Undiagnosed Systems Warnings On Dash

Hi all, new here. Heard good things so I'm hoping you dedicated and knowledgeable folks might be able to shed some light on this nagging issue that is diificult to be diagnosed.

I am a proud owner of a 2021 Tacoma SDR. I bought it new. At 27569 miles (Jan 20) I had to replace the left rear wheel bearing. Since this work was done, whether related or not remains uncertain, I began getting a series of consecutive warning messages on my dash didplay along with a collection of illuminated yellow and red indicators. See photo (shows only 1 of 3 errors) and video (shows all errors). After driving for a 3 or 4 minutes, it all stops and returns back to the normal error free display. Now this tends to happen randomly at least once every time the Tacoma is driven. I have tried to intentionally recreate different driving scenarios hoping to capture possible commonalities. It doesn't seem to be speed, road condition, or environmentally attributable.

I took it into the dealer and they ran some tests, and in a case that rareley ever happens, it happened for the dealer when they took it out. So they have witnessed it. They plugged it in and I believe they got an error associated with the wheel speed sensor. What they did was visually inspect and clean them and released the Tacoma. When the service advisor told me that they received an error on the left rear sensor, I reminded them that was the same wheel they had replaced the wheel bearing. The SA that felt that it was possible the sensor was damaged during the wheel bearing repair. He sent me on my way to monitor it, and I guess he figured it was going to happen again, as he mentioned he was going to order a replacement sensor "just in case"

Well ... you can guess it continued to happen, so I returned to the dealer. They replaced the rear left wheel speed sensor. Well, the problem persists. Returned a third time, for which they put it on the scanner and found no codes, and nothing in the history except the original speed sensor code from the first visit. Essentially, nothing they can do at this point except scan it while the errors are active. Not sure how I'm going to be able to do this. The problem happens randomly, and the dealer is at least 30 minutes away. It is highly unlikely by the time the error reoccurs that I'll be able to get to the dealer within the few minutes before it clears. It would be unreasonable for me to spend my days driving around the block waiting for this to happen, if it happens, just so I'm within 5 minutes of the dealer. And even then, it'll likely clear while waiting for a technician to plug it in.

So, thanks for reading. Two main questions.
1) Any experience with similar situations? Any thoughts on what might be going on here? I trust my dealer's service department, but I'm feeling they don't really want to put much effort into diagnosing. I don't want that to be the case simply to avoid having to cover a hefty diagnostic expense under warranty.

2) I was thinking of getting a NextGen OBDeleven device (*advanced diagnostics) for Toyota hoping I would be better able to perform a scan real time without having to try to get it to the dealer. In your knowledgeable opinion, do you feel this would be worthy of trying? They claim to have licensed code information from Toyata for which I take provides more thorough error recognition than a basic OBD2 reader. Is it possible to drive with a device like this attached to capture operational errors that may be contributing to the error? It would, I feel, allow me to pull over when the errors appear, plug in and scan. Perhaps I can share the info with Toyota?

 

What are the exact codes your getting?

This sounds similar to another one that we had on here, they had the wheel bearing replaced and the incorrect bearing (there are right and left bearings for the rear) was installed so the sensor was showing that it was turning backwards. Lights would only trigger above 64 mph because that's when the rationality check of speed sensor direction of travel occurs.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dash-lights-abs-etc-p0500-plus-theres-more.842544/#post-30144543

 

I'm not aware if what codes they, the service dept., are getting. Last visit they advised they were getting no codes, and no history except the original speed sensor error. No history of instances that happened after the sensor replacement. That is in itself is odd. I wasn't imagining things, but there was (so they say) no history of the instances. So it may not even be something recorded by the systems.

And I have never had this occur on the highway. It's only ever been with city driving. I could say it's the opposite ... dash lights up in the parking lot, but once on the road for a few minutes it clears.

 

Without knowing the code(s) we can't really do much other than guess.
Since it's still under the bumper to bumper warranty it should be on them to deal with it anyway, they are probably trying to drag it out until the warranty is up so it will be your problem instead of theirs.

It's unfortunate that dealer techs aren't really allowed (or paid) to think/test outside the box (many don't anyway but that's another story) especially when it comes to warranty work, they have to follow the troubleshooting steps as laid out in service info (which are typically crap) and get paid pennies to do it so there's not much incentive for a tech to put much effort into tracking down a problem that can't be easily duplicated/diagnosed.

 

@Dm93, appreciate your comments, thanks. I regrettably agree that something that isn't easily identifed through a scan won't be something they are determined to fix under warranty if they can prolong it. They aren't saying they can't diagnose it, but as mentioned, the odds of getting the Tacoma to the dealer while still in alarm is highly unlikely. They kinda left the onus on me.

This was why I was reaching out also to anyone who may have had experience with the NextGen OBDeleven device. The thought was with the right consumer OBD2 reader (this one has advanced diagnostics beyond the basic OBD2) that I could self scan at the timne and report it's findings to the dealer. I still kinda hope someone can chime in. I may just drop the $150 and just try rather than allow this to go untreated. It was a shock when it first happened .... "Pull over to a safe spot and contact your dealer". I can't imagine reselling with this popping up will be good.

 

I can't speak for that scanner but looking at it it's pretty vague on what it's capabilities are.

I put together a thread about scan tools but it's mostly the ones I know, however the companies that make them have a wide range of different ones at various price points.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/scan-tool-discussion-recommendations.834898/

If you want a smartphone based one I think I'd go with the TopDon Topscan, it's about $50 and $50 per year (first year free) for the full functionality. It has decent bi-directional support and can access all systems on the vehicle that can be accessed via the OBD port.


Logging is pretty limited on most lower end and smartphone based scanners, I don't really know of any that would be able to report to a 3rd party like the dealer.

 

Welcome to TW…

 

@Dm93, thanks so much for your support and sharing this information regarding scanners. I'm really feeling that a modest investment might save me the anxiety and headache of having a potential problem that the dealer will only pursue when it's convenient for them. I'm not getting much support from OBDeleven with my questions, so you'vce got me looking no at the TopDon TopScan. It's on the lower end of my price range, but I'm fearful it might be too generic. I'm going to take a guess that Toyota has some make/model specific systems with unique codes for which this error (if it is an error ... dealer says not) which a generic device may not scan. In your knowledgeable opinion, do you think this will cover a large spectrum of Toyota systems and codes?

And no, I don't need anything to report to a 3rd party the results. I would just simplyt screenshot or document the scanners results and share them on my next visit to the dealer. So, something with logging historical results would be handy, as well as something I can plug in and drive with (not sure what the professional term for that is) thinking that it will monitor systems in advance to the errors happening, as well as being in place to log the error quickly before it goes away.

I want to stay away from anything too complicated. I don't want to be easily able to alter vehicle settings, or anything that an ignorant mechanic like me could mess up.

 

Thank you James, it's nice to feel welcomed. I heard good things and with just one question, I'm already seeing a proud and knowledgeable audience. I'm hoping I can enjoy all the positive vibe this forum shares and not have to rely on it for problem solving. Sadly, I've already had enough problems with my Taco than I'm proud to claim.

 

I don't have any personal experience with it but a couple of the techs I follow like it, I do have the ThinkCar ThinkDiag which is pretty much the same platform and it can access all systems and also has many bi-directional functions. The TopScan wasn't around yet when I bought it or I would have bought that one.
I will say aftermarket scan tool support is very good on Toyota, I haven't really ran into any issues with any scan tools on any Toyota like I have on some other makes.

I don't know if the TopScan has any logging ability or not, the ThinkDiag doesn't as far as I'm aware but you could always to a screenshot or screen recording if needed.

As long as you stay out of the immobilizer stuff there's not much you can mess up.