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?

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> 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?[/color]

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.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O, 11/4/2006,12:20:26 PM, wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...[color=green]
> > 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?[/color]
>
> 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.[/color]

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.

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0etbi5h5w2pha001@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> Ray O, 11/4/2006,12:20:26 PM, wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...[color=darkred]
>> > 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?[/color]
>>
>> 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.[/color]
>
> 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.[/color]

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.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O, 11/4/2006,2:10:55 PM, wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:xn0etbi5h5w2pha001@news.readfreenews.net...[color=green]
> > Ray O, 11/4/2006,12:20:26 PM, wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> > >
> >>"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...
> >>> 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[/color][/color]
> heard >>> it clicking every full turn or so, but it isn't pulling the
> cable >>> up. What should I do to make it work?[color=green][color=darkred]
> > >
> > > 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.[/color]
> >
> > 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.[/color]
>
> 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.[/color]

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?

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0etd3te7l280d001@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> Ray O, 11/4/2006,2:10:55 PM, wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:xn0etbi5h5w2pha001@news.readfreenews.net...[color=darkred]
>> > Ray O, 11/4/2006,12:20:26 PM, wrote:
>> >
>> > >
>> >>"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> > > news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...
>> >>> 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[/color]
>> heard >>> it clicking every full turn or so, but it isn't pulling the
>> cable >>> up. What should I do to make it work?[color=darkred]
>> > >
>> > > 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.
>> >
>> > 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.[/color]
>>
>> 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.[/color]
>
> 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?[/color]

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.


--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O, 11/6/2006, 3:04:32 AM,
<17a79$454f68bc$44a4a10d$26844@msgid.meganewsservers.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:xn0etd3te7l280d001@news.readfreenews.net...[color=green]
> > Ray O, 11/4/2006,2:10:55 PM, wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> > >
> >>"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:xn0etbi5h5w2pha001@news.readfreenews.net...
> >>> Ray O, 11/4/2006,12:20:26 PM, wrote:
> > > >
> >>> >
> >>>>"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >>> > news:xn0etbbnc5n8mrw000@news.readfreenews.net...
> >>>>> 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[/color][/color]
> 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.[color=green][color=darkred]
> >>> > >
> >>>>> 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[/color][/color]
> the >>cable >>> up. What should I do to make it work?[color=green][color=darkred]
> >>> >
> >>> > Try having your son hold the spare tire up a little so that[/color][/color]
> 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.[color=green][color=darkred]
> >>> >
> >>> > 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.
> > > >
> >>> 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[/color][/color]
> in >>> lifting the tire off the ground. Previous trucks I've had just[color=green][color=darkred]
> >>> wound all the way regardless of where the tire was. Is there a[/color][/color]
> way >>> to tell if it's broken? I can see the shaft turning above and[color=green][color=darkred]
> >>> 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.
> > >
> > > 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.[/color]
> >
> > 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?[/color]
>
> 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.[/color]

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.

badgolferman, 11/6/2006,12:33:55 PM, wrote:
[color=blue]
> 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.[/color]


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!

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0etffwap0pb4002@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> badgolferman, 11/6/2006,12:33:55 PM, wrote:
>[color=green]
>> 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.[/color]
>
>
> 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![/color]

good news!
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0etffwap0pb4002@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> badgolferman, 11/6/2006,12:33:55 PM, wrote:
>[color=green]
>> 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.[/color]
>
>
> 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![/color]

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