Toyota BCM replacement

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by jhellwig
Well we took it to the deal that no one recomends and they say the alternator is bad. Didnt quote me to bad of price for replacing it considering the front end has to come off to do it.

Of all the diagnostics and error lights there was nothing about the charging system in any of it.


How much did they charge for the diagnosis if you don't mind me asking? Thank you.

 

[JTK]

I'm glad you didn't throw parts like a BCM at it, although it may have been easier than the alternator on that beast. LOL!

I'm assuming the alternator replacement is a ~$500 or so job?

 

[jhellwig]

$900 for an alternator and battery is what they said it was going to be. They said the battery was weak. I told them I would change the battery since it was good enough to drive the van all over town with no alternator. The cost to change the alternator on this is high because the front end has to come apart. It is a 4+ hour job according to the book.

They got it changed and then called me and said it still wasnt fixed. They were seeing the same modules not communicating that I was seeing. I asked them if they were sure the alternator was bad and they said theytested it and after changing it it charges now.

The service gal said both of their toyota master techs were stumped.

 

[mehullica]

Short Tc and CG terminals of DLC3 for 30 minutes with the key ON. Run a CAN-BUS check & see what ecu's don't report back

 

[jhellwig]

They figured it out today. The service writer said they either found fuses blown or missing. She didnt know where they were.

I checked all of the fuses under the hood first thing and checked a few of them under the steering wheel but didnt do all of them as you need to use a mirror and stand on you head to get to that block. The first thing I checked under there was where the aftermarket dvd player was hooked to. They just stuffed the wire under a couple of fuses.

 

[exranger06]

For future reference, the way I would've gone about diagnosing this is:
1. Get a wiring diagram This is almost always the #1 step you should do to diagnose an electrical problem, yet it's the step most people DON'T do, and it's why so many struggle with electrical problems. You can get wiring diagrams for free at BBBIndustries.com. Or you can often buy a factory manual cheap on eBay, either in paper book form or CD-ROM form. Or sometimes you can find them just by Googling.

2. Pick one thing that isn't working and diagnose that one issue and forget about the other issues. You said the turn signals and the windows weren't working. I would've looked at the diagram for the turn signals, or maybe the windows first. I would've studied the diagram and figured out how the circuit worked. A light bulb needs current flowing through it to light up. For current to flow, it needs to start at the positive post of the battery and eventually make its way to ground. Look at the diagram and see which path(s) the current needs to take to get there. Then I would've gotten a test light and checked for power and ground at various points along that path, and find out where the voltage is missing.

Once I got the turn signal problem diagnosed and fixed, the other problems would automatically get fixed, if they were all caused by the same problem. If there were still other problems, I would've repeated the above procedure on the other circuits until all the problems were fixed.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by jhellwig
The first thing I checked under there was where the aftermarket dvd player was hooked to. They just stuffed the wire under a couple of fuses.

Which would lead to question their installers and their quality. There's too many hacks calling themselves installers, some of them work at dealerships installing alarms/LoJack in new cars with T-Taps. Although I've used T-Taps, I use only 3M brand ones and I try to find a place where the wiring isn't stressed.

Dealer won't mess with aftermarket AV in most cases. I'd rewire the aftermarket DVD right this time - no "tap-a-circuit" fuse box taps. Find a source of constant and switched 12V by the DVD player and make the connection nearby. Use the fused setup as supplied.