2016 TRD Sport Blind Spot Monitoring Issue

Hi all,

First post here (I think anyways.) I purchased my 2016 Taco used a little over 2 years ago. Primarily I drive it on the highway about 3.5 hours at a time to my hunting/getaway properties in PA/NY from OH.

I’ve had very few issues with the truck at all. It’s my first pickup and I absolutely love it. The first issue I have is below. I found a handful of posts where the message center will say “Check Blind Spot Monitor System” but my issue does not include that message. If there is an existing thread with a similar issue to mine please feel free to let me know.

While driving on the interstate the other day, I went to change lanes and noticed my driver side BSM was illuminated but there was nothing in my blind spot. The more I looked, I noticed the green indicator on the BSM button in the center dash area would go out and turn back on while the button was still depressed. Basically it seems like the BSM intermittently loses power and when it regains power both indicators turn on, but there is no “power on” beep. When I hit the button and turn it on and off, I get the beep most of the time, but occasionally the button is now not powering the BSM on at all. If I get it to come on, and drive with it on, it seems to continue to randomly lose power and when it regains power both indicators illuminate. I’ve now noticed this occurs when driving at any speed, sitting at a red light, and in park.

I have 68k miles, and I’m due to go in to the dealer for the frame inspection notice.

I did notice there is a lot of mud and salt up in the rear bumper area, but this seemed to randomly occur the other day. I will surely get the grime and mud out of the sensor areas, but I’m not confident that will solve the issue since this seems like a wiring/electrical issue more than an interference problem.

Anyone else experience this? If so, was there an outcome? I understand that I can simply turn my head, which I always do anyways, but when you have a feature on a vehicle you naturally want it to work properly regardless of how much you use it.

 

Yes, mud, snow, and any other crap that gets pack up in bumper, does cause problems with BSM. There is a few threads on this. I have had it, cause same issue.

 

the rear wiring harness, that supplies power to the BSM sesnors and the bumper sensors (if equipped) and plate lights can be damaged by moisture intrusion. It can also cause issues with the BSM system. There is a TSB on the wiring harness.

 

Naturally. I’ll keep an eye on the plate lights too...

My experience with TSBs with other manufacturers is that they will not be covered for replacement or repair out of warranty. Is that common with Toyota?

 

Understood. Like I say, I found the other threads on the comparable issue but it seemed a majority of them had the warning that came up in the Message Center and I haven’t had that. I just have this frustrating on/off issue.

I’ll clean them out and see if that helps. Did this solve your issue, assuming yours was identical to mine?

 

This... doesn’t always happen to both . Iv only replaced 2 about a year ago... I don’t think there were many models in 2016 that came fully loaded. And I think it pertains just to the 2016 model year

 

Yes, I just flushed out bumper at self-serve car wash. I had a mixture of snow, mud sand packed up in bumper. Has happened a few times.

 

Here's the thread with a link to the tsb in the first post - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tsb-t-sb-0213-17-moisture-in-tag-lights.489589

 

It does say 2016 model year in the tsb, so it should apply to OP.

 

Hey all,

So the issue never rectified itself. Dry days, hot days, cold days, wet days...it didn't matter. It seemed moisture or rain made the situation worse, for sure, but it never went away. I brought it in to a local Toyota dealer today who is going to apply the CRC per the Limited Service Campaign, and I'm dropping the $130 for the BSM diagnostics. I'll update the group on what the issues found are. I may just pass on them depending on how insane the pricing is, but we'll see.

 

Well! Some good news, some bad.

Good: They waived the diagnostic fee
Bad: They found that both BSM Sensors & ECUs were failed based on codes in the computer, and would need to be replaced. $2,650 + tax. It's a 2016 with 72k. I bought it in November 2018 with 41k.

I'm going to contact Toyota Corporate and see if there's anything they can do to help. I'm guessing the answer is no, but when you buy a vehicle with a feature you don't expect it to break that quickly. The truck's worth probably about $28k (maybe) and I have a hard time believing 10% of that is the BSM sensors.

Will update with any updates I find.

 

That might not be a bad price for both sensors AND the controller installed. Labor is extensive due to the calibration procedure. When I bought my truck used from a Chevy dealer, with almost the same mileage as yours, they agreed to fix the bsm as part of the sales agreement. They ended up sending it to the Toyota dealer down the road after they realized it wasn't something simple and that dealer charged them $3200 for both sensors + labor.

 

I completely get that the price might not be bad. I don’t think the dealer was taking me for a ride. However, the fact that the truck’s 4 years old when the problem starts, and there is a TSB out for the problems with the BSM prove that it’s a very widespread problem. It just so happens that it occurred on this truck outside of the warranty period. Is it a safety issue? No of course not, and I didn’t buy the truck because it had this feature, but it is surely frustrating to own something with a feature that fails outside of your control. I’m sure it sounds like whining first world problems, but it feels like a QA issue based on how many folks have the problem. I would be willing to front some of the cost, but ~$2700 feels wrong on principle.

 

Yeah, I agree. If you do get it repaired, packing the connectors at the sensors and the body harness with dielectric grease might help prevent one failure mode in the future.

 

I've had this issue since it got off the truck new. It's been and they fixed it saying a bad harness in left rear. I'm gonna dig into it myself.

Does anyone know of some instructions...?

 

Mine stopped working a couple months back. Definitely not gonna spend $2700+ to fix it, might as well trade for a new truck at that point..

 

What are you looking for instruction to do specifically? If you take time to unplug any of the rear harness connectors, before re-connecting them pack them up good with some dielectric grease to protect them from moisture.

 

Yes, I was on planning on doing that and make/install plastic rain guards as needed.

I'll just try pulling the left rear corner apart, as that's where the dealer replaced the harness.......

Thanx guys... Will tell how I do.

John

 

On my '16 I can access the rear harness all the way to the sensor but can't quite unplug from the sensor, it's too far inside the bumper. If you're just trying to inspect or repair the harness away from the BSM connector end you should be able to get to it all from under the truck.