Electrical system went crazy, clicking on and off

I have a 3rd gen TRD Sport with 64k miles on it.

This morning as I was leaving work, I pulled up to a stop light and the electrical system started going crazy, clicking on and off, on and off, inside and out (dash, media console, interior and exterior lights) for about 30 seconds. Then it just stopped. Back to normal. No errors or check engine lights or anything. Like nothing had happened. I was able to get my phone out and record part of it… I tried turning the headlights off (they’re normally set to auto) and the clicking sound remains. Any idea what’s going on???

https://youtu.be/kYrubt0FXOo

(my blinker is also on, disregard that normal blinker clicking of course)

 

My 18 had a bad main ground from the factory, manifest as 3 blown a/c relays in 10k mi. Good tech figured it out and it has been solid ever since. Obv your symptom is different but could be a similar cause. Also sounds like water somewhere it shouldent be

 

If you have any electrical mods or aftermarket doodads, start there. These things are sensitive, we've even seen threads about how a plug in dash cam or cheap phone charger has caused issues.
It looks like a loose ground or wire of some sort.
GL

 

Thank you. I have phone charger plugged into the usb, and a Drone Mobile remote starter. I’ve noticed a few times first thing in the morning the remote start app can’t connect to the vehicle. I wonder if it’s related to that. I’ve still only seen the electrical clicking on/off once though.

 

I’d take a hard look at the remote starter first, then if that’s okay look at grounds and corroded connections. Electrical issues can be a real pain to solve.

 

Writing this post as a side note, but I just had an issue with my 2016 Tacoma Limited and the 4lo not being able to come out of 4lo being that it is stuck. I took it to the dealership and they called me back saying that there is an electrical issue with the button that engages/disengages the 2wd/4hi/4lo. They are telling me that the switch that is connected to the dial for changing it out of 4lo, is pulling 24volts and should only be pulling 12v and that this is causing a short. They are calling the engineers at Toyota today to get to the bottom of it, but for now they have no further answer and that's the recent news they gave me. I'll keep you guys updated here as I hear back from them, in the off chance that anyone is interested in this situation or has experienced something similar.

 

i may be off here, not pretending to know everything about this truck, but how do you get 24VDC from a 12VDC system without trying really hard. It is not accidental.
and you don't pull volts, you pull (really allow) current. if you are paraphrasing then ok, but if that is what they said, i'd start squinting at them.
please do update - interested to see where this goes.

 

I probably am paraphrasing here a little, plus, I am not an electrician, so there's that. I did find it odd that he said that it was pulling higher volts, but that's what they said. I am waiting to hear back hopefully today from them. Will post updates as I get them.

 

Holy Zombies, Batman!

This thread was last used 2 1/2 years ago.

Beware the zombie thread, young Jedis.

 

Zombies? Ok, interesting take ya got there. ??

 

A thread with no activity for 2+ years likely means they will not respond to you. But you can do what you want ...

 

Well, people have been responding, but thanks for the heads up?

 

...and you don't have to apologize for hijacking the thread

edit: he's right though...i did not notice it was an old thread but would have responded anyway.
i made a suggestion somewhere that resurrected threads should warn the poster prior to posting incase they did not mean to do it. it will never happen...and this will go on and on. though, if the subject is right on, it may be appropriate.
welcome to TW.
btw: 2 yrs is not anywhere near the record.

 

DATELINE UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Toyota of Tacoma, and they mentioned that the Actuator was bad and in turn they are having to replace the Transfer Case as well. Luckily I have my warranty in place so it's all covered. Interesting that the Actuator would cause such a failure to the Transfer Case. Anyone ever hear of this happening?

 

They don’t feel like replacing just the actuator so they are replacing the whole transfer case which I believe comes with an actuator on it. I am not aware of any bad actuator problems that would require a new transfer case. It’s probably typical dealer crap. If it’s under warranty then it doesn’t really matter to you, if it were not under warranty then I’d definitely suggest alternate options.

 

This, they’re taking the way way out, or maybe they can get a whole unit quicker than the actuator.

 

UPDATE DATELINE: So after getting my truck base from the Tacoma dealership, they replaced the whole unit. The Actuator AND the transfer case. I have a feeling that they probably didn't need to do that, but they did. Anyway, truck is back in my arms again and I hated being away from it. Thanks for all of the input. Much appreciated.

 

Awesome news.
The unfortunate parts is, they took the easiest way out that made them the most money.

I’m betting the actuator motor or contacts were the issue. And that can be replaced in less than an hour.

Toyota doesn’t sell just the motor.
They sell the the whole actuator assembly with shift rod. And that requires opening up the transfer case.
And that’s added labor and more work for the tech. There a a lot of money and less work involved by just “throwing a whole transfer case at it”. It’s your money. Not there’s.

 

Sorry man, I hate to break it to you, but money is in the labor, not the parts. That’s not saying parts aren’t profitable, but labor is where it’s at.
I didn’t read the whole text but it may have been more cost effective for the warranty company to replace the whole thing vs the labor to open the T-case. And if it’s a 3rd party warranty it’s probably a used t-case anyways. Customer pay labor for a tcase is only 2.4hrs so it would’ve been more profitable for the dealer to dive into the tcase

 

Not always.
So you're going to tie up a bay for another 3 hours or more. (and loose the bay for another vehicle you can make money on)
Plus take on the responsibility of warrantying any leaks or other issues from opening up the T-case?
The T-Case is coming out. If you buy the T-case from Toyota, They will pay labor and parts.
If you open up the T-case, and then something goes wrong, its out of the dealerships pocket.

Risk vs Reward.