02 nightmare HELP

[Warwickfishman]

OK guys and gals,

here's what happened..

Driving into work this morning my left directional indicator on my dash went solid... in about 10 minutes the other went solid....

a few minutes after that I lost all dashboard lights except clock and radio....

than a guy pulls next to me tells me I have no lights of any sort on the rear..

I get to work, park it go inside for a minute.. than I have to drive to another building it starts and I can NOT get it out of park and all my lighs are the same as I desribed them....

as I write this I'm await a tow to a local Toyota dealer...

[EnolaGaia]

Sounds like a massive electrical failure. Given the symptoms, it's hard to pin down just one circuit that'd explain all those things at once.

I'd suspect the taillight circuit as the one most likely to set off the majority of symptoms you described. The dash illumination (other than radio / clock) is powered off the 10A Tail fuse (i.e., the same circuit as the taillights).

Some sort of short circuit or maybe a flasher relay failure might explain the cluster turn signal indicators going to 'constant on' (first symptom you mentioned).

The hardest one to 'fit in' is the Park / Neutral Position Switch circuit failure. That circuit doesn't cross-wire directly into the taillight circuit, but it may be affected by the Stop Light (brake light) circuit.

So - for what it's worth, I'm suspecting a failure in the taillight (and maybe brake light) circuit(s) as the root cause for everything that happened.

Not exactly 'great news', but hopefully it's 'hopeful' news (that only one or two things may be screwed up) ...

[Warwickfishman]

Well, hopefully I'll know shortly (no pun intended) I hope...

I had it towed to a Toyota dealer near here where I work..

and the Tow guy showed me a cap on the front of the shift housing he removed it and at least he got it into gear..

[Warwickfishman]

OK here's what happened..


the aftermarket wiring for my trailer hitch shorted out big time.. and that caused 4 fuses to blow. two of which controlled the brake lights and one the back up lights.. and the shifting or lack of ability to shift out of park is a safety feature on Toyota.. in case any one comes across this there is a shift over ride on the "02" AUTOMATIC Tacomas w/4x4 at the front of the shift housing (in the cab) there is a small raised cap (it's in with a pressure clip) pop it out push it in and you can shift over riding the inability to do so just remember you have NO tail lights..

oh yeah and I now need to replace the trailer wiring ..

[Arb1977]

Cool. See if you can find a factory wiring harness for your hitch. May keep things in check.