DRL mirror switchbacks killed my truck

Hey y'all, yet more problems with these mirror switchback turn signals. So they were tripping the tailight fuse... Finally isolated the problem when my buddy opened my passenger door really hard and blew everything. Realized the wire running from the mirror down into the door panel had been caught inside the hinge and shorted out. Now the turn signals work, fuse is good... But still no taillights or white LED on the mirrors. Now I desperately need my damn taillights to work, and even cut the wires off the DRL's but still no taillights... Any clues?

 

I'm confused
These are stock lights and having these issues?

 

Correct your thread title.

 

Doubt it.

Aftermarket - probably.

 

Not sure where the associated fuses are located? But there are 2 fuse panels. Check both?

 

Yea, aftermarket blacked out mirror turn signals. They light up white when the DRL's are on, and then work as regular turn signals too. And yes I've checked all fuses.

 

Tells us how you wired them..like what wire (circuit) did you tap into that shorted.
Does the Tacoma have LED DRL's or Incandescent DRL's?
Does your dash dim when selecting Parking/Tails?
Was it a visual check at the fuses or did you checked continuity?

 

So I assume they worked....at one point.
Did you install or a shop?

 

They come with a regular push and play harness for the turn signal function (which still works fine) and another wire that runs through the mirror itself, down into the door panel, through that rubber hose into the cabin, through the firewall into the engine bay, and is spliced onto the orange wire of the DRL'S. They are LED DRL's, and no my dash lights don't dim when selecting tail features, and yes I checked continuity on the fuse...
Basically, they tripped the fuse a couple times and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until my buddy opened the passenger door and they tripped. There was a smell of electrical "fire" or heat for a short while, and haven't had tail lights for a couple days now. So tonight I had some time, took the door panel off to assess what might be the problem, and when running a new wire, I realized that the original wire had been caught on the inner door hinge and wasn't cut completely but was pretty damaged. So I took that piece out, butt- spliced a new wire in it's place, but no luck. So I went to the engine bay and cut the wires off both sides near where the splice is onto the DRL's, but still no taillights, and the fuses are good. So I've got no clue what to do about this.

 

You let the magic smoke out. There is no way to put it back in.

 

Would you be so kind to show us a picture of this orange wire...and its connector.

 

Sounds like poor wiring killed your truck, not the lights. Maybe I am misunderstanding the problem though.

 

Did you disconnect the battery when wiring them up?

 

Ok I think I added a photo?

 

Could have destroyed the contacts in the relay?

 

Yes I agree, not the lights that killed the truck, but my fault in the wiring, but in my defense, I had no idea a wire could even get caught in the inner door hinge... No excuse, but I still don't understand what could be causing them to not work

 

Might try replacing the relay. If that doesn't fix the problem ???

 

Don't even know where to begin with replacing the relay honestly. I've never been all that automotively mechanical... Just bought the truck last January, and have been slowly moding it out and youtubing things as I go... So far so good, up until this little blunder

 

The relay to the Parking/Tail is soldered to a board...the board is inside a box. This board is connected to anther box that does the control of this relay board and controls lots of other stuff in the system.