[forqnc]

Hi everyone, first post and needing help.
Some info. I own a 2000 Tundra access cab; I bought it a year old. It was owned by a Toyota salesman before me and had a Toyota Hitch and wiring harness when I bought it. I rarely tow, and at the end of last summer I went to tow a trailer and had no lights, checked connections, all good. Opened rear light cluster and found the converter, it has a single red wire and a large connector with the lights signals going in (part number PBT-GF30). I assumed the red wire is +12Vdc, I tested with a multi meter and no power. OK fuse is blown……….
I need to tow this weekend so I just spent 3 hours searching the forum, I have looked under the hood, removed drivers kick panel, looked under the rear seats, tested all fuses in the 2 fuse boxes and I cannot for the life of me find any fuse.
On the positive post of the battery I have 2 cables one to the Starter and one to the fuse box under the hood. I do not see where the O3 Option connector is.
I do not know or, how to find out if the truck came with the Towing package from new.
Has anyone come across this.
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[trog55]

It could well be the converter itself that's bad. I've had mine replaced twice on my 2000 SR5 TRD 4x4; first time under warranty at 11,000 miles, second time at 76,000 miles under some sort of "special" warranty. That wasn't the exact term that was used but what it amounts to is that the converter or the system in total, whatever, as installed at the port, is recognized as being, in some way, defective and will be replaced whenever needed. This is a Tundra from the Gulf States region so I don't know whether this "special" warranty would apply to you but it might be worth inquiring about.
Good luck!

 

[NegroTundra]

forqnc: Did you ever solve your issue? I'm guessing you did, since we are all now 6.5 years older.

I'm thinking that mine may have gone bad; I stripped the wires going to the converter and have ~12V going in, but only .6V coming out to the trailer plug. This is obviously not enough to power any lights. When I removed the converter, I decided to take a look inside and found it was packed with dirt/mud/road grime. No way to really clean it either as the "gel" that encapsulates the circuit board will actually come out if you try to remove the dirt.

At any rate, does anybody know where to find one of these buggers? Its amazing that there is so little info on the web about them, and the dealer has no clue what Im talking about. I did find this thread over on TacomaWorld,Toyota Towing Converter - Tacoma World Forums , and this recall notice, 2000 Toyota Tundra Recalls, but I'm not sure if this includes my 2002 Tundra.

Any help would be appreciated, I already recieved one citation because of no trailer lights!! Doh!

 

[Tundra1Dan]

They are also made by Hopkins or Kurt or reese or what ever make is carried by your local parts guys.

 

[NegroTundra]

They are also made by Hopkins or Kurt or reese or what ever make is carried by your local parts guys.

Ahh I see, like this one T-One Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector Tow Ready Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring 118378....So I would just abandon the factory towing set up and replace with this. Thanks, such an easy answer lol

 

[UPbuilder]

I like this one, has 7 pin round and 4 pin flat both on one plug - Hopkins Multi-Tow 7-Way Blade and 4-Way Flat Trailer Connector - Toyota Hopkins Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring HM43385 But maybe not usable if you don't have the factory tow package.

 

[DevinSixtySeven]

I'm using something very similar, aftermarket converter with 7/4 connector. The Toyota converter was doing strange things, and the install was all screwy...they tapped in to the taillight wiring, and my sign that something was wrong was the reverse lights flashing instead of the turn signal.

Installing the aftermarket unit is actually really easy. If you have a factory tow package, or partial wiring for it, look inside the left frame rail near the front of the bed for a very large grey connector block. It may have a blank connector coming out the back. If you have the factory converter, follow the wiring back to the converter box for extra line before cutting anything. If you don't have the factory box, but you have the blank connector, Toyota sells "tuneup wires" that you can splice to new wiring for your aftermarket converter. Pull the rubber plugs out of the blank and insert the new ones.

If you don't have any factory tow wiring at all, I highly recommend using Deutsch-Tech connectors for the trigger lines, and running a separate hot (fused, relayed, direct from the battery) and ground line to the tow plug. If you need wiring diagrams, ask...somebody here will have them, and I have the connectors under the driver's seat mapped out for exactly this sort of thing.

Also, the converter makes it easy to run a combo 3rd brake/signal light. They're usually similar to trailer lights, where brake and signal use the same circuit, with running lights on a separate circuit. Our trucks use an additional wire, with brake/signal/running lights all on separate circuits. Since the light box/bar is just on/off, you need a logic circuit to switch between braking and signal functions...if it's an LED light, just tap the converter output.

Last item, get the highest rated output you can find, in a converter.

I basically have mine wired as if the truck never had a tow package installed, but used the factory connector to keep the wiring harness a little more reasonable. If I were doing it again, I'd say screw the factory harness, and use booted DT connectors for everything.

 

[Seon]

Check the fuse in the yellow fuse holder that's connected to your battery. That's why my brake lights didn't work on my '01 Tundra that I previously owned.

 

[MaxInsane15]

Check the fuse in the yellow fuse holder that's connected to your battery. That's why my brake lights didn't work on my '01 Tundra that I previously owned.

Here are a number of testers you can use for the wires. http://www.*************.com/Circuit-Testers/
Here is also a Wiring diagram that could help. http://www.*************.com/trailer-wiring-diagram-guide.html
Both are from the "h i t c h a n y t h i n g" site

 

[burned300]

The fun thing about 2000 Tundra's, is that there trailer wiring was only used that year, the Toyota factory manual don't show a factory trailer light converter. Starting in 01 there is a converter mounted under the bed. Starting in 03 converter got moved into the cab and the trailer tail & brake wiring got their own fuses. over Holiday I'm removing a U-haul burned out box from co-worked 00 Tundra & install another brand, I"ll have to share update after it's done.