spare tire retractor

My 2000 Sienna had a flat yesterday morning and I had to use the spare which is stowed under the vehicle. I got the steel cable to undo itself and lower the spare after turning the nut on the floor of the trunk area for a long time. However I can't get it to retract no matter how long I turn that confounded nut.

I had my son turn it and stuck my head underneath the van and heard it clicking every full turn or so, but it isn't pulling the cable up. What should I do to make it work?

Reply to
badgolferman
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Try having your son hold the spare tire up a little so that there is a couple of inches of slack in the cable, then try winding up the cable. Or, take the spare off of the cable and wind it until it gets started, then hang the spare on the cable.

BTW, for convenience sake, I hang the spare so that the valve is hanging down so that I can check spare tire pressure without having to drop the spare.

Reply to
Ray O

I have the cable halfway up and the tire hanging from the ground. It still won't retract all the way. This shouldn't be so finicky in lifting the tire off the ground. Previous trucks I've had just wound all the way regardless of where the tire was. Is there a way to tell if it's broken? I can see the shaft turning above and below the floorpan but I can't see inside the pulley assembly to see if the cable is out of position or something. There are four screws holding it in place but the heads are on top and they seem to be covered by the floor.

Reply to
badgolferman

It sounds like the cable has come off of the reel. You should be able to peel back the carpet to expose the bolts that hold the carrier in place. You may have to unbolt the seat anchors as well.

Your other option is to unwind the cable all the way and see if you can get it started by pushing on the cable while turning the bolt.

Reply to
Ray O

All right, Ray. The cable is halfway down and won't go in either direction. There are no screw heads in the trunk area although the threaded part of the screw does protrude below the floor where the pulley is. The floor of the trunk has what looks like poured steel over the sheet metal and that is what has covered up the screw heads. I don't even see how anyone can remove the cover to the pulley other than cutting off the screws with an angle grinder.

What am I looking at if I take it to the dealer? Several hours of labor and a new retractor?

Reply to
badgolferman

I cannot imagine that there is no way to remove the spare tire carrier. What looks like poured steel may be paint or sound insulator that you can scrape off if necessary. I'll try to remember to take a look at how our Sequoia's carrier is held on.

You are probably looking at a couple of hours of labor and a new retractor if you take it to a dealer. Another possibility is to find one at a junk yard, then you can see how it is put together.

Reply to
Ray O

Upon further review I suspect the undercarriage has nuts holding the carrier in place. The topside does not have the screw heads available. Unfortunately the shaft that goes down has a pin through it that holds the topside nut. The bottom side has a nut and pin also. I am hoping it is an Allen screw that I can undo. This is turning into a pain.

Reply to
badgolferman

I finally fixed it last night. The four nuts underneath were not welded on and came off easily enough. There were two more holding the extension were the steel cable came out of. The entire assembly came out afterwards and I used brake cleaner to clean all the grime and road crap off it. Then I put it in the vise and started cranking the nut for a long time and it finally started working.

Later on I reinstalled it under the van and after some more cranking it finally caught and started to lift the tire. It is all finally in place and the tire is secured. Hopefully I will not have to mess with that piece of s#it again!

Reply to
badgolferman

good news!

Reply to
Ray O

Just wanted to say thanks for this followup for when this happens to my Sienna. Post saved. Tomes

Reply to
Tomes

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