littleroo

Thanks for all the EXCELLENT advice! I forwarded the link to the dealership (mmm, I'm sure they LOVED that! Me telling them what to look for, LOL!!) They did say it was the EFI fuse that was blowing. They don't know what is causing the fuse to blow, though. I asked them to look at the wire bundle for bare wires rather than just tightening them. (Although I have to hope they would have noticed that when they tightened them....) The guy who has my ticket is supposed to call me Monday, and I'll post what he tells me then. Thanks again! Any more info you guys have would be great! Shelley

My husband is in Afghanistan, so I'm having to write this description from the female perspective, LOL! We bought this '97 LX 450 b/c we thought it would last forever, but.... Here's a quick synopsis, and I wonder if anyone is familiar with this problem b/c the dealership is totally scratching their heads over it: Truck has 92000 miles on it, never been wrecked, well-maintained. Had its 75000 mile work done, but not 90 or 100. So, out of nowhere, one day at low speeds, the engine went dead and I coasted off the road onto the shoulder. Tried everything to restart (regular start, flooded engine start, checked the oil, gas, battery, etc). Towed it into the dealership. Dealer says the air intake valve was old and need replacing, and it caused the fuse to blow which supplied gas to the engine. $900 later, they gave me the truck with a clean bill of health. Scene 2: A week later, the truck dies again at low speeds. Now, I'm noticing a pattern, albeit odd. The truck dies in the afternoon after driving 30 miles in the am, and both times it died while making a right turn. So the dealership changes the fuse, and their computer cannot diagnose a problem in the 10 days they kept the truck. Bottom line: they tighten some wires in the wiring harness and promised it was good as new. Scene 3: After being forced to pick up the truck (again, no husband and three kids, I do NOT want to drive this car w/o someone fixing SOMETHING) which they acknowledged they could not replicate the problem, I replicate it in less than 30 miles and 2 hours! Died again at low speeds, and curiously, after another right turn. Does this make sense to ANYONE? My dad had worked on the radio antenna and all that entails. Is that close to the air intake valve or the wiring harness the dealership was talking about? When it dies, I immediately lose all power steering, brakes, everything. I have about 5 seconds to get it steered off the road before I come to a halt. It won't restart unless a new fuse is put in, and runs okay until it burns out that fuse again. The dealership sends a mechanic to swap fuses and drive it back to the lot. They've had it die again while driving back to the lot. But then it sits there and doesn't diagnose on the computer or replicate and they give it back to me. :cries: Anyone? Anyone? Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Update: Yea! I found the box under my seat and the green dot to reset the ECU, so my new remote works! I can unlock/lock my LX450 without having major contortions and petitions to the Remote Gods! HOWEVER, neither of my remotes 'chirp'. My old one used to, and I though the Piezo thing controlled the chirping of the remote. Apparently, Piezo controls a small 'chirp' (more like a 'tweet' if you ask me) from behind the steering wheel of the car. My old remote used to chirp once or twice for lock/unlock, loudly from what I recall sounded like under the hood? How do I turn this feature back on? Are there instructions for this? The only 'chirping' references I could find related to Piezo, which I performed, but it's not the big chirp I'm looking for. Thanks again Rob for posting the orignal reply w/ the Toyota manual! Shelley

Follow this link. It will totally hook you up on how to deal with resetting your remote. The ECU is under the driver's seat. Hope this helps. Rob B) http://www.4runners.org/images/rs3000/4RAlarm%20Manual.pdf ← Hey, Rob - Thanks for the link. Much easier to read than the SLEEOffroad on, but I think p. 23 must have the codes for reprogramming a new remote. It's blank and p. 24 give instructions for removing all remotes from the ECU. Maybe I can go back and get that page from the other manual. So, the ECU is about as big as a deck of cards and is under my driver's seat. Last time I looked, I couldn't reach/see much of anything. Is the 1997 model supposed to have much clearance under there? There's a big black motor (I assume for the power seat) and a carpeted metal hill! Sorry to ask the obvious questions, but I just can't find the dang ECU! Thanks!

Ok, have mercy on a technologically challenged chick, please! I downloaded the directions from the other thread about reprogramming a remote (which I bought off Ebay, same FCC ID, etc). But what the heck is the ECU and where the heck is it? I tried the ON position to make the LED come on (which happens with my orig dying remote) but nothing happens with the new remote. Going back and re-reading the alarm manual, it appears Im supposed to push a button on this 'ECU' that I have no clue where/what it is. Can anyone spell out what I'm supposed to do? My LX450 is a 97, if that makes a difference on the location of the 'ECU'. My dealer says my chip is going bad on my remote, but they wanted $250 for a new one, plus $80 to reprogram it. I'm not stupid, I know I can reprogram myself, but don't know where the alarm brain is on my vehicle. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller? TIA - Roo