Truck died

As I was stopped at a red light everything in truck died except for engine. I shut off and restarted the truck, engine started but all dummy lights on and I am unable to shift into drive unless pressing the over ride. Any ideas what this could be? I disconnected battery and reconnected and nothing happened

 

Any fuses tripped? We're Were you towing? Does your truck have parking sensors?

 

Toyota will be able to run any logged errors at shutdown if you take it in.

 

Bad battery? Posts of weird stuff happening even if no obvious signs of battery totally bad.

 

New battery. It’s a 2015 limited crewmax. Someone told me maybe alternator. Maybe truck shut down all non essential electronics to get me where I had to go and save battery. Voltage dropped stayed around 11.6

 

11.6v is way too low. Is this measured at the battery terminal?

 

I had something similar happen to my Land Rover. The bolt on the tensioner pulley snapped. Engine still ran, but then started to over-heat, no power-steering, power-brakes, AC, etc. How does your belt look?

 

Agreed. Sounds like alternator isn’t working.

 

Yes possibly. Normal voltage should be >12.4ish volts when off, closer to +14v with alternator working with the battery.

 

I had this happen in my Mercedes E350. Ended up a bunch of wires were chewed on by a mouse or rat in my garage. It would start and drive but my instrument panel was lit up like a Christmas tree. Took it in they replaced the $250 worth of wiring for $3000. Luckily it was covered by insurance and my deductible was $200. Moral of the story don't store deer feeder corn in your garage.

 

Eliminate the battery as a problem first. If the battery will not charge to 12.6+ V and stay charged (disconnected from the truck), then your battery is bad even it it is new. New batteries seem to fail by dead cells and that can happen instantly. There haven't been any reports of a dead cell failure while the engine is running, but they've probably happened. Owners were likely preoccupied with trying to diagnose the chaos that happens when the engine shuts down unexpectedly.

 

I also have a 2017 with the original battery and the Sunday on Memorial Day weekend I drove up to the local hardware store and when I went to start it notta.

I just had my battery checked at the dealer a week before and it was good! So I called roadside assistance out and when he tested it it said it was charged?! But wouldn’t turn over only when he put the cables on the posts. It was a bad cell, I went to Autozone and purchased a Duralast Gold and it’s been working ever since. Everything else checked out ok.

 

I have a 2017. A few months ago, whirring noise. Bad alternator and warranty covered it. Not sure if you have extended warranty on CPO. Either way, alternator was my problem but I caught it a little earlier than you, assuming that's your issue.

 

Dealership called me this afternoon and told me all the computers seemed to be fried. Asked if I was in an accident recently or if truck was struck by lightening.saidnit wasn’t the alternator but the voltage was def not getting stronger with truck running.

 

Before authorizing a big repair of replacing "all the computers", I would put a charger on the battery and try charging it. If/When the battery is charged to 12.6+V, I would let it set overnight disconnected. Check it in the morning. If the battery has not maintained full charge, replace the battery. It'll be worth the trouble to save thousands.

 

I'd take it to an independent shop for a second opinion, find someone who works on imports. I'd also make them explain to me how they got to that answer

 

Luckily for me it bought the extended warranty which is good through next year.

 

Oh in that case, absolutely let them fix...keep it as their problem.

If “someone else” (other than Toyota) touches it at this point, Toyota will claim someone else has mucked with it and wont honor the warranty claim.

You bet against Toyota with the warranty and they lost the bet.

I do however, agree with swapping out the battery just to see what happens...electrical gremlins can do weird shit.

Besides, if the computers were fried it would not start/run at all. So right there, the tech’s analysis isn’t making sense.

 

So they called me back and said that whoever installed the aftermarket remote starter hooked it up to the wrong spot. Cost me $290 to disconnect starter and rewrite whatever was messed up. ? This sound legit?

 

I might have missed it, but did you pay to have an aftermarket electric start installed?

If it was hooked up wrong, this problem would have presented it self the first time you turned power on after the install???

 

Posts like these I follow daily, it's always good info to absorb in the event that something similar happens to mine. It's amazing how often the Achilles heel of these trucks seems to be the batteries and aftermarket electrical work.

 

Yes, it is possible. I personally would ask though for the tech that figured it out to detail it for me. Just because I have some difficulty trusting other mechanics.

$290 is steep though, especially if it was harnessed remote start and was plug and play.

 

Final update: picked up truck today and dealership told me whoever installed remote start pulled on a wire uber fuse box while making his connections. It disconnected over time because it was loose. Reconnected wire and everything was fine. $315 for labor, $0 for parts.

 

Like others, I'd have some questions, but glad to hear it didn't hurt that much to get it fixed...and it wasn't the actual truck!

 

Went from all the computers fired to the car starter?

 

when they found out it was under warranty they realized the game was up and they would actually have to diag it. They were hoping he was just going to pay out of pocket. No way the warranty rep isnt going to ask questions about all the ecus being replaced.

 

He should tell us what stealership that was so everyone can avoid it.

 

Yep...warranty ups the ante and one thing about electrical problems, they can give so many spurious indications one cant get pulled into the weeds trying to chase the book answer...you have to resort to some real troubleshooting.

Glad they figured it out...

 

That sounds like a crooked maintenance department in the dealership. Please post the dealer name so others can avoid it.

 

Same thing happen to me, no indications of the battery going bad. Just jumped in the truck to go and nothing. I didn't realize they could die so suddenly. I picked up a Gold as well.