2020 Tundra Breakdown

2020 Tunda Crewmax SR5 TSS 2WD, 35,000ish miles. Bought it used a year ago with 30k miles on it.

Yesterday was turning onto a street and suddenly the dash lit up like a pinball machine. Had several errors, check engine light, "pre-collision system malfunction," "trailer brake error, if towing come to a safe stop and contact dealer," and one other I can't remember. Anyway, as I was getting to a spot I could pull over about a mile down the road, the transmission started kinda catching as it shifted, and started to smell gas.

Got it towed to Toyota but by the time I got there it was too late to diagnose until Monday, so in the meantime, any idea what the issue might be? Lady at Toyota said there might be a recall on the fuel pump, but not sure that would cause all those lights to go off?

Thanks y'all.

 

Do you recall hitting any debris in the roadway prior to these problems starting? Just wondering if one of the speed sensors at the wheels might be damaged.

 

Please keep us up to date on what the issue is when you find out.

 

Not that I'm aware of, sorry for my ignorance but what sort of speed sensors? Never heard of that with any other vehicle I've had.

 

Most newer vehicles have them. Magnetic sensors that are mounted at each wheel hub to track the rotation speed. Used for activating the anti-lock brake & stability control systems. If one is damaged or just fails it can cause similar codes & error messages to suddenly appear. However, your problems may be due to something else completely.

 

Thanks for the info. I hope it's something that simple, obviously it's some sort of sensor or chip that failed to throw all those different messages.

 

Battery? It’s about that age if you’ve never replaced it and voltage issues wreak havoc in these newer vehicles. Could be the fuel pump too I suppose or a million other things. Good luck! Hope it’s an easy fix!

 

I replaced it when I got the truck, but I have noticed the led headlights (oem TRD Pro that I swapped myself with a harness) have been kinda pulsing, for lack of a better word, the past few days

 

You can post your VIN in the Toyota Owners site to see if your truck is affected by the fuel pump recall. If I recall the 2020 was affected though.

 

Okay so Toyota called me a few mins ago, since I have an aftermarket radio with a Maestro box, they said they could not see what the codes were because the aftermarket stuff was blocking their reader?

Anyway, they had disconnected the battery and reconnected it and so far no errors, they basically told me it was probably a fluke. So, I guess I'll just wait and see if it happens again.

 

That's bullshit, all they had to do was unplug the OBD. Don't pay those fuckers a cent for "diagnostics".

 

Just to be safe, I'd still go get the battery tested. Have the place (even local parts store) do a load test on it. Could be a bad cell or something that causes intermittent issues.

 

Thanks for letting us know what the dealer said. It’s frustrating when you don’t get a definitive solution.

 

So I always thought the battery was just to start the vehicle, and the alternator provided electricity while it was running, or is that not the case anymore?

 

Yeah. Sort of. But a battery can start having issues and cause some other gremlins.

I've got remote entry and push button start. I noticed a few times when I would remote start the truck, upon unlocking the door with my hand, the truck would stay running. Then once I was in, the truck wouldn't turn "on" despite the engine running. This was my OEM battery so I had it tested and it failed under a load so it was replaced.

There's a lot of threads on here where bad batteries cause some strange electrical occurrences.

 

I’d test the battery even though it’s “new to you”.
Depending on where you purchased it from that battery could’ve been on the shelf for a while.

 

If the battery dies, it will drop you off in the worst of places, even if you're driving. Happened to me a while back and had to push these b, clear across an intersection.

 

Okay took it to O'Reilly, battery shows good but needs charge, alternator test failed because voltage wasn't steady. I had also notice lately my voltage gauge constantly fluctuating.

 

Time for a new battery. It’ll rule that out at the very least and it’s not a part that you’re throwing money away on… it’ll need to be replaced anyway. Hope it’s just the battery. Couple hundred bucks and you’re good for another 4-5 years.

 

Thanks, yeah dropped it off at an independent mechanic to test the battery and alternator for real, so hopefully that's it.

 

That’s good. I’m sure a full load test will be done and you’ll know for sure. Especially coming into winter (depending where you live)

 

Most likely O'Reilly is correct and looks like you need a new alternator. That's a simple reliable test and they can do it.

 

My 2020's alternator took a dump at ~60K miles a couple of months ago. Sounds like I may not be the only one. Could be a voltage regulator issue.

 

That's what I always thought too, but in my 2018, I had a day of freeway driving when everything went dark, mid flight on I5 at 70mph. I pulled over and parked. Restarted, and took off, back into traffic. Again, the lights and radio fluttered and chattered, error codes popped up, and everything went dark. I coasted off a freeway off-ramp, and was able to restart in neutral. I pulled into a gas station and popped the hood. I found the negative battery terminal was pretty crudded up and loose on the post. I tightened it, and had no more issues until about a month later when I had to change the battery. This all happened at about 60-65000 miles on the odometer. No issues ever since, but I now frequently check the battery terminals.

 

Okay well, turned out to be a loose battery cable connection. Unreal that all this could be caused by something so simple. I feel dumb, yet relieved at the same time.

 

Don’t stress it bud. Great news.

 

Yep, nearly best case scenario for ya. Glad it's all worked out.

 

My guess is the alternator. Did you go off roading or mudding recently?

 

Did you read the thread?

 

lol, yeah. after i posted.