Instrument lights brightness control

My 06 Taco passed an emissions test today but I noticed tonight that now the instrument brightness control does not work. The instrument gauge lights are on but no brightness control. Also, the transmission control indicator lights don't work and the environmental control lights are also out. All exterior and other interior lights OK. Emergency flashers also work. ??? Maybe the emissions tech guy disconnected something when connecting to the OBD port. I have an Ultragauge which I had disconnected for the emissions test. Reconnected it afterward and it works OK also. Any ideas?

 

I’m betting that the tail lights are out too and the tail fuse in the under dash fuse panel is blown.

 

Tail lights work and brake lights OK as well as backup lights. I think maybe something got pulled loose under the dash. I'm taking it by my local One-Stop Car Care this morning. It does have a left front parking light out.

 

Check your fuses. Both inside the cab and in the engine bay box. Pull one at a time and verify.

Next, I'd check the rheostat (dimmer) - make sure its connected properly. Like you said, he may have bumped or somehow managed to come loose.

 

I took it to One Stop Car Care near my home. Always been an honest shop and I've done business with them for years. After about ten minutes they found a cable that was supposed to be connected to the instrument lights brightness control on the back of the instrument cluster was disconnected and shoved way back up into the dash. Then I figured out what had happened. I had to have the local Toyota dealer replace the instrument cluster last month to keep the Check Engine light off (throwing P0500 codes) and they apparently did not reconnect that wire. This is after they had replaced two speed sensors which did not fix the problem. I rarely have to drive the truck at night so I hadn't noticed a couple of interior lights not working until running an errand last night. The instrument brightness control was non functional but the instrument cluster lights were on, just not dimmable. The letters next to the transmission lever were not lit and neither were the environmental control backlights. All other lights worked, inside and out except for the burnt out left front parking light. I remember that when I had the meter cluster replaced (for about $500) the Toyota mechanic had also taken out the glove compartment module and did not put that back in but I did that myself and figured that had been their only foul-up. Got the emissions done two days ago and figured the emissions guy had just knocked something loose. Perfect timing for a bad diagnosis. All works now.

 

Very nice. Glad the One Stop Car Care got you taken care of. It's a shame that the dealer was so dumb in the quality of their diagnosis and the execution of the repair. Now you see why people are constantly hounding people to stay away from the dealers. You would think that a tech that only works on Toyotas would be highly skilled and experienced in working on Toyotas. We have often seen here that this is rarely the case. Also, nothing beats a walk into your local mom and pop shop, and they greet you with "Hi Bob, how's the Tacoma running today?" "Not so good Jimbo, I've got this woomph, woompf, woompf sound coming from the front when I'm on the freeway. It gets quieter when I change lanes from the left lane to the right lane" "Sounds like a front wheel bearing. We're just about to eat lunch. We don't have time to fix it today, but we'll get it on the lift at 1:00 and see how bad it is."