lights not working?

recent surprise:
-HVAC lights stopped working (good bulbs)
-exterior lights stopped working (except for main low beam and brake/stop light)

anyone dealt with this?
I hear rheostat failure ($100) can cause HVAC to not light up, but that wouldn't explain exterior lights
which supposedly can be caused by a loose common ground, failed body control module, etc.
Looks like I have a lot of electrical component checking to do...

 

I’d start with checking your fuses.. this happened to me when a cheap Amazon led tag light shorted out and popped the fuse.

 

So the turn signals work?

 

I will check

For what it's worth, I "checked" the regular ones in the engine bay fuse box. Blade style.
With beep test on multimeter. They all passed. But did not for example physically remove them for visual inspection.

Did not however remove the bigger stuff like the boxy/cube shaped ones. Such as relays, and the clear top looking ones.
(such as the bigger ones shown in pic)
Not sure why they even look like that
I don't think they have exposed metal on top (like a blade style) that allows for quick multimeter checking

I may need to get some relay puller pliers/tool to pull those out if I will look at them, to make them removable without breaking or damaging them. Because they're in there tight and there isn't much to grip to pull it out.
Whereas blade style can be easily removed with a flathead, any pliers, or plastic removal tool included/mounted to fuse box cover.

 

The Tail lights, HVAC Control Ill, Hazzard, Steering Wheel Ill, Combination meter all come from the Tail light Fuse ( 10 Amp in the cabin to the left of the steering wheel behind the cubby ) which is fused from the 50 Amp JB Fuse ( which is the big white one above the 140 Amp in your picture ).

 

I haven’t gone over the diagrams thoroughly.
But the reason I ask about the turn signal is, it share a common ground amongst what you listed.
It’s the ground for the combination switch, it send different ground to the BCM. It also send a ground to the Turn Signal Flasher. Which isn’t controlled by the BCM.

Just trying to eliminate a common. Even though you are still likely to be checking different components.

Technically the Low Beams are on the same Ground. But crazy things seem to happen if a ground is completely lost. Sometimes they default to a different ground. Like a fail safe back up.

Do I know if this is true for the Tacoma?
Nope, not at all.
But strange things can happen when grounds disappear.

 

Yes, a misbehaving ground can make you pull your hair out.

 

Some of those bigger fuses are bolted in. Do not try to pull them out.
You’ll break them if you do.

 

This.. the 10 amp is the one that popped in mine.

 

I’d start by checking the ground into the head light switch and out of the head light switch.
You can do this at the connector of the head light switch.

Before we start. Let me inform you. I’m no electronics expert.
I’m a Novice at best. Do the below at your own risk.
Anyone else that wants to jump in and correct me, or help. Please feel free.

Skip to the bold text below if you want check the fast way, but not the thorough way.

Start with connector C11

Unplug the connector.
Check pin #12 for Ground.
Then check continuity between pins 12 and 18 for Taillights. (First notch on the headlight switch)
And pins 12 and 20 (headlights switch in On position)
Then 12 and 11 for the High beam (Hi beam position On)
If this is good. You’ll need to move on to the BCM.
Connector B5

Unplug the connector. (This is for safety. Let’s not risk messing with the BCM itself)
With the Headlight switch in the first notch (tail lights running lights) check for continuity between pins #18 of c11 connector and #13 of B5 connector.
Then pin #20 of c11 and #17 of B5. (Low beam)
Next pin #11 of c11 and #8 of B5.

(You could also just unplug B5 and leave C11 plugged up. Then check for ground at pins 8, 13 and 17 of the B5 plug) This would be the fastest way to check.
If you find you don’t have a ground, you’ll still need all the information above.

 

got lucky and before reading new replies dug a little deeper into the truck
found blown fuse caused by burned plate light socket

no idea why
I'm gonna try and find a good source on a new socket and find some good plate lights to run

not sure if it's poorly insulated or what, and if maybe water got inside and shorted it; but the area looks hard to get water into and this may have even happened in the dry.
Also judging by the fact that one of them listed on eBay shows "281 sold"
that tells me a ton of them have failed on people

 

So, it was the 10 ampere tail light fuse.