Help! Blinker makes radio and dash blink!

Hey guys,
I have a pretty weird issue.
When my headlights are off, my right blinker will make my tailights flash along with my radio and dash lights. Left blinker works normal. Right blinker works normal with headlights on but turn them off and all hell breaks loose.

Any ideas?

I searched everywhere but I can't find a thing!

 

Sounds like a bad ground.

 

Where is the ground wire though that we would be referring to?

 

Did this start all of a sudden? Does it behave the same way with only the Parking Lights?

Depending on the answer to that question should help determine what may have finally worn out. I can't see it being just a worn wire or bad plug assembly. If the Turn Indicator and Headlight rotating switch are all part of the same assembly on the steering column as the current models I would start my search for the culprit there ... the Dashlights, Taillights and Radio Illumination are also controlled through the same switch assembly.

Good Luck finding it.

 

He has a party going on in his truck, awesome!

 

Have you added anything, done anything to the truck lately?

 

The blinker works normally when the headlights or parking lights are on. I get no radio blinking or anything out of the ordinary.

When the headlights and parking lights are switched off, the blinker causes my radio and dash lights to flash (along with the tail lights which makes it look like my hazards are on in the rear). If I remember correctly the blinker also stays illuminated on the dash.

I have LED tails and blinkers in the rear and have had them for a few years now with no issues. The resistor on the right tail burned out and I replaced that last night and assumed maybe that was the fix but all that did was fix the problem with the head/park lights on. Like I said before, the problem still exists with the head/park turned off.

I checked all bulbs on the right side and they seem ok (especially since they operate correctly when the headlights are on).

 

sub'd for solution

while installing stereo wiring something got messed up so i have no illumination on the stereo (buttons & display) when my parking or headlamps are on but the stereo display does illuminate when the parking and headlamps are off.

i wonder if we have a related issue?

 

Mentally? Probably.

As far as the trucks are concerned...I think yours is a little different but maybe not?

 

almost everyone on here has the same mental issue. no need to search for a solution...there isn't one.

i realized i misread your post. i thought your stereo lights were flashing on and off but now i see it's all the dash lights. yeah, we probably have different 'issues'.

strange that it started out of the blue. i wonder if somehing shook loose?

 

No no, you are right, there is no cure for our mental instabilities but they can be temporarily fixed if you give us a wrench...or a credit card and some free time on ebay motors.

Stay tuned and maybe try whatever solution we find for the truck just in case.

 

here is a little thought for everyone. I am wondering if it is the ground on the rear of the truck (the one on the frame just in front of the bumper. Let's assume that ground has decayed from mud and road salt and whatever else and is no longer making a proper connection. If this is the case, why would the blinker operate 100% correctly when the head/park lights are on but not when they are off?

 

Change the flasher - they will short internally and backfeed the lighing system once in a while. If that doesn't do the trick I would say that you have a short in a bulb or one of the sockets

 

flasher is in the motor bay correct?

I thought about the short as well and wiggled everything and moved all wires in the various sockets and couldn't make anything of it. I'll check the flasher though and see if maybe I can swap it with another one to test. I know the fuses are good because I pulled and checked them visually.

 

That is truly odd but I still think your culprit is somewhere in the Head Light / Turn Indicator assembly on the steering column. Based on what you have said ...

Head Lights on = everything works normally.

Just Parking Lights on = everything works normally.

Head Lights/Parking Lights off = Right Turn Indicator causes Dash Lights and Stereo Illumination to flash in sync with the Turn Indicator - Left Turn Indicator normal ... this seems to eliminate a problem with the Flasher as it is common to the Hazard Lights and both Blinkers.

My logic is this ... the only common component to all of the issues is the Turn Indicator / Head Light / Parking Light switch on the steering column ... and it is the only part of this whole issue that is actually manually manipulated (i.e. it sees action so it will possibly wear out).

If this was a ground issue I think you would see an affect on more components in the electrical system than just the right turn indicator.

Again, good luck and hope you find it soon ... be glad it's not reversed where it blinks weird when the Head Lights are on, that would be "real" distracting driving at night.

 

Ok so now guess what?

I went out to the truck to play with the flasher and I put the key in, turned it to the fully on position but did not start the motor, and hit the right blinker. Headlights were on and all operated as it should. Decided to switch headlights off and walla! No blinking radio or dash or clock or nothing. Perfect as it used to be. So what are we looking at here? Computer glitch? Hopefully this is the end regardless of what it is...

 

All I can think of is this ...

All of us in this Forum already know that Tacoma Trucks are quasi super natural vehicles ... correct?

Your Tacoma sensed that we were discussing the lighting problem and using the information it gleaned from our discussions ... "cured" itself. LOL.

Hopefully the issue will not return ... fingers crossed.

 

lol, we're going to be sacrificing chickens and lambs next. of course...we would never sacrifice a virgin.

 

My vote would be to poll the TW Membership and sacrifice the worst Toyota Dealership Manager.

 

Had the same problem with my 05 Tacoma DCSB and it turned out to be the third party (UHaul) trailer lights that were installed on my truck. They had been on the truck for ~4 years before causing the problem, which turned out to be some sort of short in the controller. Once it was removed, the problem went away and I had a Toyota OEM trailer light adapter installed.

Just my 2 cents...

C