Rock Lights

I have the DSIM plug and play rock light module that piggybacks off the cargo light switch. Recently the rock lights won't go completely off. When I press the unlock button or the cargo light switch, the lights come on as they should. When I press the lock button, the lights fade nearly completely off, but they are definitely faintly still on. I can hear the relay working to turn the lights on and off, so I assume I have a grounding issue? I've double checked the connections on each of the 8 lights and have checked the wires for pinch points, bare spots, etc. I have had a grounding issue in the past with a light that failed, but it didn't effect all of the lights. Unfortunately, it seems that DSIM has been missing on the forums for a little while. I emailed him yesterday directly, but wanted to see if any of the TacomaWorld gurus had any troubleshooting tips that I could try.

 

My first guess would be the switch inside relay isnt disconnecting all the way.

 

Thank you for your reply. Are you familiar with the DSIM system? Is this a relay that I can find anywhere?

 

Yes I have the DSIM system with the added switch option. Which version do you have? Where do you have the power and ground connected to? Try disconnecting the ground and seeing if the are still on.
It is a standard relay that automotive shops carry. There are 2 versions, 4 pin and 5 pin. Looking at DSIMs diagrams it looks like they all use 5 pin. Look at the relay that came with yours to be sure. If you're not familiar with relays and how they work I would suggest watching some youtube videos to get an understanding. One thing to note is toyota uses ground for the relay switch triggers. The reason I say this is I THINK with the DSIM system it uses the ground from the cargo as the trigger for the relay switch. I am not 100% sure without cutting back everything and sees how it's all wired up and connected. I am not a professional by any means so some of this is hard for me to explain. I do know and have had relays in the past be faulty to where the switch inside doesnt fully disconnect leaving the circuit on. Hopefully some of this helps and maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in on this post. Feel free to keep asking questions and I can try to help if I can.

 

Awesome information. Thank you. I have the base system with no added switch. My lights only come on when the cargo lights are on. I have the system grounded to the bolt on the fender near the battery and the power is directly from the battery. I thought I could just pull the fuse that was provided in the kit to solve issue until I had more time to trace connections, etc. Pulling the fuse caused the cargo and bed lights to be on constantly.

If I reconnect everything and then disconnect the ground, what should happen?

 

If you disconnect the ground it should turn everything off. The reason the cargo lights stay on when you pull the fuse is because they are being grounded with the ground in the DSIM harness/relay. I'm trying to think about how he has everything wired up in the relay but my lack of experience is stumping me without actually seeing what wires are going where on the relay. I would think you would hear back from DSIM and that's discouraging. Maybe he will reply by the end of the week. It could help cutting back all the heat shrink around the relay taking picture and posting them to show where the wires go. This should also help others on here help diagnose what's going on. Also maybe try posting in multiple topics like technical chat and 3rd gen main page. Also try the 3rd gen what have you done to your 3rd gen today. I'm still guessing it's a faulty relay. Just to make sure you connected the lights to the connections on the DSIM harness and didnt ground or power outside of it?

 

Thanks. Hopefully DSIM replies. I'll reconnect everything and disconnect the ground tomorrow to see what happens. I already cut the heat shrink away from the relay to check those connections. I just recovered w electrical tape so it won't be too much effort to post a pic of those wires. Everything is powered and grounded like the instructions provided by DSIM. Everything was working fine for about 8 or 9 months, so hopefully it's just the relay and I can just plug a new one in. Thanks for your help!

 

Oh yeah since everything was working for that long then I would bet it's definitely the relay being stuck open. Do you have it secured so that it's not banging around? Try another relay cutting and connecting 1 wire at a time. Be sure to use female spade connectors on the wires to connect to the relay. Good luck hope you figure it out and get it all fixed.

 

Thanks

 

DSIM replied to me through email and gave me some troubleshooting tips. Below is a copy and paste from the email:

I have encountered this before and it has (so far) always been a defective rock light. The harness is a switched ground circuit so if the rock light is faulty and grounding to the chassis then you will have issues with not being able to turn the lights off.

I would recommend (with the switch off and if the lights wont turn off) unplugging the ground wire from each light one by one. When you unplug a light and they all turn off you have found the faulty light.

 

When I went out today to troubleshoot the issue. I reconnected the DSIM harness in the cab, at the battery and ground. Everything worked as it should. If the issue comes up again, I will troubleshoot it further.

 

That's good he responded and you got them working. Did you disconnect any lights and find one that was grounded?

 

I didn't do anything at all with the rock lights under the truck. Just reconnected all the DSIM stuff that I left in place at the cargo switch and at the battery. Weird situation. Thanks for being willing to help. I'm curious to try your idea of pulling the DSIM relay off the grounding bolt by the battery if the situation arises again. I think that would isolate the issue to the rock lights or the relay.