Imagine yourself driving peacefully on board your Toyota 4Runner and suddenly an engine light appears on your dashboard ! The most common reaction is the fear of risking a severe issue. To know what exactly this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an Toyota 4Runner fault codes, you may have previously heard of OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to talk about. Our editors have decided to write this article content to help you quickly locate the origin of this default code and to give you reassurance. To get this done, we will first check out the nature of a fault code on Toyota 4Runner, then how to read an Toyota 4Runner fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code in order to turn off the light on your dashboard.

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What is a Toyota 4Runner fault code?

A fault code is a universal or standard code common to all manufacturers , they are also named DTC (Data Trouble Code), the objective is to guarantee that any diagnostic OBD can translate them. They will be represented by a standard format, such as example: P0255. Each data will have a special meaning. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Toyota 4Runner. These ECUs will constantly monitor your vehicle’s emissions, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will show up. The benefit of understanding how to read a fault code on your Toyota 4Runner is that you will have gain access to to specific statistics about your vehicle which will let you to understand what trouble you are facing.

How to read a fault code on my Toyota 4Runner?

In this second part we will now focus precisely on what brings you on this site, how to read a fault code on Toyota 4Runner. To gain access to this valued data you will need to to acquire a diagnostic tool, also called OBD 2, named after the socket on your Toyota 4Runner to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are freely available, you will be able to find some in Bluetooth version which connects to your phone and some standard versions with a reader associated to the socket, as far as price is concerned, you will be able to find models between 30 and 100 euros. Once you have bought an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will have to situate the diagnostic plug on your Toyota 4Runner, it is based on the left side of your steering column on the lower part of your dashboard, behind a hatch. It is easy to locate because it is triangular shaped and has 16 pins. All you have to do is connect with your diagnostic tool to read the fault code of your Toyota 4Runner.

How to erase the fault code Toyota 4Runner

Finally, to conclude this article, we are going to demonstrate you the methode to do to erase a fault code on your Toyota 4Runner. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. But, you will have to ask yourself an important question, is it really advantageous to erase this fault code on Toyota 4Runner? In fact, erasing a fault code without fixing the issue corresponds to burying its head in the sand. Furthermore, the computer of your Toyota 4Runner is made to take resolutions according to the data it records, if a crucial fault code is present, it will likely adapt the engine performance to preserve it. So if you erase the fault code, remember to solve the problem to which it is connected. Some OBD diagnostic tools do not allow you to do this. You have a dedicated navigation menu on most diagnostic tools that should allow you to clear this fault code on Toyota 4Runner.

If you need more tutorials on the Toyota 4Runner, go to our Toyota 4Runner category.