Tacoma Won't Start?

I had an interesting experience this weekend with my 2018 TRD Sport. When I tried to start it, nothing happened. There was no sound of the engine trying to turn over or anything. All the electrical worked fine, lights, radio, basic accessory mode stuff. There were also two error messages on the screen saying "Check charging system" and "Check brake system".

After troubleshooting the basics - dead battery, blown fuse, dead key fob - a passerby recommended (with fair warning that it's not an ideal solution) resetting the short term memory in the computer. I put it in "Ignition On" mode, disconnected both of the battery cables, and touched them together, then reconnected. The truck was able to start after that.

However when I turned the truck off and let it sit for a few minutes the same thing happened, and the same solution worked. I brought it to my local Toyota dealership and they diagnosed it as an issue with the after market remote start. I just purchased the truck a few days ago and didn't know it had it. Toyota will be removing the remote starter tomorrow.

I simply wanted to post this in case anyone else ends up in the same situation. Hopefully this would save some headache.

 

Take it back and get 05 to 2014 Tacoma problem fix

 

Yeah because no one ever put an aftermarket starter on one of those lumps that led to issues.

 

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for posting, I’m sure someone will benefit from this information. Most of the electrical issues posted on this forum are due to aftermarket mods.

 

Thanks for sharing. I posted in a different thread about having the same exact problem as you. It has only happened once so far and I did install a remote start about a month ago. I didn’t disconnect the battery though, I was able to lock and unlock the truck with the remote after a few minutes and the truck was able to start finally. When it happened to me I had started it with the remote and let it run, it shut of of course after opening the door, I figure I tried to start it too quick after and it wouldn’t. I got the same check charging system message also. My first thought was a problem with the remote start, but who knows. I’ll wait and seeing it happens again. Good luck

 

Which aftermarket starter is it?

 

Same question goes for you... which remote did you you install?

 

I did alarm installs for a few years, and we got people towed in every day with starting problems. Most alarms are made in China under DEI group. the QC is very poor.

 

I'm not sure which remote start it was. I'm picking it up from Toyota hopefully today and will post back here when I find out.

 

I had the same problem this morning. I don’t have an aftermarket remote start though. Just the regular key fob, press the lock three times then hold method. I let the truck warm up a bit then came out to load up gear and when I hit unlock it didn’t turn off, which was my first clue something was up. The other clue was that everything for the climate control was in max defrost; which is not how I left it. So I got into the driver seat and put my foot on the brake and pressed the start button. Everything shut off. Tried the regular starting procedure. All the systems come on. It goes right into max defrost for some reason. But the truck won’t start. No attempt to turn over; nothing.

It does give me the error, sometimes, about the charging but not each time I try.

It worked perfectly fine yesterday for my 40ish mile round trip drive.

No luck, had to take my wife’s car….

 

Should have asked for help from a passerby..

 

If you lock and unlock the doors with the the remote are you able to start it after that? Or even start again with the remote? Sometimes the system seems to get jammed or “confused” I run into this maybe once every few months.

 

Would have been more effective.

 

I tried unlocking the doors again. Locking them. Getting out. Tried the whole process again. Nothing worked.

 

And the update.

Got home at the end of the day. Got in the truck and voila, starts right up….

 

My money is on your battery going bad. Batteries fail in different ways and these trucks (along with most modern vehicles with lots of electronics) don't like fluctuations in Voltage; those fluctuations can cause some of the issues which you experienced.

Getting a Load Test on your battery from a local Auto Parts store should tell you everything you need to know.