Tip for Tundra TV owners

[SCBillandJane]

I have been very positive about recommending a Tundra as a tow vehicle. My Tundra has taken us 40+ thousand miles to all 4 corners of the country. However, while starting my Tundra at my house, the check engine light came on. The usual cause is a loose gas cap. I couldn't get the light to go off by tightening the gas cap, so off to the Totota dealership we went, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it. The "limp home" safety mode had been activated electronically. I could barely accelerate and could not go over 55 on level ground even with full throtle.
The cause was determined to be a secondary air injection pump. According to the service manager the only thing this pump does is turn on for 45 seconds during a cold start to pump extra air into the engine to reduce pollution during start up. The pump evidently gets rusty from condensation and quits with no warning. It has nothing to do with driving in water. The computer then cuts power even though there is no danger to the engine in this situation. You could pull into a campground just fine and might not have enough power the next morning to get out of the campground.
I told the service manager that this worries me because I pull a travel trailer, and this could happen again when I was way away from home or a Toyota dealer. I could maybe limp home, but not with my trailer. He had a temporary solution that you might want to try in an emergency that I was clueless about. He said that if you could get the Tundra up to operating temperature and drive to a auto parts place or any type car dealer that they could "clear the code" electronically. This would allow the Tundra to drive normally until the next cold start.
My situation is not unique unfortunately. On one Tundra internet site there are 95 pages of discussion about this pump problem. I am just passing on this emergency get home tip that I hope you don't ever have to use. I hope that this is not too far off the subject.

Thanks for the tip!

[Bill]

If you envision this being a problem, you can buy an OBD-II code reader (also called a code scanner) for $30-40. It just plugs into the OBD-II socket, under the dash on the driver's side. I think they all can clear the code as well as read it.

If you are considering getting a Scan Gauge or equivalent (about $100-150?), this would be another reason to, as they can also clear the codes.

I would imagine that on the Tundra site you mentioned, the code-reader solution is discussed. Did you know that on http://www.tundrasolutions.com, our own Rocky Mountain Ray is the moderator? He used to be our towing guru here, but decided to concentrate on his Tundra. If you can send him a PM about this, he has always been very helpful.

Bill

As Bill has stated, code readers are relatively cheap (depending on what you want) and readily available from almost every auto store. Even if you're not a backyard mechanic they do come in handy to be able to scan the code to do some research on it so you are better prepared for a trip to a dealer if it's needed.
I've been able to fix almost every code my vehicles have thrown, since most turn up to be minor issues (O2 sensors, bad plug wires, faulty dist cap, etc).
It's important to understand that in most cases when the computer (ECU) on your vehicle throws a code, it will no longer make adjustments in real time. The computer goes into a "default" mode that usually reaps less performance and fuel mileage.

Somewhat related...

When I still had my Nissan Sentra, I would get an error code that said that the speedometer was broken.

In reality it was intermittently broken. If you hit the dash with your fist it would start working again.

Because of the error code, the yellow light on the dash indicating a problem would come on.

In California, if that light is on, no matter what the reason was, then you an not pass a smog inspection.

My solution was to reset the code just before the smog check.

Wayne,

It seems to me your ultimate solution was to get rid of it...

Mike Andeson

How much do you want for it??

Do you know, is this something "special" that mainly applies to the newer generation Tundra? I have an '06. I'm hoping the drier climate I live in helps too? Thanks for the post........

Originally Posted by ragmopp

Wayne,

It seems to me your ultimate solution was to get rid of it...

Mike Andeson

Ultimately the Sentra blew a head gasket. I sold it to my mechanic for $500.

It was a 1996 Sentra with a little over 200k miles on it.

I was unwilling to do the work myself and unwilling to pay the price to fix it.