My DCM disconnection odyssey.

If you are really determined, this is the DCM board. The SIM is outlined in red. It can be desoldered with a heat gun.

 

Like Toycoma2021 of the Tacomaworld board did.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...m-telematics-silencing-antennas.821649/page-7


Photo Credit: Toycoma2021 on the TacomaWoeld board.

 

Guys, I am a bit scared to break any of the plastic trims... can someone do a step-by-step process with pix? Sorry for being a pansy about it.

Also, did anyone try the jumper method to gain back the mic and right speaker?

I'd rather just pull the whole damn DCM out completely and use the jumpers the right way. I did it to my GTI and didn't break any of the plastic trims, pulled out the CarNet (VW's DCM) module completely, and used jumpers for the mic... and voila! My GTI is off-grid and no codes.

 

Do you have to de-solder all connections or is one sufficient?

 

Your salesperson likely activated hotspot without your consent prior to delivery. Time to raise hell with your dealer's GM. Insist they pay you compensation.

 

They dystopian future we trying to avoid looks something like this: As you pulling into gas station, you are charged 30% more for fuel as fuel pump knows you are late home for dinner and don't have enough fuel to make it home and another gas station is extra 5 miles detour. The pump also knows your payday was yesterday and you likely to buy a full tank anyways.

 

I haven’t seen any reference to using jumpers on a 4Runner DCM delete. The second footnote link in post 164 shows it being done on a Tacoma. I don’t know if the pinouts used there are the same for the 4Runner. Be sure to read the bit about where to get the 5volts for the microphone. As far as removing the glove box, I seem to remember seeing a video.

The guy on the Tacoma board who did it used a heat gun to remove the whole thing.

Keep an eye out for future posts from Tacoma4RunnerBeachBoy90, who said above:

 

Mr Galt, big fan of your work with the 20th Century Motor company...

sub'd this thread for future reference and looking forward to more insight from @Tacoma4runnerbeachboy90

 

...and somehow on Nov. 5 your vote gets flipped and multiplied by 3 orders of magnitude...

 

Yes, great things come from checking one's premises. I wish more of us would.

 

What a ridiculous state of bullshit. Having to go through all this if you dare to drive a newer vehicle? In the eighties when I came of age we would have all been appalled. I'm sure Toyota isn't the only one doing it. Millions of people are being watched/spied upon and they could GAF less. Crazy...

 

Yeah, as AI computing and tools come within reach of the masses, people will start to realize you no longer have to be part of a rich company to weave together all your personal data to use against you. So much is easily possible now to get leverage against anyone you want for anything you want.

 

Or that google knows if you have cancer or other illnesses based on your searches. Or who's cheating on whom with who based on just where you've been. Or what your next searches will be before you do based on what you've been reading. Or what you're secretly into based on how long you stay on something while you're scrolling through social media and put all those things together to have a better idea of who you are than you've ever want anyone to find out, but don't worry that's hard to monetize so you closeted people are still safe (not You, you, you whomever).

Embrace the suck. We don't really have a problem until our pacemakers start getting hacked.

 

Wow, interesting stuff. I guess at this point it's not high on my list of things to worry about. I am not up to speed on all this jazz, and as I said, not overly concerned. However, if this is indeed an issue, shouldn't we be equally concerned about the $1000 computer/tracking device/ information gathering device that we have with us at all times? Perhaps my next truck will be a 1969 GMC K2500 4x4 with manual transmission and an eight foot Fisher Snowplow. Good luck, and have a good day.

 

We can walk and chew gum at the same time. It’s all about damage control, less companies with less access to your life is always a plus.

and you can always leave a phone at home. The phone won’t know your throttle, braking inputs. And you can also change your phone more easily. Currently, Apple’s interest in privacy as a differentiator is a plus over one tied to Google and is superior on that front. Of course, that can change but we can too.

Just because (cell provider) has our rough locations via cell tower doesn’t mean we should throw up our hands and say “oh well, everyone else like Toyota, Smith’s and Geico should have access too just to be fair!”

 

Indeed. I certainly get it. I suspect a person's age might affect how concerned they are about certain aspects of it all. I know I don't exhibit the driving behaviors you mentioned, as much as I might have at one time...As far as the phone, I would simply do without it completely before "Leaving It Home". I find it a useful tool, despite the fact that I know full well Big brother and others could be watching or snooping later. I don't do anything illegal, or anything I need to be ashamed of. The older I get, the more it seems like a good idea for someone to know where I am, particularly since I suffered a heart attack last year. In fact, when I ride motorcycle or snowmobile, I carry a separate device specifically for friends, family and first responders to know where I am.

 

Trust and believe that many of us aren’t as attached to the phone as most others are. But be that as it may, the phone doesn’t track your yaw rate, acceleration, braking, driving style and insurance rates. Also, where you come at go at every minute of the day. My phone is not with me all of the time. Just because your phone tracks you, doesn’t automatically force you to be okay with everything else to track you. That’s these companies’ dream, a light weight express weak thought.

 

Excellent observation. Sadly this is true, and it has weakened our resolve. Exhibit A: Apathy about owning a rolling security breach lol. Que the "but you own a smart phone" snipes.

 

Gentlemen, as much as I find the last few posts engaging, with great respect I ask that such discussion be reserved for another thread. It is my hope that this thread can retain its focus on the nuts and bolts of disabling the DCM.

if one of you chooses to start a separate thread wherein the merits or folly of disconnecting the DCM are debated, I promise I will read every word with enthusiasm.

 

I’m really looking forward to a good solution for it. A good end result would be to unplug it and connect a bought adaptor that reconnects the speakers and mic. In the meantime I hope Toyota continues enjoying my trips to H-E-B, and every other place except their dealerships.

 

Perhaps @Old Red can come up with said adapter harness. He's performed magic with several other electronic necessities.

 

This is my first post on this forum. I purchased a 2024 T4R TRD Pro last week, found the sticker, and went down the rabbit hole. This thread is by far the best resource I have found regarding the DCM, so I am indebted to you all for your contributions. This is my third 4Runner (I had a 1991 SR5, and a 2004 V8 before), and specifically wanted to purchase this 5th gen for its last hurrah. With reliability being at the forefront of the collective mindset of this fine vehicle, I am highly concerned about its constant connection to Toyota. Does anyone know if the DCM allows automatic updates to the operating system? My concern is down the line, when Toyota decides to stop its support for the platform, will it render the vehicle inoperable? Old tech still works well up until you plug it in to the internet or try to update the software. I’m concerned about potential planned obsolescence with the 2020-24 T4Rers through the software, especially if it is continuously connected through WiFi.

 

Welcome to the forum, Rod.

The short answer is yes, the over-the-air updates are conducted via the DCM. In the menus in the infotainment system you can choose whether you want the updates to be manual or automatic. A little talked about downside of disconnecting the DCM or opting out of connected services is the difficulties involved in updating software. Particularly maps. I’ve read that head unit software updates can be achieved via a USB drive and the USB port on the dash. But I haven’t seen a similar process for map data. In the older iteration of the nav system, map updates could be accomplished by swapping a memory card behind a small cover on the dash, but on newer 4Runners I believe map updates now happen via OTA.

It’s my assumption that the auto-update system is smart enough to know which updates are compatible with your vehicle, and won’t install an update that would brick your 4Runner.

 

"Driving your 4runner" isn't gonna be bricked by opting out or disconnecting.

If we're not paying for any connected services... I have a hard time believing we'd be provided with map updates even if we didn't disconnect the DCM? They're not gonna give us new maps if we're not paying for something? Just thinking out loud here.

 

Cloud-based navigation is still enabled even after Connected Services go away. You just lose access to the live assistant. I'm keeping an eye on updates.

 

I guess I'm not familiar with onboard cloud based nav. Is that like real-time traffic type stuff? (I never use the head unit nav anyway- it's easier to just "ask" my phone lol)

Any time I try to "talk" to the 4Runner it never understands me. And it's a wild goose chase trying to get herself to turn herself off.

 

They do. They can tell if you're running vs bicycling, driving a car vs riding a motorcycle. They know exactly what you're doing.

 

It does account for traffic and current road closures. My guess is that navigation would still function at some level with the DCM disconnected, but cloud route computation and map updates would cease. I wonder if it would attempt to reach the cloud and hang before timing out on each navigation request. Someone here probably knows.

 

This is my last post to the Tik-Tokers of the world who think all of us live in our smartphones, and sorry for taking it off-topic, but...

The accelerometer and gyroscope have no idea what car I'm in, and has no direct connection to the car's computer. They can "guess what you're doing" and that data is pretty meaningless. My girlfriend can connect her phone to the car's bluetooth, her phone will know what car she's in, and they can theoretically figure out that I'm with her based on our equal locations, and thus, they can guess that I'm in her car. Then our accelerometers and gyroscopes could, in theory, make an educated guess as to the g-force involved in the driving. It is never the same as having direct access to the car's computer and shipping highly granular and precise data. But, that whole thing falls apart if the phones aren't in the car. Or if they're off, and yes, trust and believe that they're not going as far as tracking you while its off, if its off, its off. But some here will believe "ohh, it's not really off" and you'd gotta prove that.

But again, two wrongs do not make a right. It's very easy to give up a phone (it certainly is for me) and it is much harder to do the same for a vehicle. I prefer privacy in my car in orders of magnitudes over "needing to have a smart phone with me 24/7". This is equal to, I prefer privacy in my house, and I prefer privacy in my bathroom, and I prefer privacy in my car. If I'm purposely on the internet, with a device whose main purpose is to be an internet connected device (i.e. a phone, not a car) then I have no expectation of privacy. Makes sense?

The smartphone argument is simply, dumb. It must be as hard for you to leave the phone home as it is for us to disconnect the DCM. Our goal here is to disconnect the DCM in a snap, as easily as it is for us to leave a phone at home. They're different objects, for different purposes, and projecting how you use your device onto others is purely speculative at best. You have no idea what device I have, what I've done to it, how or when I use it, or why I use it the way I use it.

If you're biking with your phone using a biking app, why would you even expect privacy? It is literally, by definition, a tracking device. If I go out for a run with the GPS on, why would I expect privacy? It would be nice, but it simply isn't what those devices ever are or have been, unless you were on iPhone OS 1 or something, and even then, cell tower triangulation has known where you are since the beginning of time.

But if I went out for a run with no devices on me, I would not expect my shorts to send data to Nike.

 

Google sends me a summary every month of all the places I've been, cities, states etc. It tells me how many miles I've driven, ridden on my motorcycle, walked, run, bicycled. It doesn't know what car I'm in......well....it might have an idea but I don't want to get into it because it doesn't matter and I don't care. But my phone absolutely knows my driving habits. It tells me my average mph on trips which if my data was shared with motorcycle insurance companies they might not want to insure me.

These comments are not directed at you specificly. Don't internalize this.

Also..I don't use tik tok or Instagram or any social media except reddit.