New to Forum. Expertise required!

[Donald]

Good evening to you all. Newbie to the forum as I am tasked with maintaining a friends alphard that he has recently bought as a fresh import. It is a 57k mint 4wd 

 

I need some of your experience to locate a fault with the central locking which seems to have developed a fault since I tried to fit a speedo converter behind the dash. I located 12v, ground and the signal wires, connected the converter and there was no response from the speedo. I took the converter out and reconnected the signal wire again, speedo works OK. I didnt disconnect or alter any other wiring, literally tapped the voltage and routed the speed signal at the clocks multiplug

 

Everything else was working okay, central locking, key remote, sliding doors etc but now the tailgate has decided to not unlock or open. At the same time, the remote keys won't lock or unlock the doors but the side doors lock ok with the internal button - not the tailgate though. Also, the AFS light is flashing and I noticed the buzzer telling me the key is in the ignition is now silent. We have many keys and we've replaced all the batteries. I initially thought it may have just been weak batteries in the fobs but that hasn't made any difference.

 

I'm hoping its something simple like a fuse however all the fuses I've found are okay. 

 

I cant work out what is common to these functions and the manual is in Japanese and I cant see how the converter work I did has caused this to all fail. 

 

Can anyone shed any light or give me some pointers as to where to start? 

[Chris.ac]

alot of the features you mention utilise BEAN (older toyota version of CANBUS) in order to communicate - its possible your converter is putting noise onto the data signals.

My converter takes its power directly from the fusebox on the drivers footwell side and has its own ground to the chassis.

 

If you have now removed it, and still have these problems, it is a head scratcher.

 

You changed fob battery, but how is the actual 12V battery? is it still the original Japanese one, is it 'healthy'?

 

I have link to a page I found online that has the wiring schematics, but these are for 2008 onwards (20Series) - there may be commonalities with the wiring

https://cardiagn.com/toyota/toyota-alphard-vellfire/

Edited December 16, 2021 by Chris.ac
added info

[Donald]

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply. My friend is still using the car but I hope to get it over here again at the weekend to have a look. I may have disturbed the harness but it may also be coincidental. 

 

I tried the converter twice by taking different power feeds then assumed the converter was faulty. The first time the wiring went back ok and none of these problems were evident. Its after the 2nd attempt we're having all these issues. 

 

I camt see any way of getting the tailgate to open if it won't unlock. I hope the internal trim comes off from inside, otherwise I cant get it open!

 

It is a real headscratcher.

 

I cant get that link to work unfortunately 

 

 

[Rojie]

Hi Donald, Welcome to the Forum.

 

Now you have me worried.

I have a rear conversion, if I cannot open my tailgate I will be in big trouble.

Never even thought about it until now !

[Rojie]

2 hours ago, Chris.ac said:

alot of the features you mention utilise BEAN (older toyota version of CANBUS) in order to communicate - its possible your converter is putting noise onto the data signals.

My converter takes its power directly from the fusebox on the drivers footwell side and has its own ground to the chassis.

 

If you have now removed it, and still have these problems, it is a head scratcher.

 

You changed fob battery, but how is the actual 12V battery? is it still the original Japanese one, is it 'healthy'?

 

I have link to a page I found online that has the wiring schematics, but these are for 2008 onwards (20Series) - there may be commonalities with the wiring

https://cardiagn.com/toyota/toyota-alphard-vellfire/

 

Hi Chris,

 

This link did not work for me.

 

Error message says site has security protection enabled !

[Chris.ac]

hmm, it added stuff to end of the link try this : https://cardiagn.com/toyota/toyota-alphard-vellfire/

 

EM08Z5E is the code for the 2008-2011 models the other code are the late gen series 20

Edited December 16, 2021 by Chris.ac

[Chris.ac]

Is the car 2007 or earlier? if so the whole rear panel comes off from the bottom end first, the top has a lip that sits against the glass - I think it is very similar to the Hiace/regius in that respect - although you may be lucky as the catch mechanism has a removable cover on the later models, as well as bulb access panels.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by Chris.ac

[Rojie]

44 minutes ago, Chris.ac said:

hmm, it added stuff to end of the link try this : https://cardiagn.com/toyota/toyota-alphard-vellfire/

 

EM08Z5E is the code for the 2008-2011 models the other code are the late gen series 20

 

The link needs to to be typed in to Google.

The link does not work for me as a direct hyperlink.

But did work as a search address. Thanks Chris.

[Rojie]

44 minutes ago, Chris.ac said:

Is the car 2007 or earlier? if so the whole rear panel comes off from the bottom end first, the top has a lip that sits against the glass - I think it is very similar to the Hiace/regius in that respect - although you may be lucky as the catch mechanism has a removable cover on the later models, as well as bulb access panels.

 

 

Hi Chris, Just a little credit to Ldrego. as I believe this comes from his Cuttothechase youtube channel.

 

Thanks for including it in this thread.

[Rojie]

14 minutes ago, Rojie said:

 

The link needs to to be typed in to Google.

The link does not work for me as a direct hyperlink.

But did work as a search address. Thanks Chris.

 

Seems as though the series 10 is not there. Pity.

I expect a lot of similarity with the later cars though.

 

Great find Chris, Thanks.

[Donald]

Thanks guys, most helpful. I'm new to the Alphard but not new to JDM Imports. I have an Evo 5 Hillclimb car that I have been developing for 20 years with 1000hp, and had a Legnum VR4, Airtrek and Evo 9 GT Wagon for a while as my road cars

 

I'll try and remove the tailgate panel to open it from the inside so it can at least be used. My friend is using the car both as a small van and people carrier

 

I will let you all know how I get on with finding the fault

 

Just out of interest, would the keys need reprogrammed if the batteries have been flat? I believe the car has been sitting in a dry warehouse for a while before he bought it

 

I initially thought because one of the keys briefly worked that it had been locked by remote then unlocked with a different key in the drivers side lock, which doesn't operate the central locking, but that doesn't explain the sliding doors, AFS lamp flashing or the key buzzer not working

[Donald]

You can find me on lancerregister as 'Madmac' 😉

[Chris.ac]

the remotes codes are stored in the car ECU, so the remote batteries going flat is not a problem.

[Rojie]

I have a few keys now, mostly electronic; however ..

 

I have a physical / mechanical key, which I don't use, there is no battery in it (as I discovered after taking delivery) nor any 'gubbins'.

 

Believe it or not, the key opens the drivers door and will operate correctly in the ignition.

So how the car and key 'communicate' is a mystery to me.

 

Of course, without any battery or gubbins in it, it does not operate any other functions.

 

I also have the green service key, which I have never tried.

 

 

 

 

[Chris.ac]

the older keys (pre2008) have a small transponder chip near the base of the key, its in the actual metal itself, its only function is to 'activate' in the ignition key and disable the immobiliser

[Donald]

Just thought I'd update this thread as I found the problem eventually. All the fuses looked visually okay but to make sure, I spent some time checking each fuse in place with the meter and found a 10A fuse that looked fine, but wasn't passing any current. I replaced that fuse and everything works again.

 

I was able to open the tailgate by removing the internal panel, which was handy.

 

The fusebox behind the passenger glovebox was a pain in the ass to access, especially with the meter probes due to the wiring loom being in the way. The micro fuses are difficult to reach and difficult to remove. I wish I'd trained as a gynaecologist 😀

 

Thank you all for your input. A happy ending....