The Toyota Tacoma is a hugely popular mid-size truck.
Like most other vehicles, it has various beeps, noises and chimes.
If you’re unsure why your Tacoma keeps beeping, this guide is for you.
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Toyota Tacoma Beeping
The most common causes of beeping on a Toyota Tacoma include the dash camera, 4 Low not engaged properly, faulty seatbelt sensors, loose electrical connections, low keyfob battery, defective door latches/switches or one of the driver assistance features.
There’s quite a few reasons why your truck might be beeping at you, we’ve got the main ones detailed below…
Dash Camera
If your Tacoma has the Toyota factory installed das hcam you’ll likely hear this beep on startup.
You won’t see any warning lights come up on the dash, however, if you look behind your rearview mirror where the dash cam is located, you will see the dash cam flashing.
If you see an error flash, you may notice the micro SD card has not been fully inserted into the camera.
By pressing the SD card into the dash cam, this should stop the beeping.
However, if the SD card is in and it’s still beeping, press and hold the ‘action’ button while you turn on the truck.
- Make sure the vehicle is completely off
- Make sure you are parked on level ground
- Make sure the camera has shut off
- Press and hold the action button
- Then start your vehicle
By doing so you will recalibrate your vehicle.
You should hear a couple of beeps and see a green light and you’re good to go.
Loose Connection: Seat Belt Sensors
Loose wiring or a bad electrical connection may be triggering a beeping noise.
It’s worth checking underneath every seat in the vehicle and checking / pressing together all the plastic wire connectors to make sure they are tight.
It’s a good idea to do the same behind the glovebox.
Key Fob Battery
This one is fairly self-explanatory.
Make sure your key fob battery has plenty of charge and replace it if it doesn’t.
Seatbelt Alarm & Weight on Seat
There might be a faulty sensor that isn’t recognizing that your seatbelt is fastened.
Alternatively, you may have some weight on the passenger seat like a bag of groceries or your pet pooch which is triggering an alarm.
In which case you can try fastening the passenger seatbelt.
BSM
The Blind Spot Monitor warns the driver if someone is in their blind spot or if someone is coming up behind your vehicle when you start to reverse, a warning light will flash in your mirror and it should also make a beeping sound.
Faulty Switches
A faulty headlight switch, a faulty ignition switch or a faulty door switch may be the cause of the beeping.
Since the headlights being on, or the key being in the ignition will cause the chime to sound, one of these switches may have a loose connection or be faulty.
If you have a faulty door switch the truck will think the door is still open when it’s shut – if the dome light stays on once you’ve closed the door this indicates that this is likely the problem.
Headlight blown
Check to make sure that none of your lights have burnt out, you should check your rear lights and brake lights too.
Reverse Sensor
If you’ve recently had a new reverse sensor fitted this could be causing the beeping.
It might be a faulty sensor, in which case try swapping it for a new one.
Navigation Apps
These are notorious sources of unknown beeps.
Tire Pressure
The Tacoma has a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) that will beep when the pressure gets too low.
Toyota Tacoma 4 Low Beeping
If your Toyota Tacoma 4 Low is beeping this can be because it is not engaging. You must brake fully, put the truck in Neutral, and then switch to 4 Low. It will engage and should not beep and you can put it into drive and go.
The 4 low will trigger a flash/beep when it’s trying to engage but can’t.
Low range four-wheel-drive, aka 4 Low, uses different gearing to create the torque needed to safely descend and climb steep gradients with loose rock-strewn surfaces or hills involving mud, sand or snow.
Related: Toyota Tacoma Alarm Going Off? (12 Common Causes)
Shifting From 2WD to 4H
Can only be done at speeds less than 100 km/h or 62 mph.
Shifting back to 2WD can be done at any speed.
Shifting From 4H to 4L (Automatic)
To shift from 4H to 4L with an automatic transmission, the vehicle MUST be brought to a complete stop.
- Stop the vehicle
- Depress the brake
- While continuing to hold the brake pedal, shift the transmission into neutral
- Turn the control knob to 4l
The 4LO indicator on the dash should flash, this can take a moment.
Wait for the 4LO indicator to stay on and stop flashing to confirm engagement.
Note: Shifting out of Neutral before the 4L light is solid can damage the transfer case.
Follow the same steps to shift back into 4H and wait for the indicator light to go out.
Once the light has gone out, you’re good to go.
Shifting From 4H to 4L (Manual)
- Stop the vehicle or if its not possible reduce the spped to only 2 mph
- Depress and hold the clutch pedal
- Push and turn the control knob from 4H to 4L
- Wait for the indicator to stay on when engaging and stay off when disengaging before releasing the clutch pedal and driving off.
Note: These instructions might not apply to your Toyota model, it’s best to always check your owner’s manual.
Toyota Tacoma Beeping While Driving
If you are experiencing beeping whilst driving your Toyota Tacoma, this may be caused by a faulty door latch, if you have a ‘door ajar’ light on the dashboard then this is almost certainly the case, these latches can often become stuck.
Faulty latches are very common across all vehicles – you may need to have a latch replaced although you should first try lubricating it with something like WD-40.
If it’s not related to the door sensor/latch then it could be caused by a damaged wire.
A lot of mysterious beeps and electrical issues can be traced back to damaged wires, loose electrical connections or blown fuses.
Related: 24 Best & Worst Toyota Tacoma Years (With Facts & Stats)
Why Does My Tacoma Beep When I Open The Door?
If you are hearing a beep or chime when you turn off your Tacoma this is likely because you opened the door first without turning off the engine and will keep chiming until you close it after exiting the vehicle. This can be disabled with the Carista app or by the dealer.
No Chime:
- Engine running
- Put vehicle into Park.
- Turn off the Engine
- Open the door.
Chime:
- Engine running
- Put vehicle into Park
- Open the door
- Turn off the Engine
How Do I Make My Toyota Tacoma Beep When Locked
If your not Tacoma isn’t beeping when you lock it, it may be because the lock beeps have been turned off. The procedure to turn the beeps back on is fairly straightforward.
This trick is common across a wide range of Toyota vehicles from various years and isn’t specific to the Tacoma..
- Sit inside the vehicle leave the door open
- Put the key in the ignition
- Release it straight away
- Put the key back in
- Turn the key to ON
- Count to 10
- Press any key on the fob, release.
- Press it again.
- You should hear a beep, that means it worked.
- Step outside the vehicle and test it out.
To have a single press of the unlock button to unlock all doors:
- Get in truck, close door
- Put key in ignition (you can start the truck and turn it off, although this may not change anything)
- Open door
- Remove key from ignition
- Insert key into ignition twice (In, Out, In, Out)
- Close the door twice (Close, Open, Close, Open)
- Insert key in and out of ignition once (In, Out)
- Close the door twice (Close, Open, Close, Open)
- Insert key into ignition but do not remove it
- Close the door
- Turn the key from lock to on 4 Times (Lock, On, Lock, On, Lock, On, Lock, On)
- Remove the key from ignition
- At this point the locks will lock and unlock a number of times. Wait until they stop then
- Press and release both the “lock” and “unlock” buttons simultaneously
- Press and release the “unlock” button
- Open the door
- Now check to see if a single press of “unlock” will unlock all the doors. If not, try again, it might take a couple of attempts.
Other Common Beeping Causes
- Door / rear hatch open or not closed properly
- Exceeding speeds set in cruise control
- Door is open and key is ignition
- Seatbelt not fastened
- Headlights on / key in ignition when door is open
- Low fluids e.g. windshield waher fluid
- Reversing (in some cases)
- Spare set of keys locked in truck
- A warning / error condition on the instruments
- Low fuel
- RSA (road sign assist)
- Lane Sway Warning (excessive swaying within the lane markings)
- Lane Departure Alert
- BSM (blind spot monitor)
- ICS (Intelligent Clearance Sonar)
- Park Assist
- PCS (Pre-Collison System)
- The intuitive parking assist sensor malfunction
If you’ve made it this far and you’re still having difficulty we advise taking your Tacoma to Toyota dealership and have one of their technicians take a look.
Related: 11 Most Common Toyota Tacoma Problems (Explained)
Resources
https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals.tacoma.2021
https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals.tacoma.2017
