HELP PLEASE. I’M STUMPED

i am stumped. i cannot get these lights to work. i’ve changed bulbs, dimmer relay, checked tail light fuse, and have done everything i’ve seen online that should fix it. any suggestions???

 

check J3 terminal 5 and 8



Check J4 terminal 14 and 15

 

Those knobs look different than my 07’
Are those the stock A/C knobs?

 

looks like not.

 

Have you checked for power at the bulb socket with the rheostat max setting?

 

The dimmer controls these lights and is a complicated little mechanism (not just a rheostat because of the LED lights in the dash). It's easily damaged because, in my experience, it's not fuse protected somehow. I blew one installing a stereo and mixing up 2 leads. Are your instrument (speedo, tach, etc) lights out too? If so, it's the dimmer.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/climate-control-knob-upgrade.471645/

 

This is great to know! What if your instrument cluster stays lit up (speedo/tach) but nothing else lights up? Dimmer switch does nothing to dim/brighten those lights

 

If I remember right, when the dimmer is unplugged, all lights will operate at full brightness. When the dimmer is fried, the dash, instrument, etc lights will do strange things but will most often go completely out. So one way to test if the dimmer is malfunctioning is to unplug it and see if the lights come back on. If they do, your problem is the dimmer and not fuses, LED's, etc. In your case, maybe the dimmer was unplugged?

 

Power is supplied to the radio receiver and steering pad switch illumination when the light control switch is in the TAIL or HEAD position. The intensity of the radio receiver and steering pad switch illumination can be adjusted by the light control rheostat. The same for the combination meter. Turning to the tail or head position will actually cause the intensity of the combination meter to dim (I believe), then the intensity is further adjusted be the rheostat.

 

Yes, they will dim (from full brightness) to whatever dim setting the rheostat is set to.

 

Just to get a little more background info:

Do you have the steering wheel light stalk turned to the first click, or all the way to headlights on? Mine only light up after I turn the stalk knob, even though the dash lights are on.

Do the AC and Recirc buttons light up when pressed, or is everything dead?

Did you make sure the new mini bulbs are turned all the way to the right, to seat the connection?