J A N U A RY • F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 5 Send technical questions to: Robbie Antonson, TechEditor@tlca.org Tech Exchange with Robbie Antonson Hello and what a wonderful way to end the year. The weather here has been great, with very little drama this year. We just had our first real snow event and it has lasted for a week. Nice for me but not so great for some others. I hear complaints about this and that when the weather turns cold. I thought I had it all sorted out this year for an easy transition. I have about 2-1/2 cords of wood ready for the winter. All the vehicles are set for winter with oil changes and winter tires installed. I changed the battery in my daily driver (a 4-1/2 year old, VW factory battery) but it could have gone longer. The VW forum I go to had mixed results on the battery. Average was about 3 years. While I may have gotten more time out of it, the fact that it was a sealed battery with no way to get in concerned me. It had a vent and still could lose fluid through vapor loss. So I took care of it. Well, I think you all know how much I harp on maintenance (at least members that have been reading for a long time) so no surprise there. No matter how much maintenance or prep work you do to make life easy, something comes along to throw a monkey wrench into your plans. My wife’s 2007 4Runner, with 140,000 miles on it, started making a rotational noise and vibration, at wheel speed only on very cold days and only in 4-wheel drive, full time mode. Typically it started above 25 mph and continued down to 5 mph or less. It could not always be reproduced. This 4Runner is the 4-liter with the multi-mode system. My wife has complained before about this happening. I have checked it out previously but somehow it never produced the symptoms for me. It sounds like it is coming from the rear or center of the 4Runner (transfer case, maybe). Well, it was snowing and we were in town on separate missions. I ended up leaving it at my crowded shop (soon to change in December), where it will be looked at on Monday morning. I am hoping it is something simple but my gut is telling me it is more. For the noise to only come when it is in 4-wheel drive in very cold weather, it is not easy to diagnosis. I drove it around hoping something would just bust. Then I would know for sure what was wrong because it comes and goes, with no rhyme or reason. Anyhow, I will know soon enough or something will break. I have checked the parking brake, the disc brakes all around (braking has no effect). I have looked at the CV’s up front, the u-joints in the past and the play at the transfer case. All have been serviced at proper intervals with synthetic fluids. So sometimes it does not matter what you do, stuff will show up. I heard a story from a reader about how he had stopped to help a buddy with his fourth generation 4Runner. It would not start. They fiddled around with it, doing normal things to try to figure out why it would not start but the engine would crank over. Well, a Toyota tech just happened to drive by and saw these two gentlemen trying to start this 4Runner. This tech pulled the key out of the ignition, closed the doors and locked the doors with the key fob. He then unlocked the doors, stuck the key into the ignition and it started. Somehow the security computer got confused. The tech explained that it happened often and that the sequence of closing the doors, locking and unlocking the doors will sometimes reset things and allow you to start the vehicle. So here is another helpful hint to put away in your filing system, to try when your electronic security systems will not allow you to start your vehicle. My oldest daughter had a 4Runner that would regularly lock her out. I did not have a computer to interface with the security system on these newer Toyota vehicles (I still do not). Her keys could be in the ignition and even in the on position, if she closed her door for just a couple of minutes, it would lock her out. I have also had this happen to me with a couple of customer vehicles. I currently do not leave any keys in a car when I get out. You never know. What brings this up for me is that in this last snowstorm, a nice lady at a gas station had left her keys and phone in her Subaru wagon and got out to put gas into it. She was locked out and did not have a key outside the vehicle anywhere. I helped her call a locksmith and wished her good luck with the rest of her night. While I love the central locking system in my newer vehicles, you need to have a backup key somewhere. These computers, while wonderful, can create some glitches under weird circumstances. This lady with the Subaru had never had issues; she has had the vehicle for 2 years. She noticed a couple of weird things happening with the interior lights recently and had not taken it to someone to look it over. And bummer, she was locked out. My oldest daughter never made the effort to take her 4Runner in to get it looked at by a dealer. She was locked out many times and after the first two or three times, she always kept a key outside on the frame of her 4Runner—instead of taking it in to get diagnosed. Funny how we are about some things…. I hope your holidays went well, with lots of good friends and family time. Hope the winter is treating you well and your Cruisers and Toyota products are motoring through 9