smoking fuse box

hey guys. i'm the fool who rolled his last tacoma. but fortunately, i got another 2010 tacoma! only this one has TRD off road and the works with options! you guys have always been so helpful before, and i hope you come through again. about 5 minutes ago i was attempting to do the anytime fog light mod. on my last tacoma, which was a 2010 as well, it was simple. bend 3rd post of fog light relay. hook a blade connector to it and put the other end of the wire in with the trailer lights relay. it worked like a charm. i tried to mimic it today....and well i got smoke coming out of my fuse box, and a little bit in my cabin too....and now my fog lights wont turn on....acc, on position, motor running. nothing. any ideas what i could have done and a possible solution?? it'd save me + or - $105 at the dealer...

 

Wait...smoke coming into the cabin? Open the fuse box see what ya burned. Take a pic of it also and post it up.

You most likely got the wrong wire OR the wire was not sealed right and was touching something else.

And you prolly burned a fuse or two.

 

well, there aren't any burn marks on any of the relays in the box that smoked. i'm guessing they weren't connected when i put the wire in. do you still want a picture? i couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. is there a fuse panel inside i could look at?

 

Yes below the steering wheel the pull down cubby take that off and there is a fuse box.

 

Still want a pic of the fuse box

 

I checked that fuse panel, from my naked eye it looks normal, should I start pulling and checking all of the fuses? And hopefully these pictures upload cause I'm on my phone

 

I'm gonna have to wait to post these pictures I have til I can get back on my computer. I pulled a mag light out and looked as best I could down into where the relay plugs in, I didn't see any burn marks

 

Lame. I hope it isn't messed up beyond reasonable repair! THe thing that is stumpping me the most, is my last tacoma was a 2010 SR5, this one a 2010 TRD. So what would make this mod work on my old truck but not my new one? the only thing that's looming in my head is my new one has day time running lights and My old one didn't... The block and wires look fine. No melting or burn marks anywhere

 

sorry about the wait, here's the best pictures i could get of the fuse box. one with the relays in, one with them out. enlightening or no change?

 

You need to look underneath and examine the wires themselves to find the one that burned.

 

How would I go about doing that? Is the fuse box pretty simple to dismount?

 

i'm going to try and figure how to dismount the FB today cause i think i'll have some time. but i'm also going to try and get it to my auto shop for some more in depth checks. i'm really confused and aggrivated. i never realized how much it would bug the crap outta me not having my fog lights!!! and especially not running all the time!!!

 

In my 07, the fusebox isn't that hard to remove. First, disconnect the negative side of the battery, the the pos. You may want to pull the batt so there is more room to work with. The fb top, where all the relays and fuses plug into, is secured to the base with about 7 clips around the perimeter. This post describes where all the clips are that secure the two sides of the box together. I found I also had to remove the nuts and bolts securing the bottom half to the truck because the wiring underneath was too short to see underneath. These will be easier to access with the battery removed from the truck. I did this over a year ago so my memory might be off a bit or forgot something....

 

Oh, and the fog lights wont come on as long as the relay tab is still bent over...just making sure this isn't why you have no fogs!

 

I wouldn't run the fog lamps on that circuit until you've checked every wire in the circuit, including grounds, and repaired any with burnt through insulation.

I've seen too many car fires to let electrical problems like that go without a thorough investigation and repair.

 

thanks a ton guys. i'm going to try and tackle this today. i have the pin bent back and in place and still no fogs. i'm sure i just shorted it out. and i figured out what i did. i placed the running wire into terminal 1 of the trailer relay, not terminal 3....that's what did it. but the good news is, i plugged in a 7 to 4 pin trailer light adapter that i have that glows when plugged in, and it still lights up! so i figure if i hook up a trailer anytime soon, the lights will still work. and so i'm going to look underneath and see what i can see. i'll post pictures when i get there. but if i cant, i might have to drop it off to a shop i was recommended to. they'll only be charging me $60 instead of the dealer $105. so DIY (more like DIM) for now. cause $60 is $60. thanks again guys. i'll let you know soon