95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

Mystery Red Button

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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:07 AM
  #1  
ski4run's Avatar
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From: St. Louis
Mystery Red Button

I was wondering if anybody knew what a small red button (about the size of a pencil eraser) did that is under my dash right beneath where the fuses in the dash are but not in this compartement, it looks serious so I thought I would ask before I pressed it and blew my car up. Thanks!
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:23 AM
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Did you buy the truck used? If so maybe something the previous owner put on. If you really want to find out you could try tracing the wires.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:23 AM
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From: NC
its the emergency eject button.. use it with caution and hold on tight
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:24 AM
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From: Northern IL
Is it a button or a little red LED for an alarm?

Rob
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:32 AM
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Pretty sure it's not stock, so there is really no way for any of us to know... Like Joe's Toy said, just trace the wires (or just press.)
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:34 AM
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its an actual button, I did buy the car used, I am a wiring idiot so im not sure even if I traced the wiring I could figure out what it was wired to. Would it make sense that it is the valet switch for the alarm?
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:36 AM
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From: Chico, California
Possible, i have a black button from the PO that put that button near the Parking brake.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:36 AM
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From: Oklahoma State
Originally Posted by ski4run
its an actual button, I did buy the car used, I am a wiring idiot so im not sure even if I traced the wiring I could figure out what it was wired to. Would it make sense that it is the valet switch for the alarm?
That would be my guess too.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:39 AM
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cool guys thanks, the only thing left I guess is to press it and make sure I am buckled in
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 10:54 AM
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From: Between a rock and a hard place, AZ
It's the stock NOS system.

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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 12:50 PM
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From: so.cal
Originally Posted by mkgarrison5
its the emergency eject button.. use it with caution and hold on tight
be aware that after you press it, its very expensive to get the blue button installed(to get back down)


Originally Posted by rdlsz24
Is it a button or a little red LED for an alarm?
i have it and AFAIK its for the alarm. cant tell you exactly what it does, ive tried in and out and still dont know what the button is for.

something to do with the way its set automaticlly ???
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 12:58 PM
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From: Vian, OK
i got a couple of questions...on our newly acquired '86 ext cab dlx 4x4....it has a small black button on top of the steering column..what is that?...and there is a SAFETY CANCEL button to the left of the steering wheel..on the dash...what the hell is that???..thanks alot!
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 01:03 PM
  #13  
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From: Between a rock and a hard place, AZ
Originally Posted by camo31"10.50"
i got a couple of questions...on our newly acquired '86 ext cab dlx 4x4....it has a small black button on top of the steering column..what is that?...and there is a SAFETY CANCEL button to the left of the steering wheel..on the dash...what the hell is that???..thanks alot!
The little button is a key release button.

The Safety Cancel button may be a Clutch Start Cancel button. On the newer manual trannies, it will only start with the clutch pedal pressed in. That button bypasses that feature.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 02:14 PM
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From: San Diego, CA
Originally Posted by ski4run
its an actual button, I did buy the car used, I am a wiring idiot so im not sure even if I traced the wiring I could figure out what it was wired to. Would it make sense that it is the valet switch for the alarm?
if you have an aftermarket alarm it could be the program button (f.ex. to program a new keyfob to be recognized by the alarm)
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 02:38 PM
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From: LA Virginia
Yeah, I got one of those too!!
It is just tied up under the dash and seems to be wired to the after market alarm system on my rig. For the longest time I thought it was a hidden kill switch for the alarm. Too bad I was wrong. I got my remote wet the other day Kayaking and had the alarm set. I unlocked the truck with the key and scrambled for that little red button that was just tied up under the dash. It didn't do anything. Nothing. Ended up cutting the wires to the alarm horn under the hood before I found the fuse for the alarm system. Needless to say I tried everything to get the alarm to stop because it wouldn't let the truck start!! The only thing that worked was pulling the fuse.

I hope I have not reprogrammed my alarm so that it doesn't match my remote anymore!! I haven't had time to re-wire the horn so I haven't put the fuse back in. I think the remote works now that I dried it out though.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 09:51 PM
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Kerby J's Avatar
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From: Gastonia, NC
the red button is for the valet mode on the car that only allows certain things to be done on mine u press and hold for a few seconds and it will chirp letting you know that the valet mode is active
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Old Sep 18, 2013 | 05:20 PM
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Does anybody know where you can find these buttons? My truck has the alarm but the button was missing when I bought it
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Old Sep 18, 2013 | 07:03 PM
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From: Toronto
Originally Posted by 1997taco
Does anybody know where you can find these buttons? My truck has the alarm but the button was missing when I bought it
It's not missing if it was never installed. It all depends what the PO installed.
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Old Sep 19, 2013 | 01:34 PM
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It has a hole about the size of a pencil eraser on a little panel to the left of the steering wheel and it had 4 wires going to where the hole is and if it helps they were red blue gray and black
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Old Sep 19, 2013 | 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Greg_Canada
It's not missing if it was never installed. It all depends what the PO installed.
It has a hole about the size of a pencil eraser on a little panel to the left of the steering wheel and it had 4 wires going to where the hole is and if it helps they were red blue gray and black
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