Anyone else? Crank Shaft Position Sensor problem in the 2016 TRD Off Road

OP, you should contact Toyota directly. They'll take your complaint and dangerous experience seriously. No doubt about it.

 

^Well, they will record it properly. If the number of similar reports exceeds a certain percentage, they will investigate and maybe issue a recall.

 

yeah I love the 2nd gens. Hell, I love every toyota gen truck since the 70's, including my 2016. I don't get it either man

 

The 2005-2015 sensor is $85 at Rock Auto, which means the Toyota-branded part is probably over $200. Most dealers won't stock it even if it's common across several product lines, just to keep their inventory levels low. "Special order" just means they have to transfer the part from one of the Toyota warehouses across the country. Try buying a steering wheel spiral cable from your dealer. They will probably have to "special order" it, too, even though it has similar proliferation.

Never mind the animosity. Similar thing happened when 2nd gens were introduced and 1st gen owners didn't like the larger size. In time, this will die down as 3rd gen owners begin to outnumber 2nd gen owners.

 

My 2016 TRD Tacoma has had to crank shaft sensors fail in 5400 miles. It is in the dealership right now for the second one.

 

Scuba - What were your symptoms? Was it a sudden loss of power or erratic running? Were you able to "limp" to the dealer for a fix?

 

When it get warmed up the engine miss fires and back fires thru the intake then shuts down. Once it cools of the engine fires back up.

 

Yep, pretty much unexpected when it happens and it can go at any time with the same result, dead on the side of the road until the car cools. I haven't had the problem on any of my Toyotas but I've known a few Mazdas to act the same way with the same type of part.

Any car can be disabled regardless of age if a crucial part fails. Although the crank shaft sensors as a whole should be considered reliable, not every single one of them installed is perfect.

 

I agree but a little weird to have 2 of them in a short period. It was just over a month ago and 2700 miles since the last one

 

It's possible that something else is wrong that's taking out the sensor. That's probably what they're looking at now on your truck.

Think of it like a blown fuse. First time it happens you just change the fuse and life goes on thinking it was just a weak fuse. If the same fuse blows again, look for the source causing that fuse to blow. The fuse now is the symptom of the problem and regardless, power is out due to the blown fuse.

In your case, your truck has broke down on the side of the road, twice. Both times due to a failed sensor, have them look at what's causing the sensor to fail.

 

The first one I ever test drove did that right as we pulled out of the lot. I paused and said "wtf was that, did you feel it?" the salesman said "no" and began texting. Haven't bought one yet.

I drove a MR2T for years, and it would buck and not go when it was cold if you mashed the gas too hard. Everyone just kind of took it in stride as timing retardation when the engine was cold. They were also 25 year old cars and I was 16, didn't care then. Tolerance for bullshit in cars grows short the older I get.

 

Looking through this link: http://www.toyotareference.com/guts/tacoma16_engine.pdf

It looks as though the crankshaft position sensor is very close to the exhaust down pipe on the drivers side of the block this may have something to do with the "melted down" analogy. Not a bad read if you are into that kind of stuff.

If it is indeed a heat related issue looks like a heat shield (or a better one if one is present) on he down pipe on that bank might me a solution to premature failures.

 

Red - Thanks for the manual reference. This is the modern engine designed to meet emissions requirements worldwide and it is a marvel of engineering looking at all of the design elements in the manual pdf. But, on the other hand there are a lot of devices that could go wrong that control this engine. It is the same for all modern engines by all manufacturers. Hope Toyota is the best.

 

My 16 Sport is at the dealer now. They think that is the problem, the CPS. Left my wife stranded at work. They just did the 5,000 mile service earlier that day. I thought the dealership had screwed with something. Is the sensor near the oil filter? The tech may have damaged it when replacing the filter. Same deal, rental car, put out a few days. Brand new truck? Toyota? What the heck? I will post again once it's fixed. I'm ticked! Towing a brand new Tacoma is not supposed to happen.

 

FWIW - I will add an experience I had with a CSPS. On my 01 Camry in the last year that I drove it (avoiding fixes while waiting for the 16), every few weeks it would get harder to start until eventually it wouldn't for one or two key turns, and then would bouce back and work perfectly for another few weeks; then the process would repeat (This literally happened for a yr). Anyways, during the times it wouldn't work, it would throw a CSPS code. In actuality, it had nothing to do with the CSPS. It was actually the starting system (battery/starter/alternator). It was a 14 yr old, 156k mile car with original starter, alternator, and water pump. We narrowed it down to the voltage regulator on the alternator being the main culprit; when the regulator would be out of its appropriate range, it would properly rotate and the CSPS would think it was a problem with the CS....Anyways, that's' my $.02.

Not saying that is happening with your trucks, just adding to the conversation

 

In California,

If this keeps occurring every ~3000 miles, you can talk to Toyota corporate to either
1) lifetime warranty of crank sensor replacements
2)new engine
3)another truck

Because if this is a reoccurring issue, it is a safety hazard while driving, just like the OPs experience. This would fall under the lemon law. All manufacturers hate lemon law suits so much that they'd rather give you a new truck than go to court.

 

Update. Back at the shop after driving it for five miles with a new crankshaft sensor. The check engine light came back on. Feels sluggish still. They have it back it trying to figure out why the engine light is on. Still without a brand new truck for over a week now.....

 

First, have the dealer provide you with an identical "brand new" truck as a loaner vehicle. If they still can't rectify the problem with the one you bought, propose a trade. You give them the broken truck that they sold you, and you keep the new one. If that truck starts to exhibit similar problems, simply repeat the process until they can fix a truck and have it work correctly.

 

Powder - Just curious, do you have the stock gas cap or change it out for an aftermarket?

 

I've been noticing this issue in the past few days...My friend's TRD Sport 4x4 died in the middle of a intersection and he barely was able to roll through and pull over to the side. He says that he got a ATF high temp indication but no check engine light. After the service tech checked it out they said they pulled a code for a bad crank shaft position sensor. Not sure how or why that has anything to do with transmission temp...Hope we can figure out the problem to help prevent others from having the same issue