Vitals: 92 4runner 3Vze with Auto tranny and 4wd

Ok, ive searched for a while and havent found any answers. I am having problems with my shift lock solenoid not disengaging to allow me to shift from park. I've heard intermittent clicking every once and a while like either the solenoid or ecu were going out.

Normally when you depress the brake you hear the "click" which is your solenoid allowing your gear selector to move to a gear. When i depress mine i hear nothing anymore. I have to use the shift lock bypass to get into gear.

I read the fsm and it had me ohm out my solenoid and measure voltages coming from the plugs on the ecu unit located under the console. Everything checked out fine except my output to the solenoid. Instead of reading 10-14 Volts it read 0.7. This is extremely low and tells me either the ecu is toasted or ive got a short somewhere. I looked at the brake pedal and couldnt see exactly which switch was interlocked to send the signal to the ecu.

Has this every happened to anyone before? i have found ecus for 50 bucks on ebay, but i want to make sure its the ecu before i buy it.

Josh

ECU

OK I just looked at the schematic.

Do your brake lights work?

is either the CIG or Guage fuse blown?

you should have power at 3 wires on the ECU.
Gray w/red strip "key-on"
Black w/orange strip "key-on""key-on"
Green w/white "key-on"(only when brake are applied) If you have brake lights and no power on this wire at the ECU then it is a junction block or bad wire.

white w/black strip is constant ground (make sure it's good)
light blue? w/red strip isn't your problem.

If your brake lights work, you ruled out the brake switch receiving and sending power.

If all of this checks out then it is indeed your ECU.

Why not just remove the solenoid and not have to waste money on an ECU that might not be bad.

you know, thats not a bad idea. See any cons with removing it? the other outputs of the ecu work fine and you would still have to depress the button in order to shift gears.

Umm.. because electrical troubleshooting is the best thing EVER!

Im having just about the same issue and id like an exact answer as i really just need my brake lights to work. Its an intermittent short and i already removed the trailer wiring. The bulbs are good and no shorts there. The brake lights will work but eventually while driving they will go out. This is a truck i use for my company and dont have a walk around method.

Im guessing my problem is in the shift lock ecu/solenoid/control switch.

Any help is appreciated.

IDK how the shift lock solenoid could relate to an intermittent brake light problem.

If they sometimes work, then no fuse is being blown, so it's unlikely you have a short.
More then likely an intermittent open, like maybe a bad ground at the rear lighting harness.

Hi OzarkCreeker, did you ever get to the bottom of your issue? Wondering if it ended up being the solenoid as I suspect that may be my issue, haven't had time to check ohm readings yet. Also wondering, what page of the FSM were you referring to? I have Volume 1 and 2 and can't seem to find anything about it.

Thanks!