Interior button lights not working

Bought a 2014 limited a week ago and I’m still learning everything it’s got on it but one thing that’s very annoying but must just be turned off is that none of the buttons below the AC or steering wheel are back lit.

Specifically; the seat heater buttons are not lit at night, none of the air control (switching from defrost to whatever), the traction control button.

I haven’t found any type of switch or anything to adjust these lights so I’m wondering if there’s maybe a blown fuse or something?? Anyone have an idea??

 

It could be the dimmer. If the dimmer is all the way down it makes the button lights look like they are basically off. Are your speedo and gauges also dark?

Another option is there is a fuse in the interior fuse box near the e-brake.

 

Where is the dimmer?? And no, the instrument cluster is still normal

 

I had to look it up online because I just now learned that it is different for the 2014+ trucks. It looks like you can turn the trip ODO button stalk thing and it will adjust the brightness of your dash. https://www.tundras.com/threads/dash-backlighting.14903/

If your gauges are all bright though this might not fix it.

 

Nice idea, I hadn’t noticed that knob but that didn’t do it. Still have all the lower lights out.

 

Thread revival… anyone have any more ideas?? Really want all my interior lit up like it should be. I had to turn on the flashers last night in the dark and couldn’t find the button for a minute

 

I guess all the switch backlights are run off the same main two wires ( one hot, one ground ) in a harness running behind the dash. There is a thread with all electrical wiring diagrams in this forum where you can check on that.Its certainly a needle in haystack job to figure out where one or the others is disconnected.

 

dash-lights-dimmer-switch-wiring.104049
look up this thread

 

Check the 7.5A Panel Fuse shown below. Its in the fuse box under the drivers side of the dash. When the lights are turned on, the taillight relay closes and powers this fuse which then provides power to all the Illumination lights for the Steering Wheel, Shifter, Tow Haul Button, AC Controls, VSC Switch, Cargo Light switch ect.

The dimmer switch inside the cluster is what provides the ground for all these lights. This is what allows you to dim them but I would bet it is working fine, you just don't have power in the illumination circuit.

 

Thank you! I’ll check that first thing tomorrow!

 

Had this happen, made sure dimmer was turned to bright and reseated all the 7.5amp fuses under the dash, fixed my issue. Guess one was loose or didnt have a good connection.

 

Ok… next guesses??

I checked that “panel” 7.5 amp fuse, it’s good and we’ll seated

 

Did you check it for voltage? Should have 12v when lights are turned on, (tailight relay closes and powers this circuit)

Should be 0v on that fuse when lights are off.

If you are seeing voltage switch on and off at that fuse with the lights then the problem is on the ground side of the circuit.

If you have a good multimeter set it to DC volts and put on probe to ground, the other to one of the two the little pin holes in the top of the fuse. Watch for voltage on the meter as you turn the headlights on and off

 

so I've got power but still no lights.. must be a ground issue somewhere?

 

Check all of the fuses under the dash, not just that one.

 

Yep, have to check them all, both under dash and hood. When i had the issue I ended up reseating (none were blown) all the 7.5 amp fuses in the truck and that fixed my issue. Guessing something was not seated right or had crud in the connection.

 

Ok first thing I would do is turn the headlights on and then make sure the dimmer is working to dim the lights in the instrument cluster. The dimmer looks like this and is on the dash. As you rotate the wheel with the headlights on, the dash/cluster lights should get dimmer/brighter. If that is not happening you might have a bad dimmer switch.


To understand how the circuit works see the pictures below. The dimmer switch/wheel (in the red box) is wired directly to the instrument cluster. As you rotate the wheel it adjust the brightness of the Illumination circuit. The ground signal for all the dash lights comes out of the cluster on the Red wire (black Arrow pointing to it) labeled ILL-. This controls the ground to all the dash/button lights.




Here we can see the other end of the red ILL- wire going to the bank of interior light switches. As you can see its responsible for grounding the lights. If you look at the far left 4WD control switch, the Pink wire is 12v from the Panel fuse which you say is good. When the headlights come on, this wire will go to 12v. Then the white wire at the bottom of the switch is the ground which is seems yours is not ground properly.




If you have made sure your Panel and other fuses are good its safe to assume the lights in the switches are getting power 12v. They are just not being grounded to light up.

Once you make sure the dimmer wheel is work properly it may be time to go looking for a break in the ground circuit to the dash switch lights. You could pick a random light dash button, pull it out. Use the meter to make sure the 12V power for the light is coming in when the headlights are on. Then check the ground side of the ILL to see if its connected to ground.

For example if you look at the "Cargo Light Switch" Yellow Pin #1 should be 12V when headlights are on. Blue Pin #4 should be to ground (coming from the red wire and instrument cluster) If you have a proper power signal and ground on these 2 wires the button will light up.




Might not be the worst idea to check every fuse in the interior fuse box to make sure. If you have a good multimeter, set it to the continuity setting. Now when you touch the 2 leads together it should beep. This means you have a "flow" continuous circuit between the leads. You can check every fuse in the box in a few minutes without having to remove a single one.

With the meter setup properly, you can put one lead in each hole of the fuses at the top. If the meter beeps the flow through the fuse is complete and its good. If it doesn't beep the fuse is bad.

 

Not sure about 2014-2018, but on 2019 there isn't a dimmer switch like that. There is a peg that sticks out of the cluster (Tach) and it clicks through different brightness levels.

 

Yes 2007-2013 have the dimmer wheel on the dash.

2014-2017 have one stalk for Odo/Trip. You rotate it to dim

2018+ have 2 stalks. One you push for Odo/Trip, the other your push for brightness

 

Ok, OP has a 2014, so he'll have the single stalk one.

 

Damn, my bad

I thought his was a 2010, good catch.

Ingore my post about the dimmer wheel. That’s for 2007-2013.

Turn the headlights on and rotate the ODO stalk to make sure the dimmer is working. The dimmer on 2014 is internal in the cluster

 

You've got loads of good info. No need to apologize. Makes it applicable to all generations.

 

Looks like the 2014 works in a similar way except the dimmer switch/wheel is internal to the cluster. The ILL- wire is now white and when activated it seems to connected to Pin #23 EP. I believe this to be a ground signal feed into the cluster then sent down the ILL- line to ground out the dash button lights. If Pin 23 from ground location A1 into the cluster is broken, I do not think any of your dash lights will get a ground signal.




When you get to the actual lights, it works in a similar way. White is the ground, the blue is the power from the 7.5A panel fuse.

 

yes I have a 2014, I need to update that in my profile. sorry for the confusion there!

I won't have time to check all this until this weekend but I'll report back what I find.

and as to pulling all the fuses, that was the first thing I did. wish it was that simple!

probably worth noting: the owner before me added a remote start and aftermarket head unit. what I've seen so far looks like decent wiring but maybe they messed something up adding stuff in?

 

FNG here. This post helped me figure out how to dim the dash lights at night. We just bought a 2020 SR5 Crewmax. It's a wee bit different than our 2006 4Runner we traded in-LOL!!! Great site-THANK YOU!!!

 

Did you ever solve your issue? If so where was it? I have this exact issue now.