Toyota Tacoma 2005+

soundman34

Mine does not beep either. From what I understand the beeping security system is an option that does not come with the off road package. I think I read in the manual that the security system only comes with a certain package.

bjw1

I installed the satellite equipment myself, just routed the attanna through the top brake light, underneath the headliner and put the tuner behind the rear seat, and ran the cable from there to the stereo, took about an hour and half from start to finish. From what i have listen to its much better than regular radio, and so much too choose from.

pb2themax

I tried the transistor and it worked great on the bench, but when I hooked it up to the dome light the map lights come on, but then they won't go off, even when I disconnect the ground. I guess that the gate is staying engaged by itself. Am I using the wrong transistor? I tried a Mosfet, TIP 42, TIP 120.

lamike

Correct, this is meant to replace the relay not to work in conjunction with it.

Here's a functional diagram that shows how it should be wired. I will fill in the values once I have checked the circuit and have amps requirements. I hope to get it done this weekend so I'll let you know.


:shades:

lamike

Did you use a bias resistor? Without that the transistor may turn on and stay on as there may be a slight bit of current passing from emittor to base. Use a high value and work to a lower one until you get the right value. I would start at about 5K and work down. If none of that works a silicon diode in series with the base, with the band to the ECU may be needed to stop the current flow. Since a silicon diode won't start conducting until .7vdc is reached, it will block any trickle of current and turn the transistor off. A good choice for the transistor would be a general purpose type that does not have a really sensitive base. A mosfet may be too sensitive.
:shades:

boone88rr

I don't know that a transistor is what you want for this application. You simply want the map lights to turn on when the dome light does. I think you should really be using an LDO or Voltage Regulator. The regulator simply shuts off the power going to the map lights when the power drops accross the regulator (aka the dome light is turned off). Then you should use a diode on the original power line to the map lights, that will stop any of that nasty reverse current. To do it right, borrow a multimeter and figure out what voltages and currents you're using there. Then we can figure out the correct regulator and diode to use.

You need to measure:
1. The voltage coming out of the dome light
2. The voltage going into the map light from the original wire
3. And the current running through that original wire to the map light

outbackwb

If you buy the truck zork51, I'd be more than willing to trade my '05 SR5 (Graphite) seats with you. I wouldn't pass up a great truck just due to the seats. Let me know.

lamike

In my case I want the dimming effect that you see on the dome light. So for me a transistor or some type of voltage follower is the way to go. Your solution will work as well but will act as a turn-on / turn-off only. With the proper values a transistor will work fine and keep the dimming effect. It depends on what you want. As usual there are many ways to skin a cat. In this case there's probably hundreds.
:shades:

boone88rr

Understandable. Actually the regulator will dim as well until it gets to the drop-out voltage. That's why I recommended the LDO. However, I don't know what voltage those lamps were using. Just seems like if you know what values you need to get out it would be easier than dealing with external resistors.

lamike

That's true. I'm going to do those tests this weekend and post the results. Your solution may be the best way for most since there is no guesswork involved. I'll let you know what I find.
:shades:

zork51

I did one better. I called Toyota and the girl I talked to agreed with what the salesman said................I'm currently looking to find a non TRD version with everything else that I want. I saw what I thought to be "it" at the closest dealer to me, but it was a 4cyl.

zork51

If you lived here next to me in Central Mass. I might have gone for that. I already have my deposit refunded. I don't know if that truck is still there...........I can't say enough about Hurlbert Toyota in Stratham N.H. They offered to let me take the truck home and keep it overnight!!
We knew however just after about 30 miles that the seats weren't going to do it.
If any of you are looking for an 05, call Shaun Abate. 1-888-HURLBERT. Shaun's phone is 603-778-8134 ext 110. Also www.hurlberttoyota.com

riverrat1

Hi,
I've got the rough down shift at 32-33 mph. Instead of having it in Drive, try it in 4th, and see if it still shifts rough. Mine does it D, but not 4. I haven't been to the dealer with it yet, but I'm keeping a list so far...Keep us posted on what you find. Thanks!

aztaco

I tried leaving the light switch on all the time but found it difficult to read the compass/temp readout with sunglasses on. These lights dim when the lights comes on.
BTW - the dealer told me that if I decide to do this be sure to turn the switch off if the truck is going to be parked for a week or more (i.e., airport parking, etc.) as it might run the battery down.

bjw1

Just want to update all about my taco, well have 8500+ miles no problems to mention, I upgraded the speakers, added clarion stereo deck, 1500 watt max rockford amp, pushing 500 watts continous, and 1 12" sub and just added sirius sattelite radio, with all of the put together, i love my taco. :shades:

boone88rr

I live in northern Rhode Island. I'd gladly take the sport seats and trade you my SR5 graphite seats. My truck is 3 months old. I keep it spotlessly clean, seats still look new, I scotchgarded them the day I brought it home. Don't let the seats stop you from getting a great truck, I'll take 'em.

toyotaken

How do you know that it's refigerant (freon isn't used anymore) that is coming out under the dash? Often if it is very humid, the cool air coming out of the a/c vents will make the warm, moist air it comes in contact with to condense, looking like "smoke" or mist coming from the a/c vents. Is it possible this is what you're seeing?

Just an idea.

Ken

tacoma4x4

The bad thing about this tranny design is that there is NO dipstip to check on the tranny fluid. Years down the line there's no way for us to know how dirty the fluid is or to top off the fluid level.
Hopefully the the jerkiness shifting does not get any worst.
Keep us updated if you find anything new on the tranny world.
thanks!
:confuse:

soundman34

I do the same thing. Around town I drive in 4 instead of D. That does seem to help a little, but it really doesn't help with the down shifting. I don't like the fact that it will shift into overdrive at 35 mph that is why I use 4 around town.

lamike

Actually there is a procedure to check the tranny fluid in the factory service manual. A dip stick would have been nice but... Toyota did not think of us DIY'rs when they figured this out. If I can figure out how to get the procedure into the post I'll send it out. It's several pages long and very difficult to understand. You have to take it a step at a time.
:shades:

ronk44

I'm actually going to purchase this Valor exhaust tip from Toyota -- can you tell me how much it sticks out from the existing tail pipe once installed?

thanks,

Ron

boone88rr

As much as you want it to, well within reason. You could technically put the clamp on the end of the tail pipe. That would give you about 3 or 4 inches of overhang. I personally pushed it on until the end of the tail pipe was even with where the inside of the tip starts to slant outward and open up. You can kind of see it here, the line where the dark stops and it gets lighter.



If you do that it's about 1/2" approx. of overhang.

054x4

This is what they tried to tell me the first time i took it in. SO i said to them why is it blowing out hot air out of the vents? So they took it in for a day looked it over said they recharged the system and it is working fine. So i left the dealership with my truck only to have it leak refrigerant, freon, what ever out into the cab of my truck. So i took it back the next day had one of the techs sit in the truck with me while it leaked in to the truck. IT sounds like someone spraying a can of spray paint as it leaks into the truck. The tech said wow this is a big problem and they keep it for three days. When i went back they said that the problem was this little (size of a dime) washer with a rubber seal running around the inside of the washer. It had a tear in it. Well at this point i was just happy to have my truck back. So i left the dealership again with freezing cold air now only for it to start leaking refrigerant,freon, what ever out into my truck again two days later. The air blows cool but not cold now I know its only a matter of time before it turns hot again.

msibille

Are you SURE it's blowing out Freon?
Freon is colorless. I'd be inclined to think that it is "micro condensation".
It's possible that your evaporator was too cold and may even be freezing up. A switch should be regulating the cycling of the compressor to prevent that. On automotive a/c, it's usually a combination of things that control it, one being the low pressure switch.

What did you observe that indicated it was leaking Freon?

demoncleaner

You serious? The auto tranny shifts into overdrive at 35 mph? The truck must be near stalling ?!? 5th gear is lower on the auto .75 than the manual's 6th .84 (I think). I think my rpms would be about 1000 in 6th at 35mph, so cant imagine the auto...

ohwaddafeelin

I just picked up my new 2005 Tacoma SR5 Crew Cab Longbed yesterday and began having intermittent loss of power steering almost immediately. It first occurred as I was trying to pull into a parking space, suddenly the steering became very heavy. Later it happened as I turned from one street onto another and I almost smacked a car on the other side of the street. Last night I found this string while googling "steering problem 2005 tacoma". I printed out the posts and took them along with my truck to the dealer this morning. On the way there were no incidents and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to demonstrate the problem. When the tech took the truck to check it out, it immediately acted up for him (Yea!!) and they are repairing it. There are only two possibilities, the pump or the rack. I'm betting it's the pump and so was the service manager. The service manager was very helpful and courteous, he was even interested in the posts from this board. He said he would call Toyota and bring this problem to their attention. Anyway, I'll post back next week when I get my truck back and let you all know what was done and whether or not it is fixed!

pb2themax

I just got Sport TRD seat covers put on. They’re nicer than I expected. They're a little heavier duty than I expected. The center part is kind of rubbery, and the sides are like neoprene. I imagine that they will wear well and resist moisture and stains pretty good. They cover the entire front of the seat, but a little portion of the sides and the rear is uncovered, which is fine with me. You can still get to the map pockets on the back of the seats. The covers aren’t too hard to put on. Pretty well designed. You just have to squish a tubular thing in the crack “hinge” between the top and bottom cushions of the seat. This tube holds everything tight and in place. I used a wooden hammer handle to push the tubes down into the crack. It just takes a little man-handling to pull and push everything in place. I would recommend them.

I got them from the dealer for $146 plus tax. No charge for next day shipping.

pb2themax

I only let mine stick out about another 1/2" past the pipe. Sticking it out more than that makes it look a little overkill and "ricer". The tip took a little more time to install than I expected. With the aluminum spacer it fits real tight. Take that aluminum spacer off, open up the clamp, slide the tip on. Then I sprayed some WD-40 on the aluminum spacer and then hammered it into place with a rubber hammer.

steveh427

My truck has the side airbags that are located on the sides of the front seats. Will the TRD Sport Seat covers interfere with the functioning of the air bags?

saumon

I ordered a 2006 Double Cab 4x4 Auto. and they tell me that delivery date is supposed to be sept. 15.

tacomafun

Hey, boone88rr, where in northern Rhode Island do you live (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm from Greenville... You wouldn't happen to have that black tacoma in Johnston do you??? E-mail me (my address is in my info)

pb2themax

Looks like you're out of luck. There is a tag on the seat covers that say: Warning. Do not use this seat cover on vehicles equipped with side impact airbags.

wooddorker

"I did one better. I called Toyota and the girl I talked to agreed with what the salesman said."

Does the truck you're proposing to buy have side airbags?

If so, that could be the issue, as the bags are in the seats. I forgot all about them, because side bags weren't available on my Access Cab. No side bags? I still think you're getting your chain yanked. :confuse:

boone88rr

Nope... Silver Access Cab in NS. I've seen a few trucks around. There's an Indigo Ink Access and a Silver Double that I see all the time up here. If you see me at night, I've got the PIAA Super Plasma headlights with the purplish color to them.

tacomafun

I'm not in NS too much.. I just got those same headlights/fogs. I like them alot. Mine's a Black Double Cab Sport, it kinda stinks cuz someone in the next town over (Johnston) has the same exact truck.. oh well... You happen to see the unbelievable girl who drives the Impulse Red Access Cab Sport????

boone88rr

No!!! I gotta pay more attention to the drivers and not the trucks.
Thanks for the heads up.

054x4dc

I'm in New Brunswick. The local dealer says TRD seat covers are not available here. Does anyone know of a Canadian supplier for these? I really want to buy a set. Mine is an 05 DC 4WD Auto Sport w/towing.
Thanks in advance.

pb2themax

The parts department told me that there is no such thing as Toyota seat covers. I disagreed, and told him to check the parts book. He kept disagreeing with me, until I practically forced him to look in the tacoma parts book. I was right, he was wrong, but he never apologized.

raswank

Hey I know this is an old posting, but polarized sunglasses will remove the glare. I have black with hood scoop. Terrible glare. Bought the glasses and Bam gone.

lamike

Guys, sorry for all the confusion around this one but somewhere along the way I forgot that the map light aux terminal is powered by +12v not ground. The last time I responded I sent a ground circuit not a +12v circuit. I got mine working this weekend so here’s how you do it.
First, here’s the correct diagram.



I found that a 680 Ohm resistor works just right for this. The light dims in unison with the dome light and is just slightly less bright than normal once full brightness is achieved. A 333 ohm resistor will give you full brightness. I like the fact that the map light is not so bright when the door is opened so I left the 680 ohm resistor in place. You could go to a 1K ohm and have it a little dimmer for kind of a mood light. No matter which one you choose you can always get full brightness by depressing the map light switch.



The current draw on the circuit is about .65 amps. This equates to about 8.08 watts. The 2N6667 can handle 10 amps so it is very capable of handling this load. I added a heat sink but I always go overboard when I do something like this. It’s really not needed. CAUTION!!! This package type (TO-220) has the collector tied to the mounting tab so when the light is on there is +12vdc on the tab. You cannot mount this directly to the body else you will have a direct short. I mounted mine to the plastic assembly on the compass using hot melt so I have no problem with this. Also, I soldered the base connection directly to terminal 3 as the plug will still fit if you use a small enough wire. All mine was done with 18ga solid.



One other note. There is NO current drain when the door is closed so you do not have to worry about draining the battery if you do not use your truck for a long time.

Thanks to pb2themax and boone88rr for finding this aux terminal and for the alternatives they came up with on this circuit. It’s very COOL!!!
:shades:

054x4

When the dealership recharged the system they put a dye in it to see where it was leaking from. When i took it back they observed that it was a leak from under the dash. That is what they told me at least. I want to believe what you are telling me about it freezing up because that is what i thought it was at first myself. But eventually it stop blowing cold air totally. When i took it back in they said that the freon was completely empty. I have been told so many things i dont now what is wrong with the thing and i dont think that the dealership has a clue either. thanks for the help. If you can come up with anything else let me know thanks

pb2themax

Thanks for the info. I'll give it another try. BTW, your pics aren't showing up for me.

lamike

Were you able to see any of the pics that I sent? Let me know. If not I'll try to post again.
:shades:

lamike

Here's all the images that I referred to in my previous post.

jerrycw

I just bought a red 2005 Tacoma Prerunner 6 speed, and love every aspect of it except one (which is a killer). After just driving it a day, my lower back is absolutely killing me. I'm 6'3" tall and 185 lbs., and my back hurts more now than it has in 10 years after just driving it for a day. While the seat has a manual adjusting lumbar support, it has no support beneath that location (which is the source of my problems). Tomorrow I'm going to search for a local chiropractor to see if I can resolve this issue.

Has anybody else had this problem? Can I retrofit seats from the Highlander (which my wife owns) which don't cause any such problems? Her driver's seat has a dozen or so electrical controls and is much more substantial than the (in my opinion) flimsy seats that come with the new Tacoma.

Again, I love everything else about this truck, but the seats are killing me. Help!

jackhammer

I just got back last night from a 17 day trip to Newfoundland (Canada) with my Double Cab SR5 4x4. Just before I left I purchased a LEER 100XL Cap for it and just love it. We have a double air mattress and put that in the back and slept in there for 4 of the 16 nights. During the first night when we were setting up to sleep in the back, my wife commented that we should take a pic as it looked like a Toyota advertisement. By the time we got home we had logged over 6400km (4000 miles) For the most part I kept track of my gas mileage, for the whole trip I averaged 24.25MPG (CDN) 20.2MPG (US). My best tank was 27.4MPG (CDN) 22.8MPG (US) On my best tank I was able to travel over 860km (535 miles) between fill-ups which I thought was awesome. If you go on the LEER website it doesn't have a listing for the 100XL cap for my truck but I ordered it in June and got it a month ago.

jackhammer

I tested this theory out recently, when your low gas light comes on you should be able to travel another 120km's (75miles) This is based on getting 25MPG (CDN) 21MPG (US)

jackhammer

I have the LEER 100XL for Double Cab long box. Love it, have slept in it 4 times so far, a little cozy with the wife and 75pd Lab but we made do. It even rained the one night and we were dry. Great cap.

jackhammer

I had my truck through all last winter and it got to -35c a few times with no problems. I have a cap and bed mat now so bed won't be exposed to elements as much.

jackhammer

Where abouts in New Brunswick are you ? I was just down that way coming back from Newfoundland. I also checked at my local dealer for seat covers and was told the same thing you were. I ordered mine through http://www.trdparts4u.com/ and had great success.