I have an unresolved clockspring type electrical issue that is not the clockspring.

Let me first say I don't believe it's the clockspring because of how this happened and the resulting issue.

Well over a year ago, on the way home at 4AM desperately trying to stay awake and just get home, I was clicking the cruise button on and off on the lever attached to my steering column. Just trying to keep myself occupied, the windows wear already open and the radio up, I was 3 miles from home and just over worked.

After a couple dozen clicks of that button I suddenly lost cruise, my horn, my radio, lighter port, and my air bag light came on. It had to be part of the cruise control circuit and I don't believe the clockspring or lighter port have anything to do with the radio because there are no controls on the steering wheel of a 1st gen, which is why I say it's not the clockspring; and it all happened simultaneously. The radio fuse is good.

I've checked every fuse under the hood and left dash, first visibly, then with a multi meter, and they are all good, including the larger fuses. I downloaded a wiring diagram, which in the past has always been the solution. But the Toyota diagram jumps from page to page and I honestly cannot make heads or tails of it. Im use to pulling the cover off a rooftop HVAC unit and the whole daigram is all in one (there's a word for it, maybe wiring schematic instead of diagram?), so it's very easy to see where you've lost power. Not the Toyota diagram, I've sat down and tried to grasp all the symbols and connectors and follow the diagram but I haven't had any luck.

Other than paying someone to look at it, when I've repaired everything myself for the past 36 years of owning vehicles, can anyone think of what I could look at electrically that involves the cruise, radio, lighter port, horn and air bag?? I assume it has to be something that's part of the cruise control circuit because of how it failed. Thank you for any suggestions.

 

Had you read /deciphered the AB code?

those CS’s are finicky lil boogers

I had AB lite…horn worked/cruise worked
????
Changed CS (and cleared AB system manually per manual…ugh)
No issues now

IMO
That coiled CS ribbon…..can fail on one connection but not others

as far as your radio/cig lighter…..
In 2003, no trim lvl of taco’s had radio steering controls?

 

They aren't related, but it does sound like a clock spring issue as part of it.

They share grounds, but there's numerous other circuits that share the IE ground and would be disrupted.

You need to check the radio and power outlet for ground and positive.

You need to try and trigger the horn after the clock spring, usually you ground a wire and it will trigger the relay.

Checking fuses now means seeing if it has power when the key is on, simply looking at the fuse doesnt help much. I check every fuse with a test light with the key on. Both tabs every fuse.

 

Hello DC 9,
My suggestion is to look at the ball bearings on the steering shaft. The conductive grease gets dry and fails to conduct, causing the ground connection to fail.
Check out this link: http://dr-fix-it.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-mechanic-repairing-2000-toyota.html The issue was with my Sienna, but I suspect most toyotas are similar.
Good luck!

 

I tried to fix this a long time ago and I found power at the radio, that confused me even further. But, yes, there is power at the radio, it must be missing the ground??

I can go back and check the ground, I'm use to grounds always being there, unless corroded. I didn't realize that the Toyota switches grounds, not power. Could pusjhing the cruise button over amp the clock spring and burmn it up? Maybe it could. Thanks Bishop.

 

I appreciate any suggestions! Thing is, I was driving straight down the highway, that's why it was hard to stay awake. And after about 2 dozen clicks of that cruise button, BOOM! Cruise dropped out, radio shut off, horn died and so on. I'm sure those bearings could be a bit dry, but I think I'm missing a key element.

 

I dodn't think any of the 03's had radio controls on the steering wheel. Another reply asked about power at the radio, I do indeed have power at the radio; I believe 2 pins have power and they both had 12V to chassis ground. I didn't check pin ground to chassis ground because I'm used to grounds always being present, unless they are corroded. But, Toyot switches grounds, not power, unlike systems I'm use to diagnosing. I should bypass the CS as someone else suggested. Just, so weird, the way it happened I figure it would be a simple blown fuse and I did check them with a meter. I should check them in place with a test light on both pins. Thanks for your reply, appreciate it.

 

Ok
As others will say…..I don’t like electrical
But
If I could could figure my CS issue out, I’m thinking you can do the same

IMO the AB code is the key

and lets just hypothesize, that radio/cig lighter uses same ground as AB/horn/cruise
(Yeah….that’s big guess but makes sense from your description of what happened)

this is from 01 Subaru
To manually read AB code and reset system
Not meant to rectify your issue…..gives you an idea what will be needed to read code/replace affected part/reset system

of course, a 03 Tacoma manual instructions will be paramount

Go down to page AB-30

https://subaruport.ru/for3/for3_body_4.pdf

 

IMO
If the AB lite issue is found/corrected/syst reset……the shared ground for radio/cig lighter would be restored
GL

 

Easy thing to try is disconnecting your CC box. I could look at the diagram again later maybe but doing that should isolate a few things

 

Did you chec out the multifunction switch since you were playing with the cruise control button.