You are right. The only bulb I’ve found is for the transmission gear indicator.
Radio/GPS area illumination lights
- Thread starter dcjeeper
- Start date
You are right. The only bulb I’ve found is for the transmission gear indicator.
[MENTION=150567]Old Red[/MENTION]
Removed wire harness of dimmer, heated washer tank, radio, gps, power outlet, usb, AT gear indicator, rear window switch, 4WD switch, almost all visible wires had been checked, still no luck. Blew several fuses again ...
I unscrewed the airbag and glove box but didn't proceed to remove them. Not sure how to grab the glove box to pull it out. There's no good place to put hand on and firmly pull it. I saw two links both mentioned to pull it out straight. Still not sure if I'll break any plastic parts. Couldn't find a video for that.
My glove box doesn't have any light inside and out. I reached to the back of the glove box and found no wire in the power and outlet area. Mine is bare bone SR5 so no power outlet inside the glove box.
I never touched any wires before. the only thing I can thing of is the airbag has been recalled and the mechanic may have worked on the wires there? Where should I check next?
How to: '14 dash in an '11 - & How to Drop Glove Box - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum
Midland MXT275 GMRS Two-Way Radio Install For 5th Gen 4Runner
Removed wire harness of dimmer, heated washer tank, radio, gps, power outlet, usb, AT gear indicator, rear window switch, 4WD switch, almost all visible wires had been checked, still no luck. Blew several fuses again ...
I unscrewed the airbag and glove box but didn't proceed to remove them. Not sure how to grab the glove box to pull it out. There's no good place to put hand on and firmly pull it. I saw two links both mentioned to pull it out straight. Still not sure if I'll break any plastic parts. Couldn't find a video for that.
My glove box doesn't have any light inside and out. I reached to the back of the glove box and found no wire in the power and outlet area. Mine is bare bone SR5 so no power outlet inside the glove box.
I never touched any wires before. the only thing I can thing of is the airbag has been recalled and the mechanic may have worked on the wires there? Where should I check next?
How to: '14 dash in an '11 - & How to Drop Glove Box - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum
Midland MXT275 GMRS Two-Way Radio Install For 5th Gen 4Runner
I'm breaking one of my new rules in regards to this forum, but hopefully I can help sort this one out and avoid the dealer.
[MENTION=75046]Bugser[/MENTION] is right. [MENTION=316082]dcjeeper[/MENTION], you need to trace the circuit.
Start at one end and work your way through each connection. I have attached the Interior Illumination Wiring Diagram for the dash lights for all the buttons and radio. The 7.A Panel fuse is the correct fuse for the dash illumination. Since it keeps blowing, there is most definitely a short. Whether or not the short is in the main wiring harness, or a component needs to be determined. Taking this to the dealer is going to be expensive to trouble shoot, and can be done yourself.
First, has any wiring modification been done to the vehicle? Adding switches, etc? This is important, because more than likely that is where the issue is located. If not, here is how I would go about trouble shooting. First and foremost, disconnect the battery while you pull things apart.
Based on the diagram every dash light is fed in parallel, (Green +) with everything grounding (Grey) at the instrument cluster. (There are chips in the cluster that drive the dimming circuit, so if you use the dimmer switch to dim the instrument cluster and it works fine, the problem is not there). You need to remove each component from the overall system to see which is the one causing the short. Some minor dash surgery is going to be required but should narrow it down.
Starting on the driver side, unplug the connector going to the heated wiper switch. To get to that, just pull the dash trim part with the mirror adjustment and dimmer switch straight out from the dash and reach behind the driver knee panel rather than remove it.
Next remove the heater panel, head unit, and if you have factory heated seats, the top center console cover so you can unplug those switches as well as the illumination for the shifter position light Also remove the security indicator light near the heater control panel ( Pull it straight out from the dash and unplug the connector). Reach behind the dash clock and unplug it. Remove the overhead console by removing the two bolts in the sunglass holder and then pull straight down. There is one connector for the whole overhead. Unplug each individual switch in the overhead console as well.
Note that you will not be able to unplug the glove box light, as that is crimped onto the harness. I doubt it is the issue. Now the only thing that is left on the main harness at this point will be the glove box light, and steering wheel switches. If you had a short in the clockspring circuit that feeds those switches, you would have other issues.
With everything unplugged from the main harness, reconnect the battery and turn your headlight switch to the park position. If the fuse blows instantly with nothing connected, the short is in the wiring for the main harness. If it doesn't blow, now we know it is a specific component, and we can add things back one by one until the fuse blows. When it does, that's the component that is bad.
Go test, and get back to us so that we know what is actually wrong.
-Old Red
Since the fuse keeps blown up, can I use a headlight or taillight bulb with two pins inserted into the two holes of the fuse box to bypass that point so I can visually see which bulbs were still good and which are not? it might be a short circuit somewhere but I added a load at the fuse position so there won't be overheat in the circuit, am I correct?
Update: dealer messed up with the wires behind glove box area
[MENTION=150567]Old Red[/MENTION] [MENTION=75046]Bugser[/MENTION] [MENTION=444853]jp.vegas[/MENTION]
I checked most of the wires and narrowed down the short circuit to the area behind the glove box. I remember the airbag had a recall over half years ago and realized it's very likely the mechanic worked on the wires somewhere and caused the short circuit. I brought it to dealer and asked them to fix it and told them I've checked before and it was their fault. They doubt it at first, but later checked and fixed it at no charge, didn't tell me what's the problem, and not even a invoice for that. Apparently they found it's their fault but didn't want to admit it. I saw someone else mentioned other problems after airbag recall. Those who had airbag recall service before should also pay attention to potential problems. I'm disappoint about this dealership. Their oil change service sucks too, I found some sludge like stuff in the oil filter cap and started doing oil change myself now.
[MENTION=150567]Old Red[/MENTION] [MENTION=75046]Bugser[/MENTION] [MENTION=444853]jp.vegas[/MENTION]
I checked most of the wires and narrowed down the short circuit to the area behind the glove box. I remember the airbag had a recall over half years ago and realized it's very likely the mechanic worked on the wires somewhere and caused the short circuit. I brought it to dealer and asked them to fix it and told them I've checked before and it was their fault. They doubt it at first, but later checked and fixed it at no charge, didn't tell me what's the problem, and not even a invoice for that. Apparently they found it's their fault but didn't want to admit it. I saw someone else mentioned other problems after airbag recall. Those who had airbag recall service before should also pay attention to potential problems. I'm disappoint about this dealership. Their oil change service sucks too, I found some sludge like stuff in the oil filter cap and started doing oil change myself now.
Last edited:
Connecticut4Runner
New member
I have been trying to wire up a switch for my light bar on my 16 SR5 and its wired up and working i tried to jump the red from the Cali raised switch to the green on the wiper switch for backlighting and it only lit up the part of the switch that showed the light is on. Well i disconnected it and when i got in my truck this morning I had no backlighting on any of my switches only the dash and the gear selector lights work and do dim. The panel 7.5 fuse is not blown. So what could i have done to cause all the backlighting to go out?
