a costco parking lot 2h before you absolutely need headlights to work

 

Nah, no need to post the SS, it's all good. Totally not the same situation.

It'd be helpful if OP could post the stored codes.

 

What was confusing for me was the codes for rear wheel speed sensor going off. I didn’t see how that tied to the SRS system. And it apparently didn’t.

mash wires together and you just get random strangeness. I thought it was from the integration relay so I was pretty happy I didn’t have to redo that again.

 

I couldn’t get any codes using the jumper wire method, there was no change in the blinking when I tried, following the instructions from my FSM. My local parts store didn’t have a reader that was capable of reading airbag codes, so I haven’t gotten a chance to see what the codes could be.

I’m taking it to the mechanic tomorrow, I’ll post an update when I get word from him. Even if I did know the codes, I don’t have the tools, time, or experience to safely work with airbag wiring unfortunately.

EDIT: My mechanic won’t get a chance to see it until Wednesday. I’m going to continue driving it until then.

 

Mechanic just called.

It needs a seatbelt pretensioner, sometime in between the clockspring breaking and now it’s gone bad.

He wants $600, which seemed like a lot to me. Is this something I could do myself? Would I need a computer to set it up with the new part?

 

I mean, 1/2 - 2/3 of that is probably just the part if they're going OEM. IIRC, pretensioners are expensive, mostly because it's a safety item I believe.

Pretensioner is just the springloaded return and belt assembly if I'm not mistaken? If so, places like MyAirBags.com will repair yours for you. You ship, they repair, and send back.

 

The mechanic also said that there’s a nationwide backorder on them right now, so that also isn’t helpful.

I’m not sure exactly what qualifies it as broken, it retracts fine, and locks when you pull on it quickly. I’ll have to ask the mechanic when I pick it up.

I’ll look into a getting it repaired or getting a used one. It doesn’t look difficult to replace, I think it’s only three or four bolts. My main concern is that the module would need to be reset, I think it needs to be removed and sent out to a separate company.

 

So, I picked it up today from the mechanic and talked to him for a bit.

Firstly, there was only one code: P0137, which I believe is simply that there is an open circuit for the driver’s seat belt pretensioner.

With the total cost of repair being $670, and the part being on backorder indefinitely, I think I’m going to deal with having an airbag light on for a bit.

As soon as it’s nice enough outside to drive my other car for a week or two, I’ll remove the seatbelt system and send it to a rebuild company, but it’s too cold for that to happen right now.

While I was hoping it wasn’t going to be this difficult, it’s a step in the right direction. I’m glad that I got it diagnosed professionally.

 

There's an actual wired circuit on some pretensioners, I presume for the sake calculating something about the driver wearing the belt, or something like that.

This is just an example stolen from online, not necessarily what's in the 1GT. But if it's bitching about a circuit being dead, it's probably referring to the circuit I'm pointing to here. Is it possible you could jumper the circuit to bypass? Maybe, but if there's a certain amount of resistance expected, it wouldn't fix it unless you jumped it directionally-correct with something to result out with that resistance, if that makes sense. You could look on yours and look for a yellow plastic connector, possibly red (but yellow is almost always an indication it's SRS related!) make sure it's plugged into something, and the wire or its harness (black part leading up to yellow connector) aren't disco'd or corroded.

 

My apologies if I’m explaining something that’s already common knowledge…

I assumed the pretensioner was simply the device that pulled the seatbelt back in and locked when you pulled it out quickly, but after doing some research I found that it wasn’t the case.

Apparently cars with airbag systems use a contraption on the seatbelt, either on the ‘reel’ or on the buckle, and it’s intended to abruptly tighten the belt in the event of a crash, lessening the blow that the airbag puts on the occupant. This is done with a small gas/pyrotechnic piston and cylinder, that rapidly increases the tension on the belt. Example:

(this kind is mounted on the buckle instead of the reel)

All of this information was news to me. Makes sense why it’s so expensive, and that explains what the circuit is for. According to the mechanic, those gas cylinders can leak or break over time, which can cause the SRS system to freak out. I’d be weary of jumping that connector, I’d really hate to further damage something, and I’d really like to have a working SRS system anyway.

In a month or two when it’s a bit warmer, I’ll send it out to a company that rebuilds them for around $100. Seems a lot better than $670 to me!

 

Yes, there’s a charge in the seatbelt like in the airbag to rapidly deploy it. Replaced the seatbelt in my son’s mustang after a front end collision that deployed the drivers airbag and seatbelt pretensioned system. Ordered a replacement from a similar year model in good shape and matching color on fleabay. Worked great. Example:

 

This is for a repair service and not a replacement, they are advertising 24 hour turn around, so shipping both ways plus a day. Could be a week or less

 

$150 for a used one.

 

This is the company I was looking at… they seemed to have good reviews. Hoping that there will be a warm week soon so I can get it over with.

 

Another guy and have both used safety restore. Communication wasn’t overly spectacular but turnaround was quick and the belts feel good (had them re-webbed). Definitely worthwhile to me. Wish I could send in my door latches but I guess that’s more of a replace than repair sort of thing.

 

I decided to take a peek at the throttle body yesterday. I wasn’t planning on cleaning it for a few weeks, as I’m planning a major maintenance day, but I couldn’t bring myself to put the truck back together when I saw how bad it was.


Cleaned it up as best I could without removing it. I’ll remove it and clean it fully soon.


I decided to take a look at the PCV valve… I had been dreading trying to remove it for months.


It wasn’t much better. No rattle, even after a heavy dousing of brakleen. Replaced it with OEM, and I actually reused the grommet. It was surprisingly pliable, and stayed in one piece the entire time. I found this pretty surprising, as the maintenance records indicate that it hasn’t been changed since 2006, but it worked just fine and the new valve fit nice and snugly. I’ll take another look at it soon, but there was no evidence that it wasn’t sealing.

The truck runs so much better. I never would’ve guessed that it could’ve made that much difference. It’s so much smoother, the throttle response is so much better, and I can tell that it’s faster. I should’ve done this months ago.

 

Just wait 'til you see how it runs after taking a can of CFC MAF cleaner and cleaning the MAF. My gas mileage jumped from ~11mpg avg to ~13mpg. Just make sure you give the MAF enough time return from ice cold to room temp before re-install, so latent humidity/frost dissipates.

 

Oh I can’t wait!

It’s been getting 11.7 right now, which isn’t too bad considering I buy the cheapest gas possible, it’s winter, and the plugs have 120k on them…

 

I buy the cheapest gas possible too. It led me to throwing a knock sensor code recently but I cleared, added a can of Seafoam, and it never came back.

Changing to new OEM-level NGK iridium plugs didn't change a lot for my, but I'm only at 75k miles.

MAF cleaning, or the combo of plugs + MAF cleaning really hit it outta the park. I did clean the TB intake area when I worked on mine, but had nowhere near the gunk as you.

 

PS - here's the result of my spark plugs and MAF work.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-1535#post-3052766