Unable to lock truck and set alarm; Intermittent problem

Hello Fellow Tundra owners. I have a 2002 4wd Tundra with only 50000 miles. All in all the truck has been great. That said, starting a few years ago, I’ve been experiencing an intermittent problem that prevents me from locking the truck and hence setting the alarm.

Specifically, about every 10th time I arrive at my destination, turn off the truck and open the driver’s door, the truck emits beeps and I can neither lock the truck nor set the alarm. Usually I can restart the truck and move it about a foot after which everything works fine.

I suspected the ignition switch and replaced it but the problem persists. I’m now suspect of an intermittent door switch but before replacing it I thought I’d ask folks on this forum for advice.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

cheers,

Jim

 

Does it make a noise or anything like the longer beep that happens when you leave a door open and try to lock with the remote?

 

@KarmaKannon : Yes, it emits beeps. As I recall they are single beeps repeated every few seconds. It’s not the long beep of the sort you mention. I know that sound.

Next time it happens I’ll pay more attention to the beep pattern to be sure.

Thanks,

Jim

 

Search RS3000 Alarm System on Toyota Tundra.

Too much info, but you may need to reprogram. Check NHTSA for Tundra recalls and TSB’s (tech service bulletin). 2002 had an alarm TSB. Your search should lead you to figuring things out.

Report back!

 

Going with what @KarmaKannon is alluding to and instead of waiting till it happens again, would you attempt to lock the door with remote, with a door open and report back if you hear a steady shrill sound from the piezo which is under the hood. Also, is that the sound you recall when it's acting up ? Steady audible pitched sound from piezo indicates door open, 2 beeps from piezo indicates unlocking door. Also, from the drivers seat and attempting to lock doors, have you noticed over time that it does indeed lock all doors or have you noticed an issue with that function which possibly indicates door actuator.

 

@BubbaW : I will perform the tests you suggest tomorrow and report the results. I'm familiar with the long, shrill alarm and that is not what I'm hearing. I think it may be a double beep but again, I'll have to wait for it to happen to know for sure. I have not noticed any issues with the two doors on my vehicle locking or unlocking. - Thanks - Jim

 

@BubbaW This morning I performed the test you suggested. I left the driver door ajar and attempted to lock the truck via my key fob and the truck emitted the long, shrill sound. Upon opening the door left ajar, the sound ceased.

Cheers,

Jim

 

@KarmaKannon : Are you able to point me to a reference, preferably online, that would describe the types of sounds (beeping, etc.) that may be emitted by a Tundra along with descriptions of the associated causes?

Thanks,

Jim

 

No, I don't know anything about the different sounds it would make beyond the long one when you leave a door open or a door doesn't close all the way.
Let's see if @empty_lord knows of any good list to diagnose the door locks.

 

First question. Is the alarm system factory or aftermarket?

 

If you don't have an Owners Manual pdf, I'd suggest going to Toyota.com and downloading. In that manual you can then do a search of that pdf for the word "beep". You will find that there are a number of explanations for beep sounds.

https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals

 

@empty_lord : Factory installed alarm

 

@BubbaW : Will do, thanks.

 

When I get home I’ll see if I can dig up the diagnostic manual to see if you can figure it out. These old systems use the security light to show “code”

 

@BubbaW : Per your advice, I downloaded the user manual from the Toyota site. Searching it yielded 40 instances of the word “beep” all of which were associated with audio system. While this didn’t help me solve my problem, I’m quite pleased to have a copy of tis manual. So again, thank you for the reference.

I also downloaded and read, for the most part, the RS3000 alarm system manual. It describes sounds emitted by the piezo subsystem but I couldn’t find anything that seems pertinent to my problem. The more I try and recall the nature of the sound in my case, the more I think it is pairs of short beeps, repeating every few seconds. As an aside, I will note that memory doesn’t generally improve with age, and I’m getting old, I think.

Jim

 

Unless you overlooked the 3 or 4 that related to door beeps, I would have to assume your OM is different than my OM. I definitely will agree there are manyyy audio beep references but they are not coming from the "piezo". Other than the 3 referenced in OM regarding door beeps....1 beep lock door, 2 beeps unlock door, continuous beep for open door, I'll grab a bag and wait for the others associated with the "piezo" that others might mention.

 

@BubbaW : The manual I downloaded for my 2002 Tundra has file name "OM34417U.pdf". I was incorrect in saying that I had observed 40 instances of the word "beep". In fact there are 126 such instances, but again, in my case all are in the audio section (pages 127-149).

 

@BubbaW : The 26 page RS3000 alarm system manual I downloaded describes the standard beeping pattern associated with open and close via the key fob. It also describes the case where you try and set the alarm but a door is ajar. I've attached a screen cap of one page to show you the lingo they are using (i.e., piezo "chirper").

 

For completeness, this screen cap shows the expected beeping pattern associated with unlocking the truck via the key fob

 

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...14561304/02_tundra_RS3000_Troubleshooting.pdf

And the EWD for good measure
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...674113139658326016/2002_Tundra_rs3000_EWD.pdf

 

@empty_lord : Thank you for taking the time to find and post this valuable information for me!

 

Update: Today my Tundra problem manifested. I can now say definitively that the sound I hear when the problem occurs is pairs of beeps separated by about one second (beep-beep, 1 second pause, beep-beep, etc.).

I also verified that the truck seems to “think” it’s parked since the green park led lights.

If I close the door the beeping stops. If I reopen the door the beeping restarts.

I gave up trying to set the alarm and went to lunch. When I returned and opened the (unlocked) door there was no beeping, and I was able to set/clear the alarm and lock/unlock the doors. I’ve noticed this same pattern in the past and suspect that there’s a time-out in some computer (ECU or RS3000 alarm or ?..) that resets the system after some (tbd) period of time

 

Do your head lights flash twice with the 2 beeps....just thinking the 2 beeps corelate to unlocking doors ?

 

@BubbaW : I’m not sure. I don’t recall my headlights ever flashing but perhaps I just haven’t noticed. Next time it happens I’ll check.

 

@BubbaW : I just verified that when I unlock or lock my truck with my key fob the parking lights flash. I’ll see what happens next time the truck gets into its “weird” state.

 

I'm simply wondering to myself if nobody else, is it indeed acting like an unlock condition(2beeps/2light flickers). FM(freakin magic), can work in mysterious ways. Do you have a spare FOB you can carry instead of your regular one, in case that FOB is wrongly signaling the RS3000. If it's happening on a regular basis, are you equipped with keys so you will not have a FOB in close proximity of truck.

To far away from April fools for family or co-worker to play tricks with a spare FOB

 

The same problem has happened to my wife a few times and she has a different fob. I do like your April Fools theory though.

 

Whenever I had a problem with the alarm system, I was usually telling me the truck battery going bad. It doesn’t sound/mimic this situation, but who knows?

Have we tried disconnecting/reconnecting the battery? For a reset?

Put the voltmeter on the battery to test volts?

I haven’t read the entire thread fully so you may have tried these obvious measures?

 

I have not tried disconnecting/reconnecting the battery but will do so. I'll also measure the battery voltage but given that the starter turns the engine, even in cold temperature, I'll be surprised if it's a battery problem. That doesn't mean a reset won't help though. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

i would have the battery tested. might have a bad cell causing issues. they'll test em free.