2015 4Runner Check Engine, TRAC OFF, 4LO light on

I have had this issue twice now. The 4LO will start blinking first, then the TRAC OFF and Check Engine light will eventually come on. If the car is in drive, the "D" will not show up in the dash. The car will also feel like its taking more gas/power to accelerate and slows down faster when coasting. The car is in H2 while this happens.

It will eventually go away without any effort on my part. The first time it happened, I took it to my local Toyota dealership to have them get a reading. By the time I got there, the lights were gone and nothing showed up.
This second time, I took it in and they said it's possibly a sensor that connects to the transmission and aids the electronics for shifting gears. But the lights came off while it was there, so they weren't 100% sure it would fix the problem. They quoted me $600 so I decided to just take it in if the problem reoccurs. If they get the same reading, then they can fix it.

I've read where people have had this issue after getting a recalled fuel pump fixed.
Has anyone had this issue and had the problem resolved??

Thank you!

 

Any resolution to this issue? My wife's 2019 SR5 Prem just started doing this same thing. They replaced the neutral safety switch under warranty, but that did not seem to fix this. They also quoted almost $1600 to replace the entire gear shifter box. Service claims there was spilt coffee on the boot, but this issue all started after we picked up her 4R after Toyota had it for over 2 weeks while in the process of buying out our lease. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi Ryan,

Oddly enough when you replied to my post Monday morning the issue started again the same day!! Life’s weird.

Anyways, I have it at a Toyota dealership right now and yes, they said it was the Neutral Safety Switch. Quoted me $575 to fix it today.

Hopefully this fixes my issue. Seems though you had the same thing fixed and it has not resolved in your case.
If you get any further information, please let me know!

Sorry I’m not much help

 

Thanks for the update! So we got the 4R back from Toyota yesterday and currently there are no lights lit up on the dash. The service advisor said to drive 50-60 miles and see if anything comes back on. If the problem comes back they will replace and the entire gear shifter assembly. We agreed with our local dealer on a 60/40 split for the repair since it's supposedly due to spilt coffee. Just seems odd that all the other gears show up on the dash except Drive. So we will see if the lights come back on. I will update if anything changes.

 

I see!
That is strange. Let’s hope it all works out for you so you can drive your car with confidence.
That’s the whole reason we bought a Toyota to begin with.
Thanks for the update!

 

Hi guys, same thing happen to my wife's 4runner this past Saturday. I saw that a lot of people online are blaming it on changing the fuel pump for a recall. $575 seems steep...especially since my wife's car only has 60k miles. I'm gonna try the disconnecting the positive battery terminal. If that doesn't work I'll take it to a local mechanic instead of the stealership. Let me know how your situations go.

 

Take a peek under the hood for rodent-chewed wires, as the dash lights that come on for that look just the same. Doesn't hurt to check.

 

tracking post

 

Hey everyone I forgot to post an update. What I ended up doing was inspecting & tightening the fuel cap. The rubber on it looked to be in good condition so I just re-tightened till I heard a click. I read that it can take up to 25 engine starts for the check light to clear. I didn't want to wait so a buddy of mine from work had a car code reader. We used it and the following 4 codes are what came up (forgot to take a pic of the 3rd but it was P0441). Did research & the codes indicate a leak in the EVAP system...I am assuming just the gas cap wasn't on right...again its my wife's car so it makes sense. I cleared the codes and its been 12 days of regular use and a fuel fill and the lights have not came back. If they do come back I will have a mechanic inspect the EVAP system. All in $0.00 so far

 

Any updates on this? Just started happening to my 16 SR5 2 days ago....

 

A brand new oem safety switch a little over $100(just the part).

 

It has been almost 5 months and the lights have not came back. Try tightening the fuel cap and waiting a while or you could buy a code reader or borrow one and just manually remove the codes and wait and see if they come back.

 

I picked up a relatively inexpensive basic code reader from Canadian Tire (on sale for $45)
I have error code P0705 “Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction (PRNDL Input).”
FML
Has anyone else had this issue?

 

Have you had the center console apart or spill a beverage on the PRNDL recently? Neutral safety switch will do that, or cause the vehicle not to come out of park...

 

No Spills, havent taken anything apart, the truck will start and drive fine, just the 4lo loght blinking, engine light on, atrac off and when in drive the D doesnt show up on the dash

 

Just replaced mine. Link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3335182141...DFwM4qLS_m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

pain in the ass removing the original but it was older and stuck on pretty good.

 

Is the shifter itself stiffer than usual?

I had an issue with D not showing on the dash and it shifting incorrectly, all I needed to do to resolve it was to spray some lubricant on the shifter linkage on the driver's side of the transmission.

 

Did you install raptors lights by chance?

 

Cleared the code, too it out for a drive, D shows up on dash now, no lights on, gears shifting normally, not sure if the shifter is any different, as my wife is the one usually driving the truck.
Havent installed any new lights.
We'll see if the code comes back in in the next few days.

 

I'm having the same issue with the CEL on, Track Off light in on, and 4Lo light blinking. Vehicle was brought to the dealer Apr 25th, they ran health check via techstream, found code P0705. They blamed the issue on my remote starter, said it wasn't installed correctly. Starter was installed Oct 2019; car was purchased March 2019. No problems with the vehicle up until this year. Cost me over 600 to remove the remote starter. A few times between the 25th and now the 4Lo light came on but was off the next day. Yesterday CEL on, Track Off light in on, and 4Lo light blinking all came back on. It's going back to the dealer on Monday. A little more background. Took it for an oil change Apr 4th to a local shop, they found a transfer case leak and recommended I go back to the dealer since it's covered by warranty. They also thought it looked like the transfer case was already worked on based the looks of it, there was some orange sealant around it, I have pictures but I can't find them. Of course the dealer claimed that's what it looks like out of the factory, even though the tech that worked on it has 30 yrs at a Toyota dealership. This was taken care of on Apr 5th with a $20 seal. Exactly 3 weeks later is when all the lights came on. Took 6 weeks before the lights came back on yesterday but I don't drive the car much, only has 23K miles on it. I really hope they can fix this but I'm out the $320 to install the remote starter and $615 to remove it. I'll post an update after I get the vehicle back. Sorry if this is TMI. I also want to document everything. Hoping for some feedback.

 

I have been having the same issues (just the last couple of days) as what is being expressed in this thread, but after reading (quote) I remembered the shifter was a little stiff, but temporarily. It resolved itself, but the lights for CEL and Trac Off are still there preceded by the 4LO. Is the stiff shift a sign of something more serious? The CEL and Trac Off just appeared this morning.