Yaris T Sport 2003 - ABS not working, no lights on the dash - where to start?

[Mazan]

Hi guys,

I just bought a Yaris T Sport, Ph2, 2003 (quite a fun little car) and I noticed that ABS, VSC and TRC do not work, yet, there is no warning light on the dashboard. At first I thought that the car is not actually equipped with them, but I did notice that, when I turn the key, the "sliding" car light is displayed and it then turns off normally. Checked fuses and they seem in order, checked relays (actually marked as ABS relays), removed them and checked for corrosion, but they looked fine. I plan to actually measure them tomorrow.

I also have a TRC OFF button on the mirror adjustment panel and it does nothing when pressed. I even kept it pressed for half a minute.

Now, shouldn't there be a warning light triggered when all these systems do not actually work? What else should I check?

Any help is much appreciated!

[bathtub tom]

1 hour ago, Mazan said:

ABS, VSC and TRC do not work

How do you know they don't work?

[Mazan]

Well, the day I bought it, I had to do an emergency brake on the highway and it locked the wheels, which came in as a big surprise as you can imagine. The car actually beeped at me when that happened, but it did not seem like it actually did something. Before scolding me for driving too fast or too close to the car in front - a drunk cyclist was on the highway and entered first lane!

After observing the above, I tested it on a greasy, wet surface - no intervention when spinning the wheels like crazy in 1st gear, no intervention when locking the fronts and losing steering ability. True, I did not actually test the VSC, but I have a hunch that doesn't work either.

I'll keep you guys posted about how the relays testing went.

[flash22]

 Do all the lights on the dash do a self test, tbh its not uncommon on older cars for someone to remove a bulb to hide a problem

i would read or get any codes read, i would suspect an abs issue possibly a U1000 no comms

[sproutdreamer]

2 hours ago, flash22 said:

 Do all the lights on the dash do a self test, tbh its not uncommon on older cars for someone to remove a bulb to hide a problem

i would read or get any codes read, i would suspect an abs issue possibly a U1000 no comms

Yes I bought a car where the oil pressure gauge was connected in with the alternator charging light. The oil preesure switch was faulty and continuously on. A new switch and proper connection and all was well. The guy I bought it from had diddled himself rather than me as I bought the car at  a giveaway price as he must have thought it had a knackered engine. 

[Mazan]

Thank you all for taking interest in this!

I just got to testing those two relays (of course my multi-meter Battery was dead) and, with my very limited electronics knowledge, I'm pretty sure the one in the picture (sorry for the dirty gloves) is quite dead. Nothing on the continuity test, no clicks when applying 12 volts to it. The green one, not pictured 😛, tested OK on both continuity and with a power supply attached.

I will try to get a hold of a new one tomorrow and, fingers crossed, this is all to this story. Will keep you posted.

@flash22 The bulb seems to be there and it lights-up correctly on start-up. It has only the "slipping car" one and, from what I read, that is present on Yarises that have all 3 systems. I may be incorrect. I will look more with a flashlight to see if there are any bulbs removed. I will try to get a reading of codes with specific Toyota tools. For now, I used my ELM bluetooth adapter and there's only a catalytic converter error, which is somewhat expected as the car has a f**t-can on it that I hate very much 😆. I already have a new Bosal muffler in the trunk.

@sproutdreamer Wish I was that lucky 😄

 

[flash22]

elm scanners are very software dependent if your using android device i tend to use "Car Scanner ELM OBD2" (also available for iOS)

2 small terminals are the coil the 2 large are the load

 

[Mazan]

Alright, lads, ABS is working 👍

It was that relay in the end. The TC doesn't seem to work, but I couldn't care less about it, especially since the car will be used on the track. It's actually a blessing 😂

What I learned from this experience is that Toyota is kinda nasty with the pricing on some parts. First, they don't provide any details, such as schematics or pinout of the relay. Is like they are trying to hide, on purpose, the technical details so you can't find alternatives. Then they ask ~40 pounds for it. 40 pounds. And that was the price a friend, that has a parts shop, could find, not the one that Toyota would ask. On the Toyota website it is listed at ~55 pounds.

However, through some digging and cross-referencing we got to a Hella relay that cost me 2.55 pounds. Yeah, it doesn't look of the same quality as the Denso one, but it sure doesn't look 20 times worse and it works the same way. And is not like the Denso one didn't die 😂

This is a bit disappointing as I'm used to BMWs and on those, the relays are 10 pounds, OEM. 10, not 50. And you can easily find the schematics on the internet and are shown on the relay itself, as you would expect.

So, if a relay fails on your Toyota, don't be quick to jump with the cash, do a bit of research and you may find a similar replacement 20 times cheaper.

@flash22 That's precisely the app I'm using too 😄 Thanks!

[flash22]

It's not only Toyota, Parts prices can be a bit steep for many marques

You can usually work out the relay rating from the fuse rating but the hard bit is the coil rating

there is not much "free" info around for the mk1, The Haynes manual doesn't cover the T Sport or 1.5

 

http://www.toyota-tech.eu

[Madasafish]

EBAY  

[Mazan]

@flash22 Yeah, I know is not just Toyota, but I was not expecting it. Thanks for the link!

@Madasafish Yeah, eBay is very useful, but only when you know what to look for 😁 And that's the hardest bit.

Is there something akin to realoem.com for Toyotas? That website is a gold mine, especially when you're dealing with small changes from a prod month to another.

[flash22]

Megazip prices are hit and miss, you can get screwed for customs too

 

 

[Mazan]

That is perfect! Would not risk ordering, especially when considering the customs bit, but for identifying the parts, seems to be what I was looking for. Thanks!

[flash22]

There are a few others

https://www.megazip.net/

https://toyota.epc-data.com/

https://toyota.7zap.com/en/eu/

https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

 

If you have oem number you can use sites like blueprint, Febest, Autodoc

[Mazan]

Excellent stuff, mate. Thanks again!

Finding parts should not be hard since I have two friends that have parts shops. They know better than me how to look them up if I can help them out with the right part number. The least I can do 😁

I'll be shopping soon for that elusive Whiteline rear ARB, poli bushings with caster increase, camber bolts for the front and shims for the rear and, the most annoying one, a suspension setup that would not ruin me, budget wise. My friends can't really help me with any of those as they are not specialized on performance stuff, but I have the internet and you guys 👍

The plan for the mighty Yaris is to turn it in a light racer, but without going overboard with the performance/dollar.

I'm up for suggestions on suspensions setups that do not break the bank.

[stantheman1]

On 10/19/2020 at 9:45 PM, Mazan said:

Hi guys,

I just bought a Yaris T Sport, Ph2, 2003 (quite a fun little car) and I noticed that ABS, VSC and TRC do not work, yet, there is no warning light on the dashboard. At first I thought that the car is not actually equipped with them, but I did notice that, when I turn the key, the "sliding" car light is displayed and it then turns off normally. Checked fuses and they seem in order, checked relays (actually marked as ABS relays), removed them and checked for corrosion, but they looked fine. I plan to actually measure them tomorrow.

I also have a TRC OFF button on the mirror adjustment panel and it does nothing when pressed. I even kept it pressed for half a minute.

Now, shouldn't there be a warning light triggered when all these systems do not actually work? What else should I check?

Any help is much appreciated!

If you have access to a decent scan tool you can delve deeper into the car's computer by carrying out a 'Health Check', this will communicate with all the modules and tell you if there are any faults on the system where basic scan tools won't.

[stantheman1]

On 10/21/2020 at 7:18 PM, Mazan said:

Alright, lads, ABS is working 👍

It was that relay in the end. The TC doesn't seem to work, but I couldn't care less about it, especially since the car will be used on the track. It's actually a blessing 😂

What I learned from this experience is that Toyota is kinda nasty with the pricing on some parts. First, they don't provide any details, such as schematics or pinout of the relay. Is like they are trying to hide, on purpose, the technical details so you can't find alternatives. Then they ask ~40 pounds for it. 40 pounds. And that was the price a friend, that has a parts shop, could find, not the one that Toyota would ask. On the Toyota website it is listed at ~55 pounds.

However, through some digging and cross-referencing we got to a Hella relay that cost me 2.55 pounds. Yeah, it doesn't look of the same quality as the Denso one, but it sure doesn't look 20 times worse and it works the same way. And is not like the Denso one didn't die 😂

This is a bit disappointing as I'm used to BMWs and on those, the relays are 10 pounds, OEM. 10, not 50. And you can easily find the schematics on the internet and are shown on the relay itself, as you would expect.

So, if a relay fails on your Toyota, don't be quick to jump with the cash, do a bit of research and you may find a similar replacement 20 times cheaper.

@flash22 That's precisely the app I'm using too 😄 Thanks!

That's all well and good but be mindful that certain relays especially the ones controlled by any of the car's control modules will have a built-in 'flyback' diode to protect them from sudden voltage spikes when the relay is turned off.

[Mazan]

@stantheman1 That is an interesting point. In the relay's description there was an "with resistor" bit. Is that what you're referring to? Thank you for your input!

[stantheman1]

Yes, perfect, sometimes they fit them with resistors so the one you have should be fine.👍

[Mazan]

Phew, I was getting concerned 😁 Thanks!

[stantheman1]

What's pleasing about this is that you've had the decency to post back after finding a fix and letting everyone know what you did, not only is it of interest to those that have read or contributed to the thread but for future searches for similar faults, well done and thanks!

[Mazan]

My pleasure contributing to the great Toyota mind-hive 😄