Tundra Brake Problem, Dash Light on and DRL Go Dim When Brake is Pressed

Hello, my 2012 tundra started doing a series of weird things to me recently.

There are a few things that are bothering me, they all came at once after I installed a led light in my bed.

1. One of the tail lights is not working, and I haven't switched anything in there recently. Note that I have aftermarket taillights, they were working for months.
2. When I press the brake, the dash lights and front DRL lights come on just like when you switch the low beam on but without the low beam.
3. When I twist the light switch, I can hear the noise behind the wheel right at the connection of shifting, and the noise is exactly the same with pressing the brake at parking.
4. The ABS and Traction warning light would come on for a little while, then it will go off, and come back on. And keep going back and forth.

This is really annoying and I checked the fuses and nothing wrong with it. It has 200K+ miles on it and I understand stuff worn out in it, but I do want to replace or fix the problem.

 

Sounds like a grounding issue, but it may be the alternator starting to go bad... You can try and swap back your stock tail lights and see if that sorta resolves the issue, if it doesn't, then you know its definitely a charging system issue which may lead to the alternator...

 

I just swapped them back and it solved the problem, so it came back to the grounding problem. Thanks for the information, it's really helpful.

 

We're all here to help... glad you got it resolved.

 

And when I plug my aftermarket taillights back, the problem is magically gone, everything back to normal. Thanks again!

 

You may have some pin fitment/corrosion issues. How did the tail light connections look?

 

The taillight connection is similar to the OEM factory one and there is nothing obvious on the connection part of the taillight.

 

May have to trace wiring to ensure there is no damage at either side.... either way, it seems something within the tail light harness may be shorting out or grounding out causing the trigger of the lights... I'm no electrician, but maybe try swapping the harness from the stockies to the new tail lights and see if the issues continues..

EDIT: I'm assuming both tail light use the exact same light bulbs, you're just using a different outer design..