No dash lights 2005 Tacoma

So I drove an hour and got a new dimmer and......that didn't fix it. If dimmer is plugged in I have no dash lights but have climate control lights and shifter lights. Not plugged in I have dash lights but no climate control or shifter lights.

I'm about out of ideas.

 

Pull and check all the fuse that they are the correct amperage.

When you "... If dimmer is plugged in I have no dash lights but have climate control lights and shifter lights. " Do the Shifter light and c Control lights now dim ??

When you " .... Not plugged in I have dash lights but no climate control or shifter lights " Do the Dash lights dim with the switch??

Also make sure ALL wiring to the radio is disconnected. I do have a thought but let's start here ...

 

I'm going to try to get to this today, not real excited about pulling the stereo out again

 

Fuses are all good.

Yes shifter and control lights dim.

Dash lights ,only way to get lights on dash is to unplug the dimmer switch. So no they don't dim

I put it back together again and unplugged the dimmer switch again so I can have dash lights at night

 

Ok, I checked some electrical prints (I only have access to 2012) - and this is what I see on these issues.

In Summary it looks like Toyota uses a separate ground and power path for the dash illumination (Combination meter) and non dash indicator lights (i.e. Center console).

IF the Dimmer is known good, I'd look at the white wire on the dimmer switch which runs to the combination meter (Which I thinks tells the combination meter to dim the leds). I Think if you pull the dimmer switch - the combination meter goes into a "default" brightness mode. If this wire is screwed up (i.e. does this wire go to the radio to adjust brightness - and this is wired wrong in the radio swap?) then the combination meter my sense an open/short on the wire and turn the dash lights off. IF the combination meter shuts off the dimmable dash light - the second power and ground circuit is still ok for the console lights. Which is why they work with the Dimmer installed. IF the dimmer is removed - the white "Dimmer" signal (white wire) to the Combination meter is now "Open" and the combination meter goes to backup mode and just turns the dash lights full on....

Check wiring to radio for any illumination (Dim level wire (White wire?), headlights on wire, etc.) This may relate to the radio swap - it could be the problem recently occurred with radio and now is messing up the dash lights???

Take a look, let me know if this makes sense and I'll look some more if you like - also - others and chime in ...

 

The dash lights do not dim when the headlights get turned on.

The radio is wired correctly, I've double and triple checked it at this point. I even cut the wire for the dimmer to see if that was it and then crimped it back together.

As far as the white wire goes, is there a way to jump it out to test?

 

I've found some 2006 electrical prints. They are slightly different that what I was reviewing before. I sent you a PM - reply and I'll send you a couple pages related to this circuit. This may help - also we can discuss offline if you like.

Short term thing to try - there should be a brown with white wire at the radio plug you can cut to test (must cut near the radio plug). See if this helps. Radio dim may now not work but we can see if it fixes the dash lights (Combination meter back lights).

 

Probably not any help at all - but a few years back when I first got my truck my buddy and I went and installed a radio..
long story short, we didn't unplug the battery.

No dash lights at all - quick google search and found out that we blew my rheostat.

not sure if yours is anything like this; but definitely worth checking out.

**didn't read whole thread, disregard if you've already address this**

 

I know you said you checked the radio wiring and it is correct, however I have a similar issue in a corolla some years ago and it was indeed the wiring for the radio.

Have you tried unplugging the entire harness to the radio yet?

That's is how I located my issue, I tapped the wrong wire with the same color as the correct wire...

 

One other Thought - This may be a stretch. Do you have control lights in your steering wheel that tight up (i.e. Radio controls /switches that light up?)? If so it "Might" be the spiral cable in the steering wheel that has failed/shorted out? There is a TSB for this - but not sure if your vehicle is affected. Dash lights run from the radio to the steering wheel.

 

So after months and months and the problem getting worse (headlights surging, battery light coming on, airbag light coming on) and aggravating myself I finally caved and brought it to Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, AL and had an awful experience (no communication, dash poorly put together, remote starter and door locks don't work).

Anyway the short of it is the techs still can't figure it out but identified corrosion in some of the tail lights and think the fuse box/BCM is bad. They want a ridiculous amount to fix.

The other pleasant surprise is that my frame (2005) failed for the recall but they had no idea how to proceed with this here since it's the first one they've had fail according to the Service Writer. They didn't even tell me about it I noticed it on the invoice! The Service GM is out of town until Friday, but I opened a case corporate Toyota.

On the service notes the tech wrote - has ground issues - bad frame. Is it possible the frame corrosion is causing ground issues?

 

sounds like one hell of a dumb issue... I cant help but wish you would have not mentioned the dash issue, gotten a new frame, then blamed them claiming it was a new issue after the frame swap. Might be too late for that now tho.

Either way maybe you should wait till your frame swap is done and deal with it afterwards.....

 

Ya I'm not planning on anything until they can tell me what's going on.

I will bring it back to Eastern Shore on their dime though so they can put the dash back together correctly and fix the remote starter that was fine when it went in.