Door Light LED Swap Fuse(?) Issue
 

So I swapped out all the interior LEDs in my 2012 SR5 with a product that was probably too inexpensive, and it's going to end up costing me money. I did all the interior lights without an issue, until I got to my drivers door. Went to swap the door light down at the bottom, and when I installed the new bulb it flickered and then went out. Now, not only does that fixture not work, but the truck doesn't register any information from that door position switch. So opening the drivers door doesn't turn on the interior lights, nor does it let the truck know that I've gotten out when I stop somewhere, turn the truck off, get out and lock it with the fob, thus the headlights stay on. I've swapped the door switch for the one on the other side and that didn't fix the issue. Swapping in a working fixture from the other side also doesn't work. I've checked the fuses, but none of them in the engine compartment nor under the dash are blown. Can anyone with a good idea of how the 5th gens are wired up shed any light on this?

Not sure exactly the extent of this issue here. Do your led lights come on at all? Are you saying your headlights stay on after locking with the fob? If that's the case, check your doors after Fob lock and see if any are unlocked. It would mean you need to replace the lock actuators.

If your only having issues with interior LEDs not working, always check the polarity is correct. Most leds can not be reversed but there are some that are designed to go both ways, giggitty. Check and see if your tail lights are still working as well. On my 4the gen I blew a tail light fuse which was also used for interior lights. Took a while to figure out that one. If you got a multimeter you can check and see if your getting power on the light fixture contacts. Remove led bulbs? Put OEM bulbs back? Unhook battery to reset? Sacrifice a goat?

Either way no more dad puns about light please.

Good suggestions here.

Also consider that when replacing OEM incandescent bulbs with LEDs it’s common that the LED base is slightly oversized and when inserting it’s easy to smash two of the socket contacts together or spread them apart too much. Check the light fixture socket for damaged or misaligned contacts. Re-align them if needed. With a voltmeter check for +12v and GND on the contact pins. Push in the door switch button to simulate opening and closing the door; check the contact voltage. Compare your results of the non-working fixture to the working fixture on the passenger side. Check the fuses again. Get back to square one, put a known good incandescent bulb in and test all cases. If all is well carefully install a known good LED and re-test.

So as for the diagnostic steps suggested by Electroboy, I've done them all with the following results:
The wiring harness for the light socket has two wires, red and pink. Red is hot and my light up electrical tester lights up when I insert it into the harness on that side and ground it. That said, the original light fixture from that location doesn't work when plugged in. A working fixture from the other side of the truck also does not work when plugged in to the non-functioning wiring harness. A swap of lots of bulbs shows that no matter what's plugged in to that wiring harness, it doesn't work. Pushing the door position sensor and releasing it causes no change. I swapped the door position sensor from the other side in with no change. The sensor from the other side works just fine.

So, to clarify, I tried to replace the bulb in the drivers side door puddle light, and when I did it seemed to create a short and the fixture no longer worked. A new fixture hooked to the same wiring harness also doesn't work. The door position switch on that side doesn't appear to communicate with the computer anymore. Opening the drivers door does not cause the interior lights to come on, nor does the vehicle register that I have left when I get out of the drivers door, thus the headlights don't automatically turn off. No other issues are noted. I've checked all the fuses and they're all intact.

Any thoughts?

wonders to myself if I should just leave those shiny new assorted Diode Dynamics LED replacement bulbs in the box

edit: installed all around ... no issues w/ LED's from DiodeDynamics

So, with the driver side puddle light fixture unplugged, and you got an indication that +12v is on the red pin of the harness, that means you did not blow the DOME fuse. I’m guessing that the pink wire got shorted to the red wire when you plugged in the LED bulb. The pink wire goes to the main body ECU, which controls the application of GND to that wire to turn on and off the light. (I’m looking at the 2010 wiring diagram).
So it looks like +12v got applied to that ECU output. Hopefully it didn’t damage that ECU circuit.
One technique is to try to reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery for several hours, then reconnecting it.
One of the forum’s electrical gurus, @rigtec , has access to more recent schematics and has trouble shot electrical gremlins for others before, and resetting the ECU. He could probably verify this. Maybe he’ll respond to this, or send him a PM.
Either way, let us know the results. Good luck.

Hi coreynw,

I hope I've read this post correctly... If your other door lights/Dome lights are working, you've gotta trace the driver-side door-light wire harness up as far as you can; there's likely a connector that's partially disconnected!

I have (Printed) most ALL of the wiring diagrams for any 4Runner year, but they're not in any file order. Since I used to store them all on "Photo-Bucket", and now they're holding them hostage, for a ransome fee, it makes them difficult to obtain QUICKLY!

So, try following the driver-side door light from the socket to the next wire connector; I seem to rmbr having that issue when I did my door-lock motor, when accidently letting go of the trim panel and losing power to the door lighting!

If that's not the trouble, I'll find the correct diagram, even if I have to go to "PB" and copy the url... even if it does have their "Water-mark" (Stain) on it, we'll still find the trouble, so don't worry, just let me know where we stand!

And thank you @ElectroBoy for mentioning me in this thread, I'm honored to help out any way that I can! 'Best to you ALL'

rig, Happy New Year!

Somehow I missed these replies a few weeks ago. Thanks @ElectroBoy and @rigtec h! I took the door apart and traced the wires all the way to the transition to the body without any loose connections. Indeed as @ElectroBoy noted, there appears to be 12v coming from both red and pink at the light fixture at this point. Both will power on a tester when grounded. I failed to disconnect the battery when I was swapping in the bulbs so I think 12v getting to the ECU is a possibility. The fact that the door position switch works (confirmed by swapping the sides) but that it doesn't communicate with the ECU (confirmed by the fact that interior lights don't come on when door is opened, and headlights don't go off after locking if only the drivers door is opened after stopping) makes me think the issue is not just in the wiring connections. I havent tried the hard reset, so I'll leave the battery disconnected overnight this weekend and see where we stand.

Hi Corey,

A remark you made stood out for me so I wanna address it here! You said:

"Thanks @ElectroBoy and @rigtec ! I took the door apart and traced the wires all the way to the transition to the body without any loose connections. Indeed as @ElectroBoy noted, there appears to be 12v coming from both red and pink at the light fixture at this point."

Usually, whenever you see/find juice-(POS) coming from the NEG line... it's coming "THROUGH" your 'Load Circuit' on it's way to the ground pole, e.g. when you feed a lamp 12V, after it hits the filament, it still has yet to reach the GND while still HOT!

So whenever I need to cut a BAD/ Mis-guided GND circuit because the GND pole/junction has failed, and I can see where it's "supposed" to go, like an ECU, but I still have NO GND, when I cut that wire to re-route it to another GND point, I know I have to 'CAP IT' because "It's Still Live!" ...Follow...? "Best!"

rig!

I have the same issue with 2013 TE. Riverside puddle light no longer operates with any bulb but the fixture is fine as works on the rear door. Door switch does not activate the interior lights and the headlights do not turn off as well. No fuses blown. Had seen something about a ECU mater fuse but no clue what that would be,

I'll give the ECU reset a try with disconnecting the battery but would anyone have some further guidance or has anyone solved this issue and could share the steps to correct that would be appreciated.

Solved-ish
 

So I had my truck into the dealership this week as a follow-up to the airbag recall a few weeks back. They took a look at the Body Control Module and said that the issues I'm having are coming from that. They said there's a "burned spot" that looks like something shorted out. Thus, it looks like I'm going to replace the BCM. They wanted $1100 for the fix, but it looks like I can get a BCM for ~$200-250, now the question is how hard will the replacement be? I guess since @jax4unnerTE and I have now had the same issue while trying to replace interior lights with LEDs we should let folks know this is an issue. @Jax4runnerTE , what brand LEDs were you installing?

For more info on this issue here’s a link to the thread started by @Jax4runnerTE

LED Interior Lighting Upgrade Issue

BTW, a good sealed LED replacement bulb that I’ve used for the door courtesy lights is the Philips 168 (168ULWX2)

Ultinon LED Interior car light 168ULWX2 | Philips

Good luck with your BCM search/replacement.

I believe Fyre Fly, sone Amazon cheap LED.

I guess time for a new BCM.

I had same issue with same brand tonight. Did you end up replacing the BCM?

Here’s a PSA.
There have been lots of reports of people frying their BCMs due to careless replacement of the bulbs in the lower door puddle lights. You gotta be careful so you don’t short that power lead to ground. There is no fuse protection in that circuit. The BCM supplies the power. If you short the two light bulb leads together, then bye bye BCM.
Read this thread and see the pics. The poor guy blew out two BCMs:
Weird Dome light issue for just Drivers side Front and Back doors | Toyota 4Runner Forum [4Runners.com]