Having to pay $8000 for a bad fuse clip

Great point, the thought of someone tearing all of that out and rewiring the entire truck seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

 

I would have taken a crack at that NP.
The hard part is flipping the box and splitting it. I’ve done plenty.
I even took a burned section in the box ( from some moron trying to hook up aftermarket shit)
out of the fuse box itself and made a remote relay support.
I saved like 3 insurance harnesses and use to use them for connectors and plugs.
Cust. signed an acknowledgment about the repair.
I would get confirmation diag. If it’s just because the retainer tab is broken and the connector
becomes unplugged, it’s a repairable situation. Done it before..

 

So latest update...interestingly enough, the dealer has come back (2 weeks later) and said that they are looking into another solution that will be "significantly cheaper". Basically that tells me that everything everyone has said is indeed correct. Dealer BS because they were too lazy to do anything other than go with the most expensive option. Because I mean hey, who wouldn't pitch the most expensive option as the ONLY solution if it means getting a shitload of money out of the deal? (heavy sarcasm). Bastards. I'm beyond pissed.

 

I understand completely..
It’s all about part’s replacing. Not repairing. Those skills are being lost daily.

Just try to sift through the shit.

I repair harnesses all the time..
It is a skill..

 

I'd reply back and say that since it took 2 weeks for them to negotiate a fix, I won't be forgetting that "good will" anytime soon. On rare occasion some things should just be free-bied and written off as customer retention, but then again, that's probably why I don't run a service bay.

 

Yeah, I had that same thought, that this should fall under "good will." This issue started with a defectively assembled harness. These aren't wear parts that eventually need to be replaced, it just took a little longer than the warranty for it to shake free -- but it's been a ticking time bomb since brand new. Toyota should cover it.

Even with all the justified hate of dealers on here, I've actually had decent luck, but not without some pressing at times. I had a 2009 that had the melting headlight housing issue. I didn't notice it until I was just beyond the warranty, but the problem had obviously been there before that. Dealer was nice about it, but their hands were tied unless corporate agreed to cover it, otherwise they'd have to eat the cost. I wrote an email to the president of Toyota US listing all the Toyotas I have owned over the years (it's quite a few) and that I was considering checking out other brands due to declining quality. He sent it to their customer care group, they opened a case, dealer submitted pics, and they replaced the housings. Subsequent to that, they revised the housings and issued a TSB. But, that was because this turned out to be a common problem and a perceived safety risk. I don't think this wiring issue will turn out to be common enough to result in that (first one I've heard of on TW). But, the smart thing for them to do would be to fix it for you.

 

I did some investigating last night. The fuse box consists of a bunch of different segments that are locked down by plastic locking tabs.

I could not get the portion with the blue relays out, which is where the problem part of this post lies. I expect that the segments interlock, meaning that there is probably one that needs to be removed first, then the rest come out in sequence until the one needing to be removed can be removed.

The tabs circled in orange are the ones I found for the relay section needing to be removed. I imagine if you can get this panel to come up, the wire can be accessed so that more investigation can be done.

 

Thank you for doing the research and for the response!!!! I appreciate all the info you're providing!

 

Thanks for this. And you make a good point. At this point I think I'm angrier at Toyota Corp though than I am the dealer. I think the dealer is probably just following instructions that Toyota gave them and they are finally starting to come around to the idea that we aren't going to just shell out a butt load of money for zero reason. Toyota Corp is the one currently drawing the majority of my vehemence. We've had a case open for the last week and a half. The woman finally called us back after we were given 3 solid call back dates (all of which came and went). She then told us she hasn't been able to contact the dealer...which is a complete lie. I contacted the dealer this morning and my contact said that he hasn't received any calls, nor have the service manager or dealership manager. We gave this Toyota Corp woman all of that info. I should also mention that our main POC at the dealer gave us his personal cell number (which we gave Toyota Corp) and he has picked up every time we've called.

 

It is a PITA..

 

It seemed like it. I didn't want to tug on the wrong thing. But sometimes those things need some force to come out, so it's hard to feel your way to getting it apart.....pretty much need guidance from someone who has done it before telling you how it comes apart.

 

They're not that hard to take apart. Can't be any worse than replacing a main fuse on a corolla or camry where the fuse bar is buried down in there. What do the dealers do when one of those fuse assemblies pop? Replace the whole harness? The whole fuse box? No way..

A few 10mm bolts, a few plastic locking tabs. It's like playing with Legos

 

There are release clips and trying to do it with the lack of slack really tests your ingenuity… lol.

 

Not much wiring slack underneath I guess?

It seemed like in order to remove a section, I would need a quantity of small screwdrivers enough to put one at each clip and then pull....but I still don't know if that's enough.

Are the sections intertwined in such a way that they need to be removed in a certain order?

 

Here's a somewhat cringe video of a guy taking apart a fuse/relay box on a Corolla. I suspect that the Tacoma box would have a similar design, but I could be totally wrong. The steps to get it apart are not super obvious by looking at it. Not really hard, just involved. At the end you can see where the wires come up underneath. It appears that some terminals snap directly into a slot, while others have a connector on the back side.

 

If you can get the box flipped or 45° and the back removed then most of the wiring connectors can be released.

 

For anyone who is interested, this is officially what the dealer reported as the issue:

Wiring Harness: REPLACE MAIN ENGINE WIRE AND FUSE BLOCK ASSEMBLY -- LOCK THAT HOLDS WIRE INTO FUSEBLOCK AGAINST D INJ RELAY NOT FUNCTIONAL--
Every vehicle has multiple wiring harnesses. The harness makes the electrical connection between relays and switches to motors and other control systems.

 

I’d try and fix it first. You have nothing to lose…

 

What was part cost and labor cost the dealer quoted?

 

They didn't give us a break out of the parts vs. the labor. They said that they would need to order an entirely new fuse box and wiring harness and rewire the entire car...all for a defective "locking tab"