Blindspot monitor not available message

For about 2 weeks now my blindspot monitoring isn't working. Dash displays "blindspot monitor not available message".

Took it to Toyota over the weekend and they only came back with letting me know that the inside of the rear bumper has some mud packed inside and that a diagnostic came back with "inoperable" status for the driver's side BSM sensor. Replacement will be $870 for just the part. Not covered by warranty obviously. No thanks.

Took it home, removed both bumper caps and gave it a good cleaning underneath. Used electrical cleaner on sensor connectors, and disconnected the battery in an attempt to reset the message, but no luck. No wires look damaged or frayed. Has always worked fine and no wheeling was done anytime prior to it failing.

Anyone care to chime in?

 

Open a claim with Toyota...inform them that you did not receive the benefit of your bargain the very contract thought to raise and limit your actions. The warranty is a performance contract between Toyota and the owner of the vehicle...the dealership has no authority to deny a claim as they are not a party to the contract. They can only dismiss a complaint...Request an appointment at the dealership when the Toyota regional rep is available to review your claim...

 

Anyone else?

 

If it still doesn’t work after you’ve cleaned them, try another dealer. If that fails, do what @Ronzio said

 

Another member just had this same problem. It was a week or so ago. Try searching, and see if you can find his out come. I never looked back to see if he got it resolved, or not.
If I remember right it was also mud packed, and dealer wanted $$$ to fix.

 

Ok, I found his post, dealer said it was because of a scuff on BSM. Also dealer complained about mud and horse shit packed in bumper. He cleaned bumper BSM's and it still didn't work after driving on city streets. But in his final post, he stated it works now. Needed to drive around awhile after cleaning, on hwy . so it would recalibrate.

His post - BSM error dealer trying to charge me

 

This worked. It wasn't coming back on because I was driving with BSM OFF to avoid the annoying alert on the dash... Thank you!

For anyone in the future, a decent clean and then drive around for a few days with BSM ON and it will begin to work again. By the way, all city driving was enough for mine.

 

Mine hasn't worked for a while. I am out of warranty as well. I'll try the same thanks for the tip.

 

That message can also pop up if the sensors lose their calibration - that's a procedure that has to be done by the dealer, and they'll likely want $$ for it. Mine once lost calibration on a smooth highway and the dealer re-calibrated for free.

 

I'm having the same issue. Where exactly are the sensors?

 

Rear bumper corners under the plastic cover. You can see them from under the bumper in the corners. For what it's worth, I've had issues with mine since the truck was new and I've been back and forth with the dealer and toyota reps, and they ALWAYS blame me for the malfunction. They've been dirty before and worked fine, they have been clean and not worked at all. After my warranty was up, I turned em off and never looked back. If they are so susceptible to dirt and mud, why didn't Toyota put them in the tail lights like every other car maker? The world may never know!

 

The BSM sensors have a failure rate. They are exposed to the elements & get corroded. Mine were replaced under my Toyota extended factory warranty at 42K. Out of pocked cost would have been $2600 otherwise. I replace them all the time on Mercedes as well so this isn't just a Toyota issue.

 

Yeah, I understand. I wasn't implying that they wouldn't break or malfunction like any other part. I don't really feel like corrosion is an issue on my end though, living in the middle of Texas, there isn't exactly a lot of salt on the roads or anything.

 

I'm wanting to do a rear bumper, but am going to wait until either my BSM's fail or I crush/destroy the factory bumper. I like my BSM's (mainly for cross traffic when I'm backing up out of a parking spot), but have driven 18 years without them and have been just fine.

 

For what it's worth mine failed when I took it to the beach. Cleaned really good. Went back to beach a year later, immediately failed again.

I mainly quit going to the beach, but it's still frustrating. Left them off until the day I sold it. Next vehicle didn't have them in bumper.

 

I’m getting the same error on my Taco. I had a good amount of ice around the rear bumper from rain turning to snow/ice but most of it has melted. I’ll have to give it a good cleaning next week and see if that fixes it.

 

I have never had an issue with mine. After reading this it sounds like I should take them off, sell them on eBay and put that money towards a nice metal bumper.

 

http://www.ttguide.net/blind_spot_monitor_system-386.html

full toyota service manual page for everything with the BSMS system including tech troubling shooting procedures, key component locations, and if you were even bold enough and you had a tech steam you could recalibrate the sensors on your own.