‘I wish all technicians would do this’: Toyota 4Runner with 300K miles shuts off while driving down the road. Mechanic can’t believe why

The Royalty Auto Service team (@royaltyautoservice) is one of the more beloved automotive repair accounts on TikTok. The store previously captured hearts and minds with its unbiased assessment of Snap On vs Icon wrenches.

And then there’s the slew of different videos where members of the team highlight the different jobs they’ve worked. Oftentimes, they will present unique issues they’ve encountered with customers’ vehicles. For instance, this deathtrap Volkswagen or various scams car shop patrons should try to avoid.

In a recent TikTok featuring a Toyota 4Runner with 300,000 miles, the shop demonstrated its approach to fixing a puzzling problem. Being able to adequately fix the root of an issue is an art form and one that Royalty Auto Service put on display in this viral clip. It accrued 364,000 views and hundreds of comments from throngs of folks who praised the shop’s work.

A true diagnostic

A text overlay in the video hints a strange occurrence is responsible for the 4Runner’s problems. “You won’t believe what caused this 300k mile 4Runner to shut off when driving down the road,” it reads.

According to the auto tech, the customer said they were simply driving down the road when the car’s engine cut out. As he’s working on the car, the mechanic pauses and asks the individual recording the video to go ahead and try to start it up.

He does, and it certainly sounds like there’s something off about the way it’s running. The tech says that there are some normal sounds with the way the engine’s turning over that develop over time. Next, he asks the cameraperson to direct their attention to another issue with the engine: The check engine light didn’t turn on.

Now, you may be watching this and wondering to yourself that if the check engine light isn’t on, wouldn’t that be good? However, as the tech points out, the light doesn’t come on when the key is slightly turned.

He says that when a car starts up, if all of the lights on the dash don’t come on, that means there’s something wrong because those individual lights represent “bulb checks” for any error warnings.

Further diagnostics

He suspected that due to this check engine light anomaly, there could be something amiss with the car’s engine control module. After working backward from that supposition, he discovered there was a “blown fuse” causing these issues. Fuse swaps are usually a simple fix, and they don’t cost all that much to replace, either. Normally, they’re easily accessible underneath the hood in a separate, dedicated compartment, too.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only problem with the 4Runner’s rumbling engine. “Something blew the fuse; it didn’t just wear out,” the auto tech explains. He hooked up a fuse saver to the car (so as not to blow fuses all day) and went to check further diagnostics on the 4Runner.

He pulled up a “wire diagram” that shows all of the different functions the fuse is responsible for regulating. He suspected one of those functions could have something wrong with it, which would ultimately cause the fuse to short out. The mechanic speculated that higher voltage operations in the vehicle would be responsible for blowing the fuse.

Oxygen sensor

One of those parts that drew higher amounts of power was the vehicle’s oxygen sensor. After heading underneath the car, the mechanic noticed a cord connecting the sensor to the car was wound up very, very tight. This caused it to brush up against the vehicle’s drive shaft, causing the outer body of the cord to split open. Subsequently, the wires inside of the cord tore up from the drive shaft friction.

It seems like every time it hits the drive shaft, a short is caused, which blows the fuse and ceases engine operations. In this situation, the tech believes road debris is to blame. As a result, the debris shot up into the undercarriage of the car. Next, it must’ve smashed against the car, causing a portion of it to bend, thus contorting the drive shaft to move closer to the oxygen sensor cord. This subsequently created the perfect storm for the fuse-blowing engine problem.

Thankfully, the tech says the car doesn’t need any parts, just wire fixing and readjusting.

@royaltyautoservice This was a fun one! #toyota #mechanic #automotive #cartok #diy #diagnostic #electrical #mechaniclife #tools #tooltok #fyp #foryou #viral #stitch ♬ Pop beat BGM / long version(1283324) – nightbird_bgm

TikTokers were blown away

Numerous folks who responded to the video applauded the methodology displayed in Royalty Auto Service’s TikTok. “That’s why it’s call a diagnostic not just hook up a scanner and read codes. Good job guys.”

Another said that they were impressed with the way the 4Runner’s motor was running despite clocking in over 300K miles. “Boy did that motor run smooth for 300,000.”

“Dad’s a genius!!! Actually he’s thorough – fix the problem, don’t treat the symptom.” One TikToker wrote, giving props to the mechanic’s work ethic.

Someone else gave high praise to the mechanic’s shop in the comments section of the video. “Just got my Tundra back from you guys. Y’all did awesome on my truck! Also glad it did not end up here on TikTok.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to Royalty Auto Service via email for further comment.

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