Instrument panel gone haywire

R

Roofer

New member
Last night my instrument panel went crazy. The ABS, BRAKE, ENGINE, 4WL and temp lights came on. The speedo quit and the cruise control won't work. Took it to the dealer and paid 3 hrs@$103/hr so far for diagnostics. They can't figure it out & think maybe road salt got in the sensors. Anyone experience this yet? It's a 2010 limited 113k & has been problem free until now.
 
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I just had the same problem, but on my wife's 2011 rav4 the engine light, trac off and 4wd came on. The dealer found a faulty o2 sensor that does not want to work right, so it is getting changed. I don't know if it helps. Good luck with figuring out what wrong and hopefully it won't cost you a lot to fix it.
 
Roofer said:
Last night my instrument panel went crazy. The ABS, BRAKE, ENGINE, 4WL and temp lights came on. The speedo quit and the cruise control won't work. Took it to the dealer and paid 3 hrs@$103/hr so far for diagnostics. They can't figure it out & think maybe road salt got in the sensors. Anyone experience this yet? It's a 2010 limited 113k & has been problem free until now.
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Not sure if your local dealer is just bending you over real good, but have you tried taking it to any auto parts store and having the obd2 codes scanned to see what's up?

You'd think after 3 hours of poking around they'd at least be able to give you some kind of stored error code list, lol.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but good luck!
 
eddiebx said:
Not sure if your local dealer is just bending you over real good, but have you tried taking it to any auto parts store and having the obd2 codes scanned to see what's up?

You'd think after 3 hours of poking around they'd at least be able to give you some kind of stored error code list, lol.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but good luck!
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my thought exactly.. that's why i bought something i can check my own codes with ScanGaugeII
 
New to the 4Runner world, but in my previous jeep and land rover lives, an alternator that was ready to kaput could do strange things to your instrument panel. Doesn't quite sound like the case here, but worth looking into if you have been having any battery charging problems.
 
Lenny33 said:
New to the 4Runner world, but in my previous jeep and land rover lives, an alternator that was ready to kaput could do strange things to your instrument panel. Doesn't quite sound like the case here, but worth looking into if you have been having any battery charging problems.
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I'll add in from the Saab world, a dying battery will also cause numerous faults like this. I would look into either the battery or alternator.
 
Different vehicle but on my diesel work truck one of the batteries went bad and was apparently back feeding and making my Inline Edge Programmer and a few other electronics go nuts, could be a possibility also.
 
IAmTodd said:
I'll add in from the Saab world, a dying battery will also cause numerous faults like this. I would look into either the battery or alternator.
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I've seen some weird fault codes on a couple of Mercedes vehicle. The batteries weak and when I renewed battery codes went away.
 
Your battery is four years old, it's cold outside, the perfect opportunity for it to stroke out. Put a meter on it and see what voltage you've got, then start the truck and see if it goes up. If it goes up, the alternator is fine, but you've got a 60-pound lump of lead and a trip to Sears.
 
I had a similar problem about six months after purchase...I started the vehicle and had almost the exact symptoms accompanied with a rough idle. I flipped out and shut it down immediately...worked up the nerve to try to start it up again and seemed to run fine but I had a check engine light. Took it to the dealer and the reprogrammed the computer (only actual error they confirmed was a misfire). It's been trouble free since...
 
People run these damn things year round in Colorado, and they're literally encrusted in salt for most of that time. I can't imagine the 4Runner would be sensitive to road salt.
 
LandCruiser said:
People run these damn things year round in Colorado, and they're literally encrusted in salt for most of that time. I can't imagine the 4Runner would be sensitive to road salt.
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They actually use very little salt here, it is mostly sand/gravel and magnesium chloride.
 
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Jeremy556 said:
They actually use very little salt here, it is mostly sand/gravel and liquid sodium chloride.
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In the Springs, where I venture out to once a week or so, they salt the hell out of the roads and parking lots, I have salt crystals forming all over my truck and have to wash it after snowfalls.

Here they use mostly gravel.
 
LandCruiser said:
In the Springs, where I venture out to once a week or so, they salt the hell out of the roads and parking lots, I have salt crystals forming all over my truck and have to wash it after snowfalls.

Here they use mostly gravel.
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Can't speak for the surface streets or parking lots, but CDOT doesn't use much salt on the highways, mostly magnesium chloride. I get a kick out of seeing 40+ year old FJ40s being used as dedicated snow plows.
 
Jeremy556 said:
They actually use very little salt here, it is mostly sand/gravel and magnesium chloride.
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Magnesium chloride is actually a salt... just a different chemical compound than common "table salt". Same concept and purpose on the roads, just different chemically.
 
A friend of mine just had the same problem... Turns out a rodent liked the warm engine compartment and chewed through a bunch of the wiring harnesses... To the tune of $2000 :wow2:
 
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