2023 TRDOR- PCS unavailable, clean sensor?

I was using 4LO today. The PCS is disabled in 4LO. I had a message in display saying “PCS unavailable, clean sensor”. The usual orange icon showing PCS off was illuminated .The sensor looks clean? I turned off vehicle and restarted and the orange icon disappeared , implying PCS is available. The owners manual says sensor and sensor cover. I would like to do that but don’t know how to remove cover? Also, since it cleared , should I just ignore it? Thanks for advice if you have dealt with this.

 

i believe 4 lo turns off the PCS, because youre crawling and encountering weird obstacles/terrains. So its not malfunctioning to my knowledge

 

Agreed. But the message said clean the sensor. The manual says clean the sensor and the cover including the back of the cover. How do you remove the cover and clean the sensor?

 

im not sure, sorry.

 

Found this. Looks like 4 tabs and the front cover comes off so you can clean the actual sensor behind the front plate.

 

I guess you have to remove the top cover, held in place with push pins, to gain access

 

That would be easier than taking skid off and crawling from below

 

If the message goes away on its own then it doesn't need to be cleaned. If the message persists it needs to be cleaned. A majority of the time it's dirt/snow/water on the outside cover, not in-between the cover and the actual sensor.

 

When I turned off the vehicle, it cleared upon startup. I subsequently went into 4Lo and out, twice. The “PCS” orange light turned off each time I went from 4Lo to 4Hi. It appears to be working correctly. I went thru some water in the woods. Maybe it got wet and dried off? I can’t find any instructions in the owners manual about how to clean sensor and back of cover. Seems odd. I don’t think I need to clean it now that it appears re-engage PCS when shifting to 4Hi from 4Lo.

 

Clean the sensor means to wipe off snow or mud or bugs that might be on the forward facing cover.

Don’t take the thing apart. If you do, it will probably need recalibration. That is a secret magical art that can only be accomplished by a particular mountain samurai monk in Japan. And I hear he’s booked pretty far out.

 

Also, the TSS is not the only PCS sensor. There are also the cameras up by the rear view mirror.

 

I'm wondering if the water didn't have something to do with it? I recently relocated my sensor, and it seems fine in dry weather, but acts up when it's wet. I'm not 100% on that, but it's my working theory for the time being. The Tacomas had an issue with water and that sensor, so hmmmm.....

And hello from a former Tega Cay-ite.

 

I have gotten this warning a couple of times while driving in heavy rain.

 

I think rain can definitely affect function, but not necessarily because there’s anything wrong with the sensor. The sensor starts to physically see the rain and the system basically “taps out” and warns you that it can’t see. Probably has to do with the particle size of the rain and the wave frequency the radar puts out….or the optical camera itself cant see far enough.