DRL Failures, Locker Indicator Flashing, and Chasing Electrical Gremlins

Just had the battery and alternator tested (while installed) at Oriely’s. Everything tested good and “passed”.

 

Sent my oscilicope findings to Toyota yesterday and got a promise of a call back today before close of business (7pm CST for Toyota). Of course the guy calls as I'm on hold for a scheduled client call so I ask if I can call back in 30 minutes. He says that is fine but won't give me any direct contact info, just tells me to call the 800 number and ask for him. 30 minutes later I call the 800 number, wait on hold for a while, the CSR tries to get in touch with the guy who I'm supposed to be talking with and "he has left for the day". The CSR says he will schedule for a call back tomorrow but can't guarantee a specific time for the call. I ask if we can just schedule a call and he says he can't do that but can ask for a specific time. I have asked for 1:00pm AZ time tomorrow. We'll see if I get a call at that time or not.

 

Yeah those all look the same to me. Did they do any testing without the truck running?

 

I do not believe so. If they did, I did not receive any readouts for those tests.

 

Hmm. I don't think a load test will rule out an alternator, since they aren't checking it for noise.

Seems like your best bet is to keep pushing Toyota. You didn't find the root cause, but you did prove that it's not the lights making noise.

 

That’s basically where I’m at right now. My real issue is I’m coming dangerously close to the 1yr mark to send a lemon law notice.

 

So what happens if;

a) you file notice, and they then fix the truck...
b) you don't file notice and you live with things frying out... and electrical gremlins in a computerized truck...

Theme from Jeopardy playing in background....

 

What's it take to label it a lemon? Seems like that might get Toyotas attention, possibly not in a helpful way.

 

The honest answer is I haven’t really looked into it because I don’t want them to buyback the truck, I want them to fix it. I love the truck. I don’t really dislike anything about it other than this stupid DRL.

 

Why don't you swap in a different/new alternator and run the O scope test(s)? That way you'll be certain that it either is or isn't the alternator causing the spikes. If, when you swap the alternator, the results mimic the readout on the right then Toyota is on the hook for a new alternator and you possibly found the culprit blowing out your DRL's.

 

That is something I would definitely look into depending on how this all plays out. The reason I didn’t do that yet is because I first had to prove that the aftermarket parts were not causing the failure. At this point it should be Toyota’s job to diagnose what actually is.

 

Anyone want to place a bet on whether I got a call at 1pm? How about whether I have gotten a call as of now (2:51pm)?

 

Negative. They probably wont even call tomorrow

 

So he actually called! No good news though. Even though the scope charts are pretty clear, the dealership apparently put in the documents that the scope findings (I'm paraphrasing) "support the FTS findings that the aftermarket parts are at fault and that with aftermarket parts removed, the voltage spikes were less frequent and less intense". I guess they aren't so awesome after all but I can't blame them for catering to "the guy that signs their checks".

I explained to the CSR supervisor that this is clearly not the case and he can see with his own eyes what the spikes look like with and without the parts and that there is little to no change. He said that he is not a tech and can't make a diagnosis. I explained that you don't need to be a tech to see the difference between the stock truck and my truck with all my aftermarket parts removed.

He said he will follow up with the FTS tomorrow and see if they want to revise their decision. He will follow up with me tomorrow by end of day. I asked him to send me an official arbitration package in the meantime.

 

Sounds like you are headed down a very long rabbit hole. I applaud you for your persistence but there is one thing we all need to take away from this. Remove all aftermarket stuff before going to the dealer for warranty work. Once they see it and can possibly tie it to a failure it's pretty much game over or you are in it for the long long long haul. I dunno about you but my time is too valuable to spend chasing phone calls and replying to emails.

 

OP, The new scope images look very similar but you should do a statistical analysis just to be sure. If you have similar time frames for each test done, it should be relatively simple to establish mean numbers of spikes per chart or per minute as well as standard deviations for each. It’s easy for them to say whatever until you prove there is no difference between the noise.

 

“Mod at your own risk” has never been more relevant.

 

It’s just very unfortunate that even with the data laid out in front of them, I have a feeling that I’ll end up in arbitration.

 

Lemme know when u go to court. I'll yell shit From the peanut gallery lol.

 

Fuck it we should rent a bus and fill the whole courtroom with TacomaWorld members !!