The idea is that we have an emergency backup; a Toyota tyre inflator that works. When you need it, ours doesn’t. Not good.
So how can we get the thing going again? The tyre inflator is located in the back of the vehicle (boot), and should work at any time.
Diagnosing the Motor Failure
To begin with you just open the case. It’s grey plastic casing held together with screws. These come out easily, and you remove them leaving the screws behind. Next the case come apart easily.
And there we have it, in there! Here’s one last fastener behind a red Toyota sticker. Remove it, peel off the label (which is covered with emergency instructions), and voila: another screw. Pop that out. And look inside.
These are the guts of this thing.
What’s Inside
It’s pretty simple on the inside. It has just a couple of gears and some wires connecting it together with a printed circuit board and the compressor motor right beside it. No fancy electronics in there…just simple mechanical parts.
I know what you’re thinking. It should of look like a mess. But it doesn’t.
It’s possible it’s not the PCB but the motor itself; time to test the motor directly. Take away the switch and gauge by connecting a 12V DC power supply and use red and black wires connected directly to the motor terminals.
Yes the motor spins initially. It also will spin up for just a moment. And then it shuts down.
Low voltage says the power supply. The motor turns on for only a second or two and then nothing. Yep that means the motor is dead. Internal problem in the unit.
So you take a second look at the motor. You see the gears and notice the brushes aren’t torn up. But when you apply load to the motor, it won’t work. It won’t hold rotation.
Nope. Not good. The component is shot. It is beyond repair. Replacing only the motor might be an option. Nope. Not even worth considering.
It’s typically worth replacing the whole kit. It’s not cheap to do this and labor hours adds up fast.
If you have a reliable new inflator you buy instead which is a good deal. Now you toss the old one in the trash. It’s trash. It was the right call because it wasn’t expensive and cost less than your time.
