Turd gen unable to start until physical shock is given

So my taco is in Japan, so pretty much no way for me to have dealer looked at it.(Japanese Toyota refuses to do ANYTHING with it)
So I can only ask your opinions and experience and solve problems myself.

Today, I experienced the vehicle unable to start up nor detect the key.

I stopped at a gas station to refuel, the “Trip Reset” happened. I was like okay again. No biggie.

Then I stopped at a drug store.
When I walked away from the car, I couldn’t lock the car even though I tapped on “Lock” on the remote several times.
No response. I thought it’s only going to be a few minutes stop so it’s not a big deal, and I left it unlocked.

After shopping for 5min, I get on the car and tried to start it up. No response at all. No acc lights or error came on the dash. I realized fuel gauge and tachometer needle was not resting at “zero position”. They were just sitting in the middle of gauge.
No response whether how many times I push start, lock, unlock or anything.

I opened and shut the door with decent force to give some shock, then all gauge went to “zero position”.

When I got home, it happened again. Same solution applied. Problem solved.

How many people have experienced this? Do you know the reason why?

 

Loose battery cable

 

Yeah check your connections at the battery or could be a dead key fob battery.

When I bought my truck the salesman told me that if my fob battery ever died and i needed to turn the truck on, hold the key fob in front of the start button, press the button and the truck should detect it and start.

Haven't tried it myself but worth a shot.

 

As stated, sounds like a bad battery or loose connection. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

I get it if it was after working on battery or touching. But what I don’t get is this happened all the sudden and I haven’t touched battery for nearly a year.
But I’ll double check...

 

No the fob battery was replaced a few month ago. And when it died on me, the trick didn’t work for me. I had to run into a Honda dealer and beg them to replace the battery.lol
And fob light did cane on when I pressed the button.

The needle stuck in the middle of gauge is what’s throwing me off and making me worry....

 

OP calls his truck a turd because it doesn't start. All he had to do was check the battery connection...

 

If that “Turd gen” was a manual you could at least take the key fob detection out of the equation. Lol! Best of luck OP. Let us know how you get it resolved. Hopefully the battery solves it.

 

Stuff shakes loose over time. Not the definite cause but given how simple it is to check I'd start there.

 

We don’t know that because OP hasn’t trouble shot anything. Just got upset about it.

OP- if you are in Japan (Navy, Marines?) your truck was probably on a boat at one point? Took mine almost a month to get from NJ to HI. That’s a long time to sit or barely be run.

Check battery connections, make sure they are tight. Most batteries now have a light, see if it’s green, if it’s green or not, still use a voltmeter on it. Make sure the alternator connections are good. Replace the fob battery- it’s like $3, why are you begging Honda to do it?! If you are on a military post, they probably have a Firestone, most do but not sure about overseas as out of the country. Willing to bet there is a shop there though. If you are military and no shop, there is probably a mechanical hobby shop on post, go there. Any of this should get you started.

 

Not any better, shaming your truck on the internet because you don't know the root cause.

Could be a big deal, or it could not be. We don't know, neither does he.

 

That’s odd. Without a wire diagram it’s going to be tough to know what to look for. Something easy I’d try is leave the battery completely disconnected for a while and see if it resets.

Are the gauges stuck in the middle even with the truck off?

Any work/ mods done to it recently?

 

Agreed. Wasn’t a knock on you, was more of a knock on absolutely zero trouble shooting.

 

Looks like you got some good serious answers to your dilemma.


Im curious as to what the Japanese public thinks of the Tacoma.

I have seen some IG accounts, and TW accounts that look to be from Japan. MasaCollector comes to mind.

 

I would look for chewing from Japanese rats on your wiring. Lol!

 

I bet it's the FOB battery.

If not, then it may be associated with the gauge cluster resetting issue...… That'll be a PITA for you.

Good luck....

 

Umm yeah if that was the cause.
I did check it just now. Tight in place

 

Yup the needle was stuck when it was shut off. I only realized it when I tried to restart it and there was no response.

 

People think I’m crazy driving DCLB in Japan. But it’s the same size as Tundras.
I just need to be careful which roads to take and not always follow my Navi as sometimes guides me to narrow back roads where I can’t drive by.