My Taco shut down on the freeway.

Luckily I was in the slow lane. Driving along about to merge, whole thing just shut off and threw a code. Guess Ill see what happens. Tow Truck will be here in 15 minutes. Then its straight to the dealer.

 

I feel like that happened to somebody else recently on here

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/98889-truck-died-freeway-4.html

heres the link and it says what caused it if you look through it..

 

It did. These freak occurrences have been happening in groups recently. to the OP, that sucks dude. The other guy had a fuse issue on his ecu (i think).

 

That happened to me. It was the alternator that crapped out on mine. They towed and replaced it since it was still under warranty.

 

Sitting at the dealer now. I have a fueling it's related to spark by how it felt. We se
shall see once I get the diagnostic information back. I was going to be doing an awesome tailgate lock today. But that will have to wait now.

 

update from the dealer. Couldnt find an issue. Said there was no CEL even though I ran the CEL myself before I took it it.

Said that it wasnt a warranty issue because my Onboard Air and Bed lights and car alarm draw to much power. This caused my coils to not get enough power and it shut off.

TOTAL BS. THAT stuff is directly connected to the battery and fused, there is no connection to the ignition or coils. I tried to explain that once the car is running the alternator would power the coils so that stuff connected to the battery would be a moot point. He wasn't having it so I told them to put it back together and I would do it myself. I am not paying them to guess what they dont know.

Stay away from MOssy Toyota. The guys I worked with just didnt know their stuff. All in all I am out $98 for the diagnostic, half day of work, and two towing trips.

 

I feel your PAIN! Bought my truck from them and they have yet to impress me. In the future you might wanna try Kearny Mesa Toyota..
Took my truck there after Mossy refused to do the spring TSB.
They did the work no B.S. no problems...

 

I figured since I bought the truck there they would help me out more. NOPE. They let me go into the bays and talk to the techs. I was not impressed. They seemed to know nothing, from what I gathered. I have been working on cars for a good 10 year now so I feel like i know a little about them. Ugh, but I digress.

I have a complaint filed with Toyota of North America. They are going to try and resolve it with the dealership, needless to say this will be the last time I am at Mossy.

 

So were all those things running and drawing power while you were cruising?
I certainly can't understand them grouping the alarm in with the other mods since alarms are made to draw off the battery while the truck is off, if alarms were a major power draw everyone would return to a truck with a dead battery every time they set them.

 

Hope it works out for ya.. Sad how one dealer can turn you sour. Hell.. Even the folks at Kearny Mesa bad mouth Mossy....

 

None of them draw power. They are switched directly to the battery. I check the battery when I got it home before the dealer it was reading at 16v, so I know that its not the problem. Also checked the power wires at the lights and compressor in question, both registered 0v. The whole thing is just annoying that it took all friday and $100 for nothing.

 

Yeah you got the old Stealership coin toss diagnosis
Heads, we tell them it's "Normal"
Tails, we blame it on the customer

 

Just a clarification: everything runs off the battery. The alternator charges the battery.
Check your parasitic draw. Amp meter: clamp one end to + batt lead, hold - lead on batt terminal, disconnect lead from batt, read meter, 50 milliamps or less is good.
Make sure your doors are shut, accessories are off. Parasitic draw is probably not the problem, but an easy way to rule out accessory problems.
A clip on amp probe can measure your vehicle's power usage while running. Read the meter after a long drive, so the alternator can recharge the battery from starting.
Hope this helps. It's probably a bad ground or a ECU/sensor problem, but start with the easy stuff and escalate from there.