Super Ultimate 3rd Brake Light Build

I haven’t had any Fob problem with the KC5 and Auto trans. Hope y’all get it figured out!

 

I’d first work on adding an additional or better ground

that kills most wire noise because there really shouldn’t be any RF interference
But the fob batteries are also trash

since having my 2016 tacoma new ive replaced the fob batteries easily 15 times


Additionally
Depending on how long you had your truck disconnected from the battery
Your fob distance setting may have returned to factory
Try bumping it back up in the head unit

 

Thanks for the idea on the fob unit distance adjustment I’ll give it a try today

 

No issues on mine like that.

 

Fyi....the conversation regarding the Fobs is happening here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/keyfob-auto-handle-lock-unlock-not-working-well.618980/page-2

This is not a battery issue, as they work perfectly from a distance if you turn off the bed light.

 

Then please refer to the FIRST sentence which is please seek to improve the grounding wire for the lights.
as wire grounding can cause wire noise in the rest of the vehicle.

logic dictates that when you remove the halogen lights
And replace them with LED’s it’s the same as if you just added the rock lights anywhere else in your vehicle...

the difference is how well it’s grounded.
Adding in your fog lights didn’t mess with your fob?
Light bars... no fob issue?
BD5 install?
Fob issues....
do you have radio interference too?

My whole background in the military was based in radio and Satellite troubleshoot and repair.

there are only two reasonable problems

Either the lights aren’t properly grounded enough.

Or your lights a drawing so much power from their lines that it’s lowering the power to the signaling device in your vehicle... this one is highly unreasonable because of the limited amount of people with the issue.

and to be clear
Most of this issue is basic wiring 101 stuff

check your ground
Check your power
Report back

 

I think the cable gauge is the problem, it looks like 22 gauge at most (maybe even 24), and there is probably around about 20~30 foot of it. Each LED is 0.4 watts. So @ 1 watt (2 lights + 0.2 buffer), that gives you an max length about ~30ft of 22 gauge and ~20ft of 24 gauge. The ground (since it’s common), certainly isn’t enough for all 4 (or 5 ) lights to all be on at the same time. Hopefully next weekend I’ll get the time to wire it all up and test running it off a different circuit / different ground and see.

 

I'm experiencing this same issue and I also suspect it's a ground issue. I'm going to pull it apart soon and beef up the ground. Anyone have a good ground location near the third brake light?

 

Go down the C pillar on one side and tie it to your seat belt bolt. That will no questions asked be the best place to ground. But you could also attach to the latch on the back wall of the cab that holds the back of the seat back but that would be more of a pain

aside from that
I’d avoid tapping into anything that is on the same ground as your radio

 

Excellent. Thank you. I'll give it a shot and report back.

 

Take some sandpaper to any washers that are on the bolt you use to ground off of

if it’s a stainless or similar washer it may not ground well

 

If you by some chance have a sliding power window

or a moon roof
I might try grounding to those

just not your radio

 

Looks like the wiring for the power window runs to the passenger side.

 

I would definitely try to ground off the same one it uses

 

I'm trying to test out hooking two of the red lights together and testing them using a 9V battery.
When testing them individually they both work no problem, but when I put them together only one lights up.
When testing the white lights they both turn on together when I touch them to a 9V.
Anyone have any ideas on this?

Edit: Only thing I can think of is that it has to have 12V for it to work properly.

 

If you make a plug and play version for a 2nd gen I will buy it!

 

I would like the round( red ,wight ) version, looks sharp, will it fit my 2016

 

Yes.
But you have to watch this thread like a hawk to catch it for sale. It’s sold out now.

 

Ok thanks, they look really Sharp

 

Sigh. I did this from the outside and just tapped into the cables.. as my attempt at dropping the headliner was a disaster.

so, assuming I can get it off this time, … and this is likely a dumb question - I just remove the butt connector I currently have to the existing ground, and add a new wire that goes to one of these recommendations?

Thanks!