Sensor Errors Won’t Stop and Dealer Can’t Fix It!

Has anyone else had a total sensor failure problem? All sensors, parking sensors, PCs sensors and headlight on/off sensors are failing and lighting up the dashboard continuously, like a Christmas tree! The repeated beeping and warnings will not stop. Makes the 2018 Tundra impossible to drive. All I did was drive it in heavy snow on a highway for a day. All the sensors failed, because they got caked with snow and salt and grime from the road. This is normal. But, after I washed the truck and cleaned all the sensors... the total sensor system failure warnings won’t stop! It says “See Dealer.” But, the dealer has been working on the truck for 2 weeks now and can’t fix it! Please help!

 

There’s nothing an Internet forum can do that the dealer isn’t doing. There was a recall about sealing the front sensor. Did they do that? If you’re under warranty and it wasn’t caused by misuse or road debris, they have to fix it esp since it’s a safety feature. If not, tell them the truck isn’t safe to drive and you want a new one.

 

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, they already did the front sensor recall. Unfortunately, even though the truck is only 2.5 years old, I’ve driven it 54,000 miles. So, they say it’s not under the original factory warranty. I’m so worried that the $45k truck is nothing but garbage now. Luckily, I bought the 125,000 extended factory warranty. But, the dealer is saying there is a small dent/bend in the rear bumper, so they are refusing all warranty coverage! It’s so strange how all the sensor systems are failing all at once... lane departure, parking, pre-collision, cruise control, headlight, etc. they all beep and flash non-stop on the dashboard!

 

I’d guess one of the systems is failing but the ecu is programmed to light up everything. It would be a big coincidence that all failed at the same time. Hopefully they’ll find it.

Does the dent in the bumper bend the sensor hole area? I don’t think that would cause your issue. It would just make the sensor point the wrong way as long as nothing is blocking it. It would be easy to remove the sensor from the hole and check if that was it.

 

What you are describing is very similar to what can happen when a wiring harness gets damaged by rodents. Have you noticed anything in your engine compartment that’s not normally there?

 

I think this is more of a singular problem than the likelihood of multiple sensors failing form a trip to the snow for a day.

*Loose ground
*Sensor calibration throwing the whole system off
*Wire harness rodent damage

Any electrical mods? Headlightlights, LED's? Previous vehicle damage near the sensor wiring harness?

If the dent is at the rear bumper sensor , I could see them saying they wouldn't cover it. But not to cover any warranty item doesn't sound right. Maybe that's a misunderstanding of the coverage and the current situation. Need to sort that one out.

 

The dent/bend is so slight, that you need a ruler to even observe it. It’s not something you can see with the naked eye, unless you view it from a certain angle. They say that the rear bumper moved and that damaged one of the 10,000 wires or sensors. But, the dealer can’t find it. I guess the Tundras are just very fragile trucks. One little bump or some dirty snow and it breaks like this? And can’t be fixed? $45k in the toilet. sorry... I’m very frustrated and upset.

 

If the dent was result of an accident, there may be a wiring issue (pinched wire that is arcing, faulty ground, etc). I would trace all of the sensor wires and see if any are pinched / cracked / broken. And can’t discount the rodent possibility as mentioned above

And I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Escalate your issue immediately with Toyota corporate. Is it a Toyota extended warranty or third party?

 

Thanks for the idea of rodent damage. I’ll take a look to see if any wires are chewed anywhere. I heard that Toyota changed from regular vinyl wiring to soy-based wiring which attracts rodents and they chew on the wires, because it’s good for them. My truck is parked outside at night, when I’m not driving it. But, I’ve put 54,000 on it in 2.5 years. So, it hasn’t sat much. Thanks.

 

I bought $3000 plus, 10-year, 125,000 mile Toyota factory bumper-to-bumper warranty. It was expensive! Now, the dealer says it’s my problem. Seems so unfair.

 

Typo - Soy based wiring- It’s food for them.

 

Your dealer is either an idiot or an a-hole. Take it to a different dealership.

 

Oh, to answer your earlier question... truck is 100% stock. No mods of any kind. 2018 Tundra CrewMax Limited 4x4.

 

Hey, take a breath for a second and look at the overall picture here. It's frustrating, but not 45k wasted. It's most likely something pretty simple and it's probably not a little ding or some salt. But it'll take a minute to figure it out. I'm not an expert on the TSS systems but try to sort this out with as much info as you have and maybe some smarter guys than me, can chime in and at least help narrow down the focus for troubleshooting.

You said ALL the sensors. Is it just the parking, lane departure, headlights?
or is it also....
VSC, ABS, 4WD, airbags, check engine, Brake controller, ?

 

Sensors... Hmmm... let’s see...
Not ABS, not 4WD, not airbags, not check engine, not brake controller.
Warning are for headlight sensor, all parking sensors, pre-collision, lane departure, cruise control... I think that’s it. Big yellow triangle on the dash, lots of repeated warnings on the dash screen, so many different sensors, beeping repeats every 20 seconds or so and won’t stop. Sometimes, the errors will disappear and reset for 10 minutes after the truck is turned off, but, it’s intermittent.

 

That’s some bull shit. You drive the truck like it’s advertised, and they are saying because of a little dent they will not continue to diagnose the issue. Sounds to me like you need to go to a different dealer or contact corporate Toyota and file a complaint or email them to document it.

 

Trying to stay cool...
I’ll reach out to toyota corporate on Monday, that will be 3 weeks in total, since it started.

 

I paid $183 for an initial diagnosis. They put some electrical tape on it somewhere and they sent me home. It started having errors again on the drive home. I returned it immediately to the dealership.
Now, this Monday will be 3 weeks since the problems started.

 

Actually, I think they reset all the sensors... or something like that, plus a piece of electrical tape? Frustrating...

 

I admit, it was a heck of a snow storm that weekend. I drove for 7 hours in the northeast, from Vermont to New Jersey. The tundra was covered in icicles, tons of snow and road salt! I had to wash it twice and rub every sensor to get it clean!

Maybe the truck isn’t designed to handle snow and cold and salt... even though is only 2.5 years old?

 

Yes another dealer then for sure. 3 weeks is a little long. Definitely check all harnesses. Also I stand corrected about the snow.......
Apparently that has been an issue for some.......here is a thread you might want to read through.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/poll-2018-tss-radar-precollision-problems.30411/

 

Thanks for the link to the PCS issue. Mine had the PCS problem from the start. I fixed it by wiping and polishing the front toyota emblem in the grill all the time. The PCS sensor is in the emblem. Polishing it and waxing it makes it slippery... so dirt and water doesn’t stick to it. It helped to stop the normal weather/dirt related PCS failures.
The current problem is that the total sensor system is failing and throwing everything from headlight to PCS to Lane departure warning and beeps. Something is really messed up!

 

There is no way all of the sensors are bad, unless someone vandalized each one. There has to be a common denominator. There is probably a bad ground common to all of the sensors (some have mentioned this), or it is the module or ecu that controls those systems.

 

The dealer says that all the sensors in this group communicate with each other. So, they can’t find the bad wire or the bad sensor and can’t fix it. None of it makes sense to me...
Hope no one else has this nightmare Toyota Tundra problem.

 

I’m sure there is someone you could raise the issue to being that you have a warranty and it’s a safety issue, like nhsta or state ag. They might not do anything, but maybe it will scare to dealer in to fixing it. I’d use that last though as the dealer will be less helpful to you after that with any other issues. Or try a different Toyota place. Or consult a lawyer.

 

You need to take it somewhere else then. It’s very simple really, input and output. The ecu for that system will interpret the signals and make an output determination based on those inputs. A sensor on the rear bumper will not be “talking” to a sensor on front bumper. Those are both inputs to the ecu. The different systems are “talking” in the ecu. ... which is just making a preprogrammed determination with all of the sensor inputs.

 

Disconnect the battery. And then give it a few minutes. Recon the battery. If that doesn’t work turn off the switch for sensor and give a day or 2 and try turning it back on. Worked for my 2016 crewmax when ice and snow messed with my sensor

 

That's not exactly true. Vehicles have multiplexing networks to handle all of the system information on board. Gone are the days of dedicated I/O for each device. If it were still done that way the wire harnesses would be massive. So it is feasible if the devices are on the same system that one could affect the other. That said the dealer should be able to plug in with the Techstream and identify the faulty device.

 

Best of luck with your sensor issues. I hope they get it fixed

 

OP, the snow won't damage anything, this almost sound like one of the modules need to be replace, read your warranty policy carefully, sometimes those warranty may be covered by a 3rd party, not Toyota.

off a hunch, I feel its very likely one of your module was damaged some way some how, if you feel like have a read through, you can check this thread

https://www.tundras.com/threads/ultimate-wiring-diagrams-collection.81448/

it lists majority of modules present in the truck.