A few Tacoma weirdnesses

A few Tacoma weirdnesses…

While on vacation last week, twice, I found my parked, locked ’17 Tacoma with the headlights on and inside the radio was playing. Each time I found it like this, the truck had been parked and locked for at least several hours.

This morning, it had a dead battery. I didn’t notice if the radio was on. I jump started it and noticed the “miles to empty” was showing 414 miles. Every time I’ve filled the tank, the dash indicated “385 miles to empty”. I had filled the truck Sunday evening and since used it only to run a quick errand last night, and when I parked and locked it (with the headlight switch in the off position) and the dash showed “371 miles to empty”. But this morning, after jump starting, the dash showed “414 miles to empty”.

Think these two weirdnesses are connected?

 

Yes, ECU reseted when battery died. Same way it would if you disconnect the battery.

 

Are the radio and headlights still on when you park and turn off the ignition?

 

Low voltage will do very special things to your vehicle. Don your tin foil hat and stand by. LOL. You need some one to check the charging system, and your battery.
Zim

 

For the two instances while on vacation, yes. The radio (navigation mode) was on and the headlight switch was left in the "ON" position. I've confirmed that the headlights do turn off 30 seconds after stopping the engine and closing the door.

FWIW, I no longer trust the auto-off feature and make a point to turn the headlight switch to the "OFF position.

 

I'll put a volt meter to it tonight.

 

Cool, but remember it takes "amps" to start the car, and you can't measure amps very well without putting a load on the battery. Most parts stores will do this for free with a $1000 battery testing machine. Just sayin.
Zim

 

If you have push start button you have to make sure everything is off is one factor I don’t like them & Auto headlights I turn them on & off & don’t use that feature because I don’t want to stand there watching it to make sure it go’s off every time.the more they come out with on our cars & trucks the more I shut them off deactivate them more better to do it your self & not rely on some sensor or computer.just another reason to not have self driving vehicles in the future.

 

Does the radio play the Carpenters "we've only just begun" over and over?

 

Out of warranty?

Any electrical modifications to the truck?

If no electrical mods, you might swing by your dealer and ask about it. Even if out of warranty, they may show some grace and mercy. Or not.

 

No, it plays 'I Got You Babe'

(Groundhog Day)

 

I was thinking of Christine too, lol.

 

I like the auto on/off but hate that time delay shutoff. I did it manually for years after being tired of waiting for the delay in parking lots. I finally got techstream going and set all my vehicles to 0s delay. They now turn off the moment a door opens. Dealers would probably do it free if you're having other work done.

 

OP, do you have anything in power outlets? I vaguely recall a situation on this forum of a power adapter causing EMI that somehow messed with the headunit.

 

I’ve noticed that a few times that I left the headlights on while waiting for someone in the truck that the headlights would turn themselves off with the engine off. I don’t have automatic lights. I even checked the switch and it was in the on position. Started the truck and headlights turned on. I guess there’s a failsafe that turns off the headlights off if I forget to turn them off.

 

I added a power distribution module to power the bed/cap lights and future rear bumper LEDs front light bar. The only thing connected to so far it is the circuit for the bed/cap lights, but there's a defeat switch on the dash that disconnects the power to them; and it was off.

 

Well, the plot thickens...I just tried starting the truck (it's been sitting for 5 hours) and the battery is very dead again. It's so dead it won't even make that solenoid clicking sound. If I can get it jumped and started, there's an Autozone just around the corner.

 

Yup, it was the battery. A quick $180 at Autozone and it's back in operation. One final bit of weirdness...when I jumped it to get it to Autozone, the miles to empty showed 408. It's less than a mile to Autozone, but after the battery install, the dash showed 385 miles to empty. FWIW, it also ran & shifted like crap for the short 7 mile drive home, but this morning seemed to be behaving itself.

 

I wouldn't worry about the distance to empty stuff, same with the shifting. The ecu resetting is doing all that. Remember, it's a"learning" transmission.