Not impressed!

What is the warranty repair being done on the 4wd? Maybe wait for that to get sorted out before writing the truck off as worthless.

I also fail to see the "sequence" involved in holding a button down for 3 seconds. Just make sure you're completely stopped when doing this.

 

@smarie

There is a 'sticky' at the top of this forum that is in reference to all the various modes of the 3rd Gen traction control system. Try reading the last few pages of that thread. It might help you a lot.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-traction-control-modes-explained.530695/

 

The warranty repairs will be done weather permitting to get to the dealership as 4-wheel drive is needed to get there. We have had issues in the snow prior to the 4-wheel drive not working as of Monday. I do see warranty repairs to a primary area of the truck as red flag.

We do a lot of stopping and turning the engine off to hear our dogs work. We might even be out of the truck and need to hurry to get to the dogs. So having to go through all the steps again to have locking rear, TC/VCS off, and PCT Ext every time for the truck to perform on an average level.

Of course I want the luxuries of the new truck but trying to make it perform like the 1st gen has been a challenge. I don't want to have to modify the new truck to accomplish what we need. Looking at all our options and we might be money ahead to modify a truck without all the computer add-ons. Or to my original question an easy work around but that doesn't seem to be available.

 

Thank you, I did review that link.

 

I think this explains why I compared the buttons to military launch sequence, there is a freaking spreadsheet! lol

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-traction-control-modes-explained.530695/[/QUOTE]

 

Ok I understand. I'd think if the truck was in 4L locked rear when you shut it off it would still be locked when you turn it back on, but I can see the other bits being a pain to do multiple times.

Unfortunately ANY truck built within the last 10-ish years is going to have the TCS, VSC etc. as they have become federally mandated.

There's probably a fuse you could pull, or perhaps an ABS wire you could unhook that would disable those systems until you want them back. But that would most likely kill your MTS and CC too.

 

Not sure if this is mentioned in all these comments but the best way to get what you are asking for is to turn it on 4lo. I just climbed a poorly maintained mountain this morning. Lots of snow and ice. Started at 4hi and kept getting engine rev kill. Switched it to 4lo and no problems whatsoever. Try it out. Good luck OP

 

^This. If you really want to get rid of TCS then sell the 3rd gen and do a compleat rebuild on the 1st gen. Personally I'm not a huge fan of TCS either, but it's here to stay.

 

The conclusion we are coming also. Thanks.

 

[/QUOTE]
I will agree with you on that. Toyota engineers and those who write the owners manuals have made it far more confusing than needed.

 

Tacoma TRD-off Road 28k miles
Update as of 3/12/19

History -
2/25/19 Tacoma wouldn't engage into 4 wheel drive to turn around in our driveway. About 1.5 foot of new snow. 4 wheel light was on but truck wasn't responding like it was actually in 4 wheel drive. Finally did get turned around and appeared 4 wheel finally engaged. Headed down our gravel road with about 1.5 foot of snow. Became apparent was not actually in 4 wheel even tho light was on. Took out of 4 wheel drive as a there was a small ticking sound heard. Sound went away once 4 wheel turned off. Figured issue with 4 wheel and would need to go in for warranty work.

3/7/19 finally clear enough weather to drive the Tacoma to the warranty appoint schedule. About 20 miles from home on I5, truck started to shake in the front end. Had to get over quickly to the shoulder front wheel bound up and not driveable. Truck is towed via Toyota care to closest dealership.

3/8/19 Dealership called and wanted to know if 4 wheel light was on when the truck wasn't in 4 wheel as there was very important and could mean transfer case issues. Confirmed the light was on therefore driver would think truck was in 4 wheel. Dealership called back after inspections- sheared front drive axle, speed control sensor, hub assembly, rotor, break caliper, all need replaced and not covered under warranty. Their determination was that the truck was not used in a way it was intended and they based this on the fact the steering was turned too sharp and the wear on tires....

We now have a case open with Toyota care to fight the fact this should be covered under warranty. Some of the items that need replaced happen on the way to the warranty appointment and are the result of what is malfunction in the front end of this truck. If this is all it takes to break a truck they should probably recall all TRD-off roads!

 

That's unfortunate. Toyota typically repairs defects. I've read lots of posts on here and never felt Toyota denied claims without reason once learning the entire story.

Have you previously owned 4wd vehicles before? Binding can be felt through the steering wheel. Once you can tell that's going on, it's best to not turn the wheel any further. You also never want to give more power than needed because sudden grip with torque kills drivetrains also.

I really hope Toyota is able to help you out. Frustrating to be without a vehicle.

 

Thanks we will see how far we get with them. Yes we have own many over the years. We have the 1st gen with 286k miles and the 3rd gen with 28k miles. The over use they are saying we did was turning around in our driveway. There was enough room and we didn't have the wheel bound up. That happen when in route on the interstate when the axle broke.

 

Sorry to hear about the frustrations and the ridiculous frustrations with the dealer. It's dealers like this that cause many forum readers to be so hesitant to trust them with simple things, much less a FULL DAMN REASON TO FIX YOUR TRUCK. I mean "I turned the truck around and it broke", ... "sorry, we don't cover you turning the truck around in 4wd". Who in their right mind would accept a dealer telling them that?

 

I'm surprised Smarie doesn't already have a temp. or perm. ban, calling people names in post #78. Though Smarie post's have a very rude tone, she has a couple decent points; the 3rd gen 4wd system is much too complicated. The 3rd gen is very capable when understood how to operate, but I agree I had to study some posts on TW in order to understand it, reading the manual wasn't nearly adequate. Smarie is also correct, as many others on this forum have pointed out; Toyota tends to deny warranty claims for anything they can. It seems particularly annoying that Toyota denies warranty claims for off road use, when the truck is strongly marketed as an off road truck.

 

If you hang around long enough, you'll see plenty of things people do to their trucks that is self inflicted. I wouldn't want my new truck to cost several thousand more because people want to go out and jump their truck like you would a BMX bike. Toyota has to draw the line somewhere, and it's not only Toyota that does this, they all do. You can go off road plenty and not break stuff. That's been proven over the years. This has nothing to do with the OPs post, but an observation on what I've seen others do on here.

 

I may sound rude by post #78 as I was responding to some rude comments and I don't put up with BS. My OP along with many others are not rude as the person I was responding too, was respectful.

We didn't do anything out of the ordinary for this type of malfunction. The TRD off road with crawl, mts and other features are advertised as "off road" vehicle but it doesn't allow turning around in your driveway to be considered as normal use. What the dealership is missing is these items are broken as a result of a their equipment failing.

Currently, there are several recalls out for CV boot leaks to rear differential leaks. Tacoma needs to get it together or remove the "off road" advertisement from this line.

 

Somehow I doubt your "turning around" maneuver is as casual as you described. You've already been proven to exaggerate the roads you were traveling on so no doubt in my mind you would downplay your maneuver. I would think this is operator error

 

[/QUOTE]
Um, there's a spreadsheet for everything.
Getting old is hard and not for the weak, especially knowing nobody gets out alive. It's tough for people to keep up.
The only way to get past your challenges is to go old school. Buy a clean 1980's truck, dump $15K into it for new power and drivetrain and move on.

Good luck from a guy closer to 60 than 50.

 

Um, there's a spreadsheet for everything.
Getting old is hard and not for the weak, especially knowing nobody gets out alive. It's tough for people to keep up.
The only way to get past your challenges is to go old school. Buy a clean 1980's truck, dump $15K into it for new power and drivetrain and move on.

Good luck from a guy closer to 60 than 50.[/QUOTE]

Yep thats the plan, off loading the 17 is on the agenda first.