My DCM disconnection odyssey.

Interesting that in the photos that @BRITUS posted of the fuse box and its legend the drawing shows a 7.5 amp Mayday fuse. There doesn’t seem to be a corresponding fuse in the fuse box.

 

All of these are excellent questions. If you recall, iPhone 1 came out in 2007 so DCM in 2010 would be contemporary of that tech (i.e., 2/3G and expensive). While Blackberry existed prior to that, data over cell was prohibitively expensive. While Toyota absolutely had technical means to do so, it would have been clearly unprofitable. The main reason we have deluge of these privacy invading data collection modules in modern cars is because both data service and cell modem hardware are very cheap at scale. Even with that cheapness, it is enabled by people paying for connected services.

While this is not an absolute rule - anything prior 2015 is safe from snooping.

BMW also had in-car cellphones as early as 92. This does not mean that data connection over cell was feasible at that point.

 

Don't know off-the-top of my head what it corresponds to but no SOS button and MAYDAY fuse means no cellular radio.

 

Where can I get the harness. I personally don’t give a fuck if they find out I did that. It’s my car and they can go eat shit.

 

You can get the harness here.

https://www.autoharnesshouse.com/store/AHH-DCM77

 

LOL, used to love that show, but that was a looong time ago!

Well, to me now it looks like my 2019 doesn't have this component at all and I will not worry about it any more; that is, until one of these days sasquatch knocks on my window, and then I'll wish I had the MAYDAY/CONNECT function ;-)

 

Just wanted to update my issue,

Autoharness sent me a replacement connector for the microphone when I emailed them; within about an hour I got a reply and a tracking number. I finally got a chance to redo the install and this time the connector clicked right in. I think what happened the first time was I bent one of the tiny pins inside the gray connector. So I’m very thankful for the Autoharness guys sending me a free replacement. Everything works smoothly as it should now.

I did also remove the DCM unit entirely.

 

I purchased one. Will report back once I get it installed with my Accessorides Takeover Remote Start... My plan is to pull the DCM module out.

 

Just confirming the Accesorides remote start takeover works perfectly with the AutoHarness DCM bypass. I tested all functions.

Happy my microphone (tested in Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay) and speakers all work.

I’m going to remove the DCM and put it all back together now.

If my Accesorides remote start didn’t work, I’m pretty sure I would have kept the DCM intact.

if anyone is aware of any other things to check after this mod, please let me know.

No DCM Light! Thank you!

on a side note, I noticed no weather data was available until connected my phone. Could be coincidence as there may be another way it downloads as I did disconnect my battery.

the more I think about this the more it pisses me off that Toyota is taking our data. Also, with the amount of breaches happening, I don’t need my truck being disabled in any way…. It’s a door I want permanently closed.

 

You can try this:
1 Press the “MENU” button.

2 Select “Setup”.

3 Select “Data Services”.

4 Select “Data Download Source”

5 Select B - “HD Radio Only”

Let us know how it works. Interested to know if you get traffic info on the map.

 

I’ll give that a shot and let you know… wanted to share this for my victory lap

 

Thanks for the tip… was set to “HD Radio & DCM” and I switched it to “HD Radio Only”.


Went to map and it pulled up my location … mostly green with some yellow, so appears to be working unless this was from data downloaded earlier.


I always use Apple CarPlay and Apple Maps for everything, so this wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. I will keep an eye on it during busy times.

At the end of the day, if my head unit ever fails I will use the opportunity to upgrade to an aftermarket. The only thing I would be determined to have working with aftermarket would be my anytime camera which I believe would as it’s just a trigger for the reverse camera input that toggles between cameras.

4runner has 8400 miles on it and I’m truly making it mine. Thank you!