Sanity check please. Power outlets "sort of" works.

2000 Tacoma SR5 with two 12v power outlets and one cigarette lighter. The cigarette lighter powers all devices normally. The power outlets will not operate under load, but will illuminate a single LED (see photo) or measure 12v on DMM. The LED work light in the photo may faintly glow after a minute or two, while in the cigarette lighter it's immediately at full brightness.

What else is there except the contacts of the power outlet relay that will limit current to the load? The power outlet relay does work, as the power outlets only get 12 volts when the key is in ACC or run position. I checked the fuses, connections and cleaned the power outlet contacts.

Any idea would be great.

 

I have noticed that on my 98. Those lower two might be lower amperage than is required to run whatever you are hooking up. They have power but not enough. Other than completely re-wiring them I am not sure what one could do to get more "juice".

 

check the wiring, you migt have a bad connection. Also the plug might be bad. Take the wires off the back of the plug and connect to your light.

 

There's a fuseable link on the back of the power outlet sockets. Check to make sure they have a good connection .

 

I noticed the links on the rear of the power sockets. I will check that tonight, thanks.

The next big connector up from the sockets is J11. It's high up behind the passenger side dash. As much as I want the power circuits working, I really don't want to remove the dash just for this.

 

My 12 volt plug doesnt work either. I assume its due to the crusties (rust) inside of it preventing a good connection.

 

Just wanted to pop back in and update on the solution. It was a faulty power outlet relay. I'm sure it was the original Denso relay.

 

This. I've killed a few of these..

 

you know you can jump that relay so you can have those outlets hot all the time? Pretty useful when you want to charge your phone or whatever and not have to turn the truck ignition on. It doesn't effect your battery unless you leave something that pulls juice all the time.

This is JUST a relay, not a fuse, so you're not leaving that plug unprotected, either.

jumper wire in lower right of pic:

 

I considered doing this, but I'm almost sure I'll kill my battery forgetting to unplug an accessory.

 

Meh. I have had this mod for over ten years, and the only times my battery has gone dead are when I leave the truck for a month or more (it's not a daily driver anymore).

Unless you have one of those chargers with a light on it, there is zero drain, even if the thing is plugged in. And even then, the draw from a small LED on a usb charger is probably less than the draw from from ECU.