[HerbVick]

Originally posted by md4runner
Hey Gang...Help!

I'm having problems with my '03 Limited 4Runner...A couple of days ago, I couldn't get the truck out of Park...The truck starts fine, I put pressure on the brake and try to shift into Drive...I have an automatic transmission, and it didn't want to budge...After a couple of minutes, I slammed my foot down on the brake pedal and I was able to shift the car into drive...Then the VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, and ABS lights lit up on the dashboard...The lights went off after about a minute or two...

Has anyone had this problem?

Well, not exactly that problem. But, here's what happened and what I learned from it.

Been driving this '04 Sport for about a week now since getting the tags. It came with 23k miles of experience with a younger man.

Short trip at lunch today and the battery light comes on. ... Uh Oh! ... Then when I get back and turn it off, I decided to try it again. Started OK, but now no battery light, but VSC TRAC, VSC OFF and ABS warnings all lit, and the radio is dead and I can't shift out of PARK! (PANIC! ... no, not yet)

Started checking fuses. Has to be sensor related. It's starting to rain, too. All fuses inside look good. Goes outside and removes cover from fuse box. There I see that one fuse has been smashed from the top and the 2 inner metal prongs have been beat down together so that they touch. Further investigation revealed that this was indeed the 140A Alt main.

I had no spare 140A fuse. I needed to re-establish the previous moron's temporary solution, thereby continuing the legacy. I had to beat on the already bent metal prongs some more to re-establish a good connection, which cleared all the warning lights and let me get out of park. The CD player was now working too.

Decided to make the drive to the nearest Toyota dealer's parts department. It was about 10 miles away in heavy stop and go, sprinkeled with rain. They didn't have one. I soon learned that the auto parts places don't have them either. I also learned that my temporary fix was more temporary than I thought. The battery light had come on again before I reached the second auto parts place. When I tried to leave, my shifter was now stuck in PARK.

Kill the engine; Pop the hood and fuse box lid; tap...tap...tap; Fire it up; Warning lights OK? (OK.); Button up & go.

That is where I stand now. Can't order a new fuse until Monday. Can't have a dependable rig until the fuse arrives ... whenever!

I didn't mean to hyjack your thread, but it looks to me like we may have a similar (not the same, but similar) problem. I hope this information helps you solve your mystery before you end up under the hood in the middle of nowhere in the rain.

[Mark86]

Originally posted by HerbVick
Well, not exactly that problem. But, here's what happened and what I learned from it.

Been driving this '04 Sport for about a week now since getting the tags. It came with 23k miles of experience with a younger man.

Short trip at lunch today and the battery light comes on. ... Uh Oh! ... Then when I get back and turn it off, I decided to try it again. Started OK, but now no battery light, but VSC TRAC, VSC OFF and ABS warnings all lit, and the radio is dead and I can't shift out of PARK! (PANIC! ... no, not yet)

Started checking fuses. Has to be sensor related. It's starting to rain, too. All fuses inside look good. Goes outside and removes cover from fuse box. There I see that one fuse has been smashed from the top and the 2 inner metal prongs have been beat down together so that they touch. Further investigation revealed that this was indeed the 140A Alt main.

I had no spare 140A fuse. I needed to re-establish the previous moron's temporary solution, thereby continuing the legacy. I had to beat on the already bent metal prongs some more to re-establish a good connection, which cleared all the warning lights and let me get out of park. The CD player was now working too.

Decided to make the drive to the nearest Toyota dealer's parts department. It was about 10 miles away in heavy stop and go, sprinkeled with rain. They didn't have one. I soon learned that the auto parts places don't have them either. I also learned that my temporary fix was more temporary than I thought. The battery light had come on again before I reached the second auto parts place. When I tried to leave, my shifter was now stuck in PARK.

Kill the engine; Pop the hood and fuse box lid; tap...tap...tap; Fire it up; Warning lights OK? (OK.); Button up & go.

That is where I stand now. Can't order a new fuse until Monday. Can't have a dependable rig until the fuse arrives ... whenever!

I didn't mean to hyjack your thread, but it looks to me like we may have a similar (not the same, but similar) problem. I hope this information helps you solve your mystery before you end up under the hood in the middle of nowhere in the rain.

Did you try the parts department of a Lexus dealer? They use the same fuses on a GX470.

[HerbVick]

Originally posted by Mark86
Did you try the parts department of a Lexus dealer? They use the same fuses on a GX470.

Thanks. No, I didn't. This all happened on Friday right about quitting time at work. No time to 4Run the wide area networking for parts. But, I'm glad you mentioned it though. I hadn't even thought of that.

I guess Monday at work I'll be Google Mapping Toyota and Lexus dealers and taking a phone poll.

Funny story ... well not funny HA HA, but in an ironic told you so kinda way. While I was at the Toyota dealer, in a somewhat kneejerk reaction to the circumstances surrounding the fuse, I decided to just put my recently purchased 4Runner in their certified professional hands for a 15K mile once over, just for the peace of mind. Sat down with one of their Service Consultants, explained the story and asked for an appointment for a 15K mile checkup. Well, after a little friendly giggling and blushing and tapping on her keyboard, I was scheduled for 7:30 am Monday morning. The charge was only going to be around $160. Not a princely sum. I noticed it, but simply assumed there was a LOT of service done for the amount. I got home and checked the Scheduled Maintenance Guide. I was paying $160 basically for an oil change and rotate the tires. Sure, they were going to "inspect" things, but even in their own advertisement, most of that was complementary just like it is almost anywhere else. NOW I know why you guys have been calling them Stealerships!

Do you think I should cancel and let the professionals at Quality Care do it for around $50?

[HerbVick]

Moved my discussion to a new thread.

[tschwart]

Wow! You guys (espicially toto) sure nailed it and saved me a big $$ trip to the dealership.

I was driving earlier today when the VSC OFF, VSC TRAC & ABS Lights all came on simultaneously. I stopped my 2002 4Runner Limited in a nearby parking lot, put it in park and set out to investigate. Not seeing anything obvious, I tried to move the transmission shifter out of park and back to drive - but presto, it was locked in park.

I overrode the transmission lock, headed home and hit the forums for info.

As toto correctly identified, if the STOP fuse has fails open, the shift lock control ECU prevents the shifter being moved out of park.

So, I checked the fuse, found it was blown, replaced it and started her up again.. All of the annunciator lights cleared, and things were back to normal. Wohoo!!

The root cause of the problem (Why did the fuse fail?) is still unknown.. Hopefully it just resides somehow with the fuse itself.

Anyways, thanks again guys!!

[JP4RNR]

Yet another advantage of having LED tail/brake lights

[RickyCRX]

How do LED taillights prevent fuses from blowing??

[JP4RNR]

What I meant was that since LEDS last much longer than conventional light bulbs, you would have one less problem relating to getting stuck in Park. If I read correctly a burned out brake bulb could cause you to get stuck in Park

[tschwart]

As a follow-up to my earlier post, in the following days, this STOP fused failed 3 more times (same 3 lights up on the dash), while on the 3rd time my turn signals stopped working as well (turn signal fuse had also failed).

I arrived at my buddies place a few minutes later, and looked at the back of my 4runner and scratched my head trying to figure out what was going on when it came to me.

The weather outside was very wet/rainy/slushy and the roads were a mess. My flat 4 trailer plug wiring was dangling down towards the ground near the hitch and was covered in a wet muddy, salting, slimy paste (no cover on it). Ah hah! An exposed wiring location with both turn and stop signals.

I figure when this was covered in a road salty mud mixture, it casued all of the shorts between the brake and turn signal systems and the associated failed fuses.

I cleaned this up and tucked the end inside, and my problems haven't yet returned! I am pretty sure this is it!

It seems like a pretty serious programming deficiency on the 4runners to shut so many things down and illuminate so many lights just because of a fuse failure!

As an aside, I highly doubt burned out tail light bulbs would cause this same problem to occur.