Towing Wire Harness Recall 98-99

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Jukelemon

Jukelemon

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I keep forgetting to post this.

For those that do not know, there exists a recall of the factory towing wire harness on 98 and 99 100's. If you go to your dealer, they will replace the entire harness (including sending unit) at no charge. Takes a couple of hours to do.

Just FYI.

Juke
 
How long has that been out?

On a side note, can a round plug be wired in next to the 4 flat plug? I occasionally use a trailer with a round plug, no brakes, and need a conversion.
 
Jukelemon said:
I keep forgetting to post this.

For those that do not know, there exists a recall of the factory towing wire harness on 98 and 99 100's. If you go to your dealer, they will replace the entire harness (including sending unit) at no charge. Takes a couple of hours to do.

Just FYI.

Juke
Click to expand...

Are you sure it’s a recall and not a TSB? Wouldn’t it have to be some sort of safety related issue for them to do a recall? I pulled mine out and it was messed up. Where they located them it was susceptible to all kinds of moisture. The new one gets located above the tail light. (nice and dry).
Dean
 
Yes it is an official recall, it's a safety issue because if the module gets wet it can kill the trailer lights, that's where the safety part comes in.

Here is the actual text from alldatadiy.com:

Recall 99E012000: Trailer Hitch Kit Converter Shorting

Equipment Description: Towing hitch kits and aftermarket trailer towing wire harness converters for use on 1998-1999 Lexus LX470, and Toyota Land Cruisers. Due to inadequate waterproofing performance and improper installation location of the converter, which is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle, an electrical short circuit could occur if water enters the converter housing. The short circuit can cause a failure of the converter, and if a trailer is being towed at the time, can also cause failure of the trailer lights.

Dealers will replace the converter.

Owner notification began May 17, 1999. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331. Also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Auto Safety Hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Note: I like the last part, basically if a dealer tries to screw you, Toyota corporate wants to know...kinda cool.
 
You think if I take my recipet to the dealer they can refund my $$? If I remember right C-Dans price was over 100 bucks. The dealer never mentioned this when I was there.
Dean
 
Just called them this morning. They took my VIN and called me back, sho' 'nuf it's a freebie! They said I have to bring the truck in and order the part, then bring it back for the repair.
 
Didn't by chance ask about warranty coverage on rattling cat shields??
 
Well, I took it in today and they looked at it and said, "this one is fine, it doesn't have to be replaced." Reading that recall memo it sounds to me like all of them should be replaced. Any thoughts?
 
darn it, the whole trailer wiring is screwed up on the 03 as well... but no recall?
 
Bad azz Cruiser said:
anybody know the correct installation location of the converter box?
Click to expand...

On the truck and 4 runners (in the past) it was up high, behind the taillight in the 1/4 panel... I will check tomorrow on the TIS website (or with Toyota Technical directly) and let ya know..I havent even looked on my 2000 to see where it is...it sounds like too much work to me !!..lol
 
The original one was on the cross member above the spare tire near the passenger side. Mine was all corroded and didn’t work. I purchased a new one for ~$200 from CDan and it gets mounted up inside the tail light on the driver’s side. It is a real nice unit, comes with all the necessary parts and it has a body seal for the wire to keep out dirt at the point the wires get inside the truck.
Dean
 
Called the dealer and with my VIN they said no recall or TSB so there must have been a mid-model year fix? My truck was manufactured 7/1998.

Update: Called Toyota Costumer service at the 1(800) 331-4331 number above and they told me that my vehicle was covered but that the repair had already been performed. :)

Update (6/10/2008) I can't believe I've been on MUD 3 years! : My upgraded converter also went bad and was later replaced by a Hoppy unit with success.
 
Last edited:
I tried to get the recall done on my new to me '98. It has never had a hitch on it in its life, but the 1-800 number said that the recall was active for my VIN. So I was a bit hopeful that they'd install a new wiring harness for me free of charge.

Unfortunately, since my truck didn't have any sort of hitch wiring on it at all, the recall consisted of the dealer inspecting the truck, confirming that no recalled wiring was present, then sending me on my way.

I went ahead and bought the new wiring harness from the dealer (as they had ordered the parts for me in anticipation of performing the recall).

rich
 
If you have older style factory tow WIRING, they replace it. If not, they check you off the list.

rich
 
Hi folks. Does anyone know if this recall is still viable. Never got this taken care of and NOW I want to tow....
 
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