electrical problem: shift bezel light 12v on ground

hey guys. i picked up 2007 tacoma with MANY issues. anyways while tackling the shift light bulb on center console i changed the bulb and it did not work. so i check for power and yes there is power but on both wires! i need to know where ground comes from and why there is 12 volts on it lol. any help would be great!

 

I'm assuming your talking about the back-light bulb for the shifter (Green and Green/White wires)?

 

Sounds like your dimmer is turned all the way up

 

yes the backlight shifter bulb

 

Do all your other backlights work properly?

 

let me check real quick but i believe so

 

yes everything works

 

Was the bulb an LED type?

 

no its a standard bulb. but for some reason im getting 12v on both wires.

 

Then it would seem the Green/White wire has an issue between the bulb and the J3 Junction Connector.

 

I removed one pin and grounded and bulb works like that, as it should. but i want to find out where the ground comes from to fix it properly

 

Or the bulb doesn't fit in the socket correctly?

Since other bulbs are tied to the SAME ground and on the DIMMER. Wouldn't you expect voltage on the ground?
More/less depend on the dimmer?

 

thanks a bunch i will get after j3 and see what i can find. it think this taco was left underwater for a few years lol

 

If the bulb is plugged in and the ground (Green/White) wire is open yes you would see battery voltage on the (Green/White) wire.

 

yes i understand. its completing the circuit. but with no bulb. both wires are hot. i looked for j3 but hard to tell. would it be a plug with all green wires?

 

up high on the harness there is a connector with many green wires tape with a cap. seems like that is j3?

 

That's very interesting and you say the backlighting on all the buttons and HVAC controls works?

J2 would be all Green wires, J3 is all Green/White wires.

 

so one bulb is out behind hvac far right switch. and yeah i see both junctions. they dont look fun to get at it. will inspect g/w j3 tomorrow. but that should be all ground why would there be 12v there?

 

Pop the Rheostat (Dimmer) out and check you voltage on Pin 6 (Green/White) with the lights on and it set to full bright, that's and easy check and I'm curious.

 

FWIW, If you unplug the dimmer switch. I'm pretty sure ALL the lights will go to full brightness.
It defaults to a different ground.

Worth a shot. See what happens?
Not that it would fix your issue. But the result maybe be "different".