Copart Tacoma. How to buy a newer Tacoma with out breaking the bank.

That is sweet man! I am really glad to run into someone else doing the same thing. The airbags were the worst part to buy for sure. The fender flares were killer too. I actually lucked out on the dash and the front fender. A local wrecking yard had a 2009 dash in stock. I bought it with the passenger airbag still installed. I also scored on a color matching fender with the flare for only $60 because they didn't have it inventoried (it was in mint condition still).

How did you get your airbag light to reset? I just got my last airbag (the steering wheel) I hope to install it this weekend, then I am going to use my friends toyota computer to hopefully read the error code and reset the airbag module. I have also heard of sending in your module and having it flashed, only cost $35 +plus shipping.

 

Yeah I still hate the airbags! You had it worse than me though. I didn't have to do the side curtain. How fun was it looking for a good price on the steering wheel bag??? Did you figure out that you could use one from a tundra or 4runner as well? Check your seat belts and make sure they still work. Check both of them! If they are locked up, you will either have to replace them or ship them out to be rebuilt and have the igniters replaced. ( that is what I did) As far as the airbag light...you definitely need to replace that driver side sensor in the front. The one sitting right below your notched out part of the rad support for the A/C line. You will also have to either replace the airbag ECU or have it reset by sending it out like you mentioned.

 

Yeah, my seat airbag was actually out of a Camry. I did a write up on it a while back when I was on TN before I started a build thread on TW.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378948

It was difficult to find a good deal on the driver airbag for sure which is why I am just now getting it. Did you also replace your clock spring? The wires fromt he clock spring to the bag are all melted but the steering wheel controls and horn work great with the new bag. I have seen on ebay where you can just buy new airbag wires instead of a whole new clock spring, what rout did you choose?

Good stuff, I already replaced that sensor, It actually looked ok but there was no way I was going to use it. That was kind of a pain though since I was pulling parts out of a 2009 tacoma and the wiring colors are different then my 05. I had to check and recheck myself with the OEM wiring diagrams to make sure I had it right. I think I am going to try and flash the airbag computer with my friends OBD-II first and then if I am unsuccessful I will remove it and send it in to be flashed.

 

Subd

 

Amazed...

 

Thanks guys.

I got some new picturs to add from this weekend. I won't do much explaining because most of it doesn't have to do with the truck. But with quite a bit of help from my friend I was able to score a new engine for the honda (only $345!) and get it removed and installed with a new timing belt and water pump by Saturday afternoon. Then my homelink garage door transmitter arrived in the mail and my steering wheel airbag. Busy weekend for sure!








My sunvisor was damage when I got the truck (probably by one of the airbags hitting it). It wouldn't stay up all the way. Since I planned on buying a new one anyways I disassembled it and was successful in repairing it. Although, I will let the pictures be the judge. I also played with the idea of installing my homelink transmitter in the sunvisor it self.



I had to completely drill out the plastic mount to get the wire through. I used JB weld to put some strength back in it.



Then zippy ties to really hold it all together.





And of course I had to add a picture of this future gearhead since he stood by me the whole weekend. He is basically the reason for my upgrade to a 4 door .

This is at my buddies garage and that's his Datsun Roadster. I thought we could offer him a hand for a bit since he basically installed that engine for me.

 

It was difficult to find a good deal on the driver airbag for sure which is why I am just now getting it. Did you also replace your clock spring? The wires fromt he clock spring to the bag are all melted but the steering wheel controls and horn work great with the new bag. I have seen on ebay where you can just buy new airbag wires instead of a whole new clock spring, what rout did you choose?

Good stuff, I already replaced that sensor, It actually looked ok but there was no way I was going to use it. That was kind of a pain though since I was pulling parts out of a 2009 tacoma and the wiring colors are different then my 05. I had to check and recheck myself with the OEM wiring diagrams to make sure I had it right. I think I am going to try and flash the airbag computer with my friends OBD-II first and then if I am unsuccessful I will remove it and send it in to be flashed.[/QUOTE]


I did end up replacing the clock spring. It was also the easiest one I have ever done. The reason why was because not only did mine melt as well, but you have no idea how finicky the air bag system is in this truck! You could chase the system down forever trying to get that light off!
I don't think you can use an obd 2 scanner for the ecu though. There is like a fuseable link that blows that needs to be repaired. There are also memory saving things in there that needs to be blanked out some special way. After all of that ...it is still possible to have the light pop up at which point the dealer needs to clear it!!!

 

Yeah that was what I am afraid of. I figure its worth a try. I also have access to another dealer computer thing that I know absolutely nothing about (including its name) My friend just said it can do more than the OBD II. It belongs to the place I work at so if the OBD II fails I might see about trying the other computer then if that fails I will send it in I suppose.

This comment scares me... I guess the worse is yet to come for me. Well I shall learn soon enough. Next week I should have the pig tails in. I am not worried about the wiring so much as how smart the ECU is. For example, I used a camry seat airbag, will the Aigbag ECU connect to the camry seat airbag, identify that is was previously installed in a camry and even though the part numbers are the same it will return an error? Is that over the top or are we talking that finicky? Thanks for all the info!

 

Well....I tried to find out for sure but no good answer for the camry airbag. I seriously don't see why it wouldn't work and I am usually right when I have a feeling like that! Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the info. I will be sending my module in to be repaired. Once I get it back I should be able to troubleshoot the airbag system if necessary. I really did everything to the oem manual so if there is an issue I can only imagine it could be like the one I described with a different vehicle airbag even if it is the same part.

Anyways I painted the hood over the long weekend. It turned out pretty good. Notice I also plasitdipped the scoop cover just to continue the black contrast. I kind of like but if I change my mind I can always remove it I guess (got to love plastidip). Sorry the pictures are kind of dark the truck was in the shade at the time I took them.

 

I got my airbag module back today after sending it off to myairbags.com. Also took the time to wiring in my ipod adapter that i got off ebay.



I plugged it in and I was very relieved when the airbag light did not turn on.






Here are few before and after pictures. Only thing I have left now is repairing a few dents in the roof and the one on driver door.

Before...

 

Amazing work, I wish I had the patience for that shit

 

Awesome.....absolutely awesome! Congrats on the airbag light....it's an accomplishment, trust me! I finally had all of my panels painted yesterday but I had some issues with the stuff lining up today so I am waiting for my frame guy to figure it out tomorrow. I am so jealous of all of you tacoma driving guys! I only get to move it from the parking space to the garage and back!

 

There was nothing to it ha ha. Just disconnected the battery, plugged in the module. I was confident that I installed everything right but you had me scared when you mentioned how picky the SRS system was. I guess the proves that you can cross bread parts as long as they are the same, the make of vehicle doesn't matter.

How much longer until you think you will be driving your truck? I haven't seen any recent pictures lately.

 

Damn, awesome work

I have plenty of patience, and time...and some skill to do that but no money!

 

Well I got a 2009 jbl head unit from yamabiker so now I am working on getting the bluetooth to work.



The unit plugged right in so no problems there.

I currently have 3 issues that I am trying to solve.

1) My isimple gateway which my ipod addapter plugged into is not compatible with this new radio because it is equipped with an XM receiver. I talked to their tech support (which is pretty good IMO) They said they are working on a firmware update that should be released any day now. So until then, it works good as a charger and I can still plug it into the aux port when I want to play something from my ipod.

2) I need to wire a mic. I have a mic that was designed for security cameras but I need to get the plug for the back of the head unit so I can try wiring it in. I can also purchase a mic from toyota but its in the price rang of a $100 so I will just be looking around wrecking yard trying to find one for now.

3) I need to wire the steering wheel controls. Again ordering this part would be around $100 so I am looking in junkyards for this as well. In the mean time I am working on a temporary fix. I got myself some switches and resistors from TE.com for free. Next I bought a breadboard from radio shack and began studying the wiring diagram for the bluetooth steering controls.

I came up with this cheat sheet.



Given the measured resistance values from the Factory Service Manual (FSM) Table, I calculated my required resistance so that my switch board matched the FSM table. Then I began testing it.



After I was satisfied that I had the correct resistance for each switch I tried wiring it to my steering wheel controls. I accidentally hooked my switch board to the AU1 wiring and the EAU (ground) which is the signal wiring that the left hand switches use. I was able to change the volume, and the radio channel with my switch board, This was a nice little confirmation that my switch board was functioning properly. But I already had those controls so I rewired my switch board to the AU2 and EAU pin. and then retested the resistance in the switch board.



At this point I thought for sure everything was going to work. But sadly when I tried to pair my phone I got no response from the Head Unit. It was late so I put my truck back together and tried to sleep it off. Tonight I will pull the head unit out and test the R3 connection to see what I get. I am wondering if the Head Unit has to sense a microphone is connected before it will respond to any switch controls?

Any thoughts?

 

I am so impressed with this (re)build! Way to bring this taco back from the dead!

 

Thanks, looking back it really has been a great experience. It has almost become an addiction, I can't stop trying to do things with it. I need to get to work on my mustang but I am having too much fun right now .

 

Well I think I figured out why I can't hear the Blue tooth voice commands. It appears I have missed something in the picture below. There is are shielded wires that run from the R3 (or B) connector from the radio receiver to the amplifier. These wires are for the bluetooth voice. I haven't run these wires yet but I am pretty sure this is the part that I was missing. I just ordered some sheilded wire from ebay as well as the R10 connector for the microphone. I am determined to get this to work ha ha.

After all who doesn't enjoy a little challenge every once and a while .

 

I tried connecting the head unit and amp like I showed in my last post but there is still no response from the head unit when I push any of my steering wheel buttons.

Pretty frustrated at this point... I think I am going to give it a break for a day or so and work on something else.