Electrical trouble on 2012

I’ll give you a little history on the truck , all that I have.


I purchased a 2012 Tacoma dblc 4x4 with unknown history ( I know ), (I purchased it from a dealer auction ) sold as run and drive . Had the truck shipped from KS to NC and drove it off the trailer. Truck has 56k miles. I soon found out why it was at auction and not on a retail lot. The speedometer cluster and gauges doesn't work ( will show mileage when you first open door then blank) , 4x4 transfer switch does nothing , no heating/air controls , rear door locks doesn't work , no power to radio . I have lights , truck is drivable and looks to be in terrific shape. I’ve checked all the fuses I know to check , used a 12v test light to check both sides of the fuses under the dash and it appears I have no blown fuses in the boxes. Dash lights work , its like it only getting power to 1/2 of the truck. Any advice on where else to start looking ? Or a very good Electrical Guru in Greensboro NC ? appreciate the advice .

 

Does anything smell burnt? If so, I would look for wires with crusty, bubbly insulation. Or any other signs that wires have been overloaded.
Check each and every fuse. Under the hood in the box behind the battery, and behind the little storage thing below and to the left of the steering wheel. If one of the big fuses is blown, they are bolted connections sand require the fuse box to be disassembled...
You bought it at auction.... Was it a repo? Maybe the previous owner decided to give the loan company the shaft before they took it. Cut wires....

 

Possible flood damage vehicle...

 

you are correct , bill of sale showed prior water damage . Still having trouble tracking down the issue. Ive found no water line or signs of flood damage, but obviously something wrong. I purchased a new heater control , radio thinking something may have shorted, didn't fix it. Does the BCM control electrical input to the dash ?

 

I know this is weird but I had a Lexus I did the evaporator core in before, it had two plugs that go into the back of the cluster and I put them in the wrong slots. Took me two days to figure out what I did wrong. I don't know if the taco has two slots but that cluster did all kinda of funky shit but the truck still ran and drove

 

Ok, IT least the issue is constant. Perhaps you can get lucky and only have one issue to fix?? So, I'd Pick an easy to access item (ONE Item) that is not working - i.e. no power to radio. Trace the power and ground point and see what you can find. Stay on only ONE thing at a time and troubleshoot until you find the fix.

 

You have to wonder why dealer didn't fix it and I agree sounds like a flooded.....You can still fix it and I hope all turns out for you. There is a reason why most insurance companies total flooded vehicles (if it was flooded) again I hope it turns out well for you.........

 

good luck OP.

Sounds like you bought a flood truck that was cleaned up. You will likely never get rid of all the electrical gremlins as all the internal cab connections are not water tight and are likely all sorts of corroded.

Start with the connectors down in the kick pannels and lower in the truck n go from there.

 

OP if you are not in the truck too much money its worth fixing. I bought a 2012 DCLB in an auction(by accident....damn auto bid on IAA lol) sight unseen and turned out to have a lot of little issues. It turned into a project and have slowly been fixing everything to my liking. The fuse box itself could be the issues. If it has water damage it could be causing electrical mayhem throughout the entire truck. Good luck

 

Just what he said. Pick one. Stick with it. Run it down as best you can. They usually share some common point. I.E. ground or constant hot.

 

Thant's MAc4willy!

 

You said.

 

Any updates @Chopperrescue ?

 

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions . It did have water damage inside the cab , I'm slowly getting things back to working again. Cleaned connections and looking for a under dash fuse block (BCM ) now. Speedometer , Radio , 4wd all working . A/C controls not switching so I'm guessing new actuators as well . Local salvage yard just got a 2012 2wd in so I'm buying as many parts inside that will interchange. looks like it will be a work in progress.

 

Dont give up. Get those electrical gremlins taken care of and put that Taco back on the road

 

What was te solution for the fix for the Speedometer , Radio , 4wd?

 

It was a replacement gauge cluster and radio , cleaned connectors and it's working fine now . Going to try to find a used BCM and see if that fixes my door lock issues. I'll keep you posted

 

Wow, how high did the water get in the vehicle??

 

Just an update - The tacoma is coming around . Everything is working now but my rear door-locks . Replaced the BCM and 3 a/c actuators . Water must have been a little higher than what I expected. But most everything electrical has been replace from a " dry " parts vehicle . I'm thinking the rear door locks may be actuators , does anyone know if the rear is separate from the front or do they share the same circuit ? Thanks

 

Hell yeah! Congrats. Persistence pays off. She will be up and running in no time.