Created on: 2021-03-03
In this video, Sue explains the most common problems with the Toyota Sequoia, and she offers tips on how you can fix those problems on your own.
In this video, we're gonna go over the top five problems we found with a first-generation Sequoia.
Number one is ball joint recall. Now, it all depends on the year of the vehicle you have. The recall might still be in action. It might not be. Either way, what happens is the top or the bottom ball joint shears right off. And, unfortunately, you can go on YouTube and see tons of stories of people driving at 50-plus miles an hour and this happening. So, Toyota did make a recall. So, if you still have your truck and it's an older version, check the VIN number, call your local Toyota dealership, and they'll tell you if there is a still open recall on it.
Number two is an engine ticking noise from, obviously, the engine. And it is slight, and sometimes, it might disappear once the car warms up. That is due to a cracked manifold. They have a problem with these. They know it. You can always replace it aftermarket, but a good way to diagnose it real quick is to start the vehicle up. If you can get in the fender well and listen and put your head in here, just, in park, obviously, listen to it, and you hear a tick [noise]. It's right inside here, and they have these plastic shields you can pull out of the way. And there is the manifold on the driver's side, and you'll be able to hear the ticking noise. You can always spray soapy water, but make sure the engine is cold because that's when the metal expands, and that's when you're gonna hear the ticking noise. You can spray it down with soapy water and then start it up, and where the exhaust is leaking, bubbles will come out.
Number three is an O2 code, oxygen sensor code. And there's four in this vehicle because it's a 4.7 V engine, so you're gonna have upstream and downstream. The code is PO0051, not to be confused with PO171 or 174. Those have to do with lean- or rich-running condition, and that is not an O2 sensor fault. That is an actual engine fault, whether it's a vacuum leak or low fuel pressure, but that has something different to diagnose. But if you have PO051, that is a heater circuit, and these are known for that, the heater circuit to fail. Now, the failure could be due to reference voltage. That's a whole diagnostic thing. But if you wanna save some money, 90% of the time, I'm gonna tell you that it's the O2 sensor. It's not the source that heats it up. It's not the PCM or the wiring. Ninety-nine percent of the time, actually, it's going to be the O2 sensor. So you have your downstream, which is located after the CAT, the second CAT, and then you have your upstream, which is mounted close to the manifold.
Number four is premature front brake wear. Lot of people out there are complaining about front brakes wearing real quick on these heavy-duty Sequoias. Well, there's the answer, half of it in that conversation. It's heavy-duty. A lot of weight. These Toyotas have quad-dual pistons in these front calipers. There's four little pistons in there, and these slider pins are notorious, especially if you live in a place like New England or anywhere there's bad weather all the time and there's salt on the road. These pins seize up, so the pads won't go in and out, and that's not gonna help with all this weight above it coming to a stop.
Number five, your ABS or your VSC light, usually at the same time, they come on, and they might flash a little bit. You go to pull the code, and you come up with C1223 and C1244, and that has to do with the yaw, y-a-w, or de-acceleration sensor. And it's kinda hard to find where they're located when you pull up some information online, and it's hard to find, but I'm gonna tell you where it is. It's right here, underneath this lovely console. So, this comes up pretty easy. There's, like, two bolts in the back here, and there might two more on the inside, and you can lift it up. And it's a little, gold sensor, square, about this big. For one, it can't be bent, so if the bracket's bent, that's gonna throw the calibration off. It shouldn't be if it's located underneath here, but, two, it's very expensive. So, if you have those codes, what Toyota is doing is replacing the sensor. So, good news is you can save some money and replace it yourself.
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