Bought a First Gen, Everything is perfect except

Recently purchased a 2005 AC 2wd V6. 204,000 miles. In Arkansas. It is very clean and I love it so far. It’s spotless underneath, and not the suspiciously clean type. It honestly is just that clean. I found this forum and I’m glad I did. Very insightful stuff here. Only have two issues with the truck are none of the dash lights work except the “D” and all the warning/indicator lights will come on at start up. Nothing lights up on the speedometer, rpm’s, etc, The clock works, but none of the lights are on for A/C. The ignition light ring works as well. Any help there?

the other issue is there is more engine noise than I would like to hear coming from near the gas pedal area. It almost sounds like an exhaust leak. I’ve read the thread on that steering seal and am thinking maybe that’s it? Not sure though.

Anyway, I’m very much looking forward to driving this thing as long a possible. Going to check timing belt and probably get water pump and radiator replaced. Ball joints look good and entire rack and pinion is recently replaced. Missing any must do maintenance items for 200k miles? Thanks

 

Welcome!

 

Here’s your second issue, a stickied thread:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-steering-shaft-seal.48664/

Welcome!

 

Have you tried adjusting the knob to the left of the steering wheel? That's the dash light dimmer.

Probably going to have to replace some bulbs. Don't worry it's not hard to do on the climate control. Just pull off the 3 knobs, there's 2 or 3 Philips screws behind the knobs to unscrew, then pull the entire plastic radio bezel out.
You will need three 168 bulbs for the AC lights.

 

I love lamp

 

thank you for bulb sizes and explanation. I did try dimmer knob. It does not do anything unfortunately. All fuses look good too. Previous owner said they all went out at same time

 

Then chances are the dimmer switch is bad and needs to be replaced. The 05-06 gauges don't use bulbs, rather they have LEDs soldered to the circuit board.

I had this issue on my T100. But instead of replacing the dimmer switch, I found instructions online to easily make a jumper. So basically I bypassed the switch with a few wires.

 

If you're going to that length to replace the water pump and radiator, you might as well do the timing belt. It's all in the same area and you're basically half done if you replace the water pump. Also, if you haven't done so, read this. All of it. It answers so many questions. https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Steering shaft seal is covered above, the V8 trucks naturally tick like a sewing machine, you're just hearing it when you shouldn't. Not discounting cracked exhaust manifold, it's possible, but I doubt it. Temporary fix may be stuffing house insulation in that spot.

Dash gauge thing ... given the '05-'06 have all lights on-board, as soldered LEDs, the LEDs not lighting up would (to me) speak more to bad traces on the board.

Think about it. There's no way in hell Toyota made the circuit board for the dash with more than one power input to feed the lights, there should be a single power input coming to the board, which then then feeding out to the lights across multiple traces on the board. Failure for a light to light up - or multiple lights for that matter - would speak more to a defect on the board than anything else.

HOWEVER I'm not discounting the fact a water leak could've caused any number of things to happen. Like, if the truck had been in an unreported flood, windshield had a crack and fed water into the bulkhead behind the cluster, that kind of thing.

OR someone replaced the cluster at some point, or shorted out a circuit by futzing with the wiring of the gauge cluster. I assume you've verfied the fuses, right?

OR you've had the all-too-common case of water into the in-dash fusebox (pics & pics & pics, it happens a LOT) and it's messing with the GAUGE circuit.

I think the only way you're really going to know what's going on with the cluster is to:

• Inspect all fuses, test across them with a meter, one by one
• Inspect the in-dash fusebox for water intrusion
• Pull the gauge cluster, check the wiring bulkhead that feeds it for bent/corroded pins, then look carefully at the cluster wiring traces on the back for signs of damage.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! Great looking truck!

 

I’m not a mechanic or truck expert by any means. So if this is wrong or blatantly ignorant please forgive me. But I went to check my timing belt and it is a chain. Not a belt. That’s right….. right? 2005 model AC V6. Do all 05 V6s have a timing chain? Did Toyota realize the issue and fix it?

 

Will shit, I stand corrected. My apologies.

 

The default assumption by many on here is "V8" (2UZ-FE) which had a timing belt. And the earlier model 00-04 with 3.4L V6 (5VZ-FE) also had a timing belt. I don't think as many are familiar with the VVTi 4.0L V6 in the '05-'06 (1GR-FE) have a chain. I'd prefer the VVTi V6, quite frankly, if I had to have one. Wonder if they made the 05-'06 with the 4.0L in a manual 4WD?

 

It's only an issue if it breaks. I assumed V8. Sorry.

 

no you guys are all good. It just had me surprised I guess. Or fearful that I was simply incompetent.

so quick follow up question - it has 204k miles. I did a tune up, fluid service, etc. Check engine light came on and I took it to the dealer. They are saying it’s an issue with my cats/exhaust manifold and that my truck is very likely in limp mode because of this and that I’m not getting much power because of it. They are wanting 3400 to fix it. Is this something I need to get fixed now? Is it an issue if I don’t? I want this thing to last as long as possible. That’s just a lot of money

 

I'd take it to an independent shop and get a second opinion. Don't tell them you already took it to the dealership and got a quote for $3400.

 

Bullshit.

Any auto parts chain store will pull a code for you. Tell us what the code is.

To overcome limp mode, take negative battery cable off, or clear the codes out of the system using a reader. It'll get you out of limp mode until the code causing limp mode re-sets itself. Re-scan for codes to ensure nothing new popped up.

Without seeing the report, just based on what you said "exhaust manifolds/cats" I'm calling bullshit. More likely an O2 sensor, upstream, at that mileage, but without seeing which code(s) thrown, it's impossible to say.

 

I turned down the 3400 exhaust manifold” repair. Taking it to auto zone for a code read now. Will post code shortly. Thank you guys

 

Tell em to clear the codes after they pull them, so the truck will run normal again.

 

Also for shits and giggles. They noted the noise near the gas pedals / floorboard. Said I need an entirely new steering shaft. Bull shit. It’s that damn seal I’m 99% sure. My steering is amazing. Handles perfect. All new rack and pinion from previous owner with receipts. I think dealer is looking for a money grab

 

already left, but I actually did ask them to do this

 

What were the codes?

 

They are, it's how they got the nickname "stealership". It's a scam. Better to find an independent Toyota-specific shop. They're everywhere in major cities, and usually one or two in small towns alike.

 

Code is P0420

 

Ha, O2 sensor

 

So it’s like a $200 repair at most? Depending if it is upstream or not?

 

someone with the V6 can chime in on O2 sensor configuration, the V8s have 4. Replacing the upstream and downstream together gives the best results since they are comparing data with each other.

 

Maybe different on 4.0. Both mine are found under the bed opposite the fuel tank

 

Here's the thing. I'll take a second on this one.

Cats are expensive. More than O2 sensors. And a lot of times when people come here with 'cat inefficiency codes' (P0420, P0430), it's actually NOT the cats. I type this a lot, but I'ma type it again because I type fast as fuck.

Essentially every EFI vehicle you'll probably ever work on, on the back side of each exhaust manifold you have Engine -> Manifold -> UpstreamO2 -> cat -> DownstreamO2

To really oversimplify, your engine is producting controlled explosions based on values it's saved as "efficient".

That exploded exhaust passes through the manifold, and the upstream O2 tells the ECU "hey, here's your combustion mixture!" so the ECU knows whether the oxygen/fuel mixture it's currently exploding using whatever mapping/parameters it saved is copacetic, or if it needs to adjust out the air/fuel ratio, maybe even detonation in some cases.

Then those vapors pass thru the cat to be cleaned of contaminants.

Then the downstream O2 sensor does another scan on the output, and the ECU compares BOTH sensor values to decide, "Yeah, the cat's doing a pretty good job of cleaning up here". I'm going to refer to that as the "delta" below, i.e. "the difference between two values".

As long as the delta calculated based on your upstream and downstream sensor is within a certain percentage, ECU is happy, no codes thrown. If it's whack, way out of spec, suggesting the filtration by the cat is too low, BLING! The ECU throws code P0420 or P0430, depending on which exhaust bank is showing the out-of-spec delta.

Here's the flaw in that system:

Say the upstream O2 isn't reading correctly, but the downstream is fine. What then? The Upstream will report a whack value, and the downstream will report a normal value, and the end result is WHACK DELTA VALUE, because the upstream output is fucked.
Say the inverse, upstream is reporting fine, but the downstream is whack. Once again, your delta is fucked and the ECU is like "OMFG BRO MY CATS ARE FUCKED!!!"

Look, your cat is NOT going to change much unless you ignore an issue where the system is running too rich or too lean. Granted, a bad O2 sensor can lead to exactly that, but it's unlikely it'll happen without years of serious problem.

In light of this, if you're throwing P0420 or P0430, don't look at the cat, it's typically a red herring. Look at the sensor the computer is using to say the cat is bad. And because they work in pairs, upstream/downstream, replace them in pairs, on the impacted bank, at the same time.

We rarely ever see a legitimate bad cat on this forum. We DO see people replace the cats from this code, and we also see them continue to throw code if they don't use OEM cats (or magnaflow or walker seem to work). The two biggest causes of the issue you're specifically seeing, in order of typicality (at least for the V8, specifically, which should remotely translate to your VVTi V6):

1. Bad upstream or downstream sensor on the impacted bank - solution: replace both sensors on the impacted exhaust bank
2. Exhaust manifold leak, which is pulling in oxygen to dilute combustion mixture or allowing exhaust to escape, giving the upstream sensor an invalid reading - solution: Find the leak, repair, could be a cracked manifold (not uncommon), broken manifold stud, bad manifold gasket
3. Other problem difficult to figure out - solution: In these cases, some folks will use O2 foulers to space the sensors off the exhaust and thus "nerf" what the sensor reads, which changes the delta into what the ECU believes is "in-spec", foulers can be bought online

WWSD (what would shifty do?)

Well, I love spending other people's money, but I also am pragmatic. Your truck has over 200k miles on it, and it probably saw about 10k miles/yr on average. Those O2 sensors have been busting their ass day in and day out over those miles and are probably tired, they've done their fair share. Since these trucks are finicky with non-OEM stuff for anything related to spark/air/fuel (and lower ball joints), I'd go to www.densoautoparts.com and look up your truck. You'll want to find the "exact fit" part for upstream and downstream sensor on bank 1, realizing either may be different between 2WD and 4WD trucks. Only get the "exact fit" part, NOT the "universal" parts.

DO NOT buy your parts on scAmazon or fleaBay. Lots of knockoff parts cycle through there, counterfeiters love those outlets because there is no recourse or punishment for getting outed. They just open a new storefront if they get shut down. Summit Racing and RockAuto are great sources for OEM parts under the Denso, Aisin, Advics, and other typical Toyota part names.

And that is my TED talk. I'm open to questions.

 

Stop typing this. Immediate link in megathread needed. Bravo!