Brake lights stuck on

So I’m having an issue with my brake lights

when my head lights are turned off, everything works fine, but when I turn my headlights on it looks like my tail lights are brighter than the brake lights.

I had a stop light switch code and fixed that and my pass headlight connecter was melted and I replaced that aswell.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on what to look for, I checked rear grounds and they seem like they’re intact. Also the little plastic piece by brake light switch is good aswell. Could it be the rear light circuit board?

 

Welcome. Please explain for on exactly how you fixed it.

Also, If the rear marker bulbs are brighter (since the bulbs are a dual filament) are brake lights dim even with the headlights switched to off?

 

I changed out the brake switch by just unscrewing and screwing a new one in, I watched a video and whatnot. I replaced the rear bulbs with the right dual filament ones when I had gotten the truck, I can notice it getting slightly brighter when in my garage but it still isn’t enough to see at night time. The brake lights look how the tail lights are when my headlights are off, so when my head lights are off you can see them clear as day, but when I turn the headlights on, my tail lights are clearly visible but my brake just barely make it brighter, can really only tell when close to my garage wall, I do have a video of it but it’s not letting me post it, I’ll just post pictures to better explain what I’m trying to say lol.

 

For video uploads, upload to YouTube and post the link here. Just you follow the adjustment for the brake lamp switch? Which brand and part number did you install?

 

Sounds to me like the running lights are back feeding into the brake light circuit. Have you checked your trailer lighting plug (assuming you have one).
There are much more electrically inclined folks here than me, I'm just thinking what I would do.
I would see if turning on just the running lights produced the issue.
I'd inspect the trailer light harness, and all the wiring back to the tail lights.
I'd try unplugging each tail light individually and see if the issue went away, see If its in a tail light socket.
The melted connector on the headlight could just be an unrelated lose connection? Resistance = Heat

 

Does your topper High Mounted brake light work and if so, how good/bad is it's intensity compared to LH/RH stop/tail light assemblies ?
The head lights being on a different circuit than brake/tail light circuit, begs the question how good is your battery and alternator output voltage ?
My thought is your stop circuit is losing proper amount of current either due to corroded connections, conductor issue, route it takes via Integration Relay....etc.

 

So here’s another weird thing that’s happening, my trailer plug (4flat) is heavily corroded so I cleaned it up a bit and the lights and what not all work properly, but only for a little bit, and if I shut my truck off with the trailer lights pluged in, the lights don’t turn off until I unplug the trailer lights.

I didn’t even think to check the fog lights/running lights, but they do currently work.

 

Also the topper light was never wired up, but if the topper light works good maybe that will be good enough for a little while atleas until I figure out the real issue. Thanks for all the advice so far btw.

 

For the trailer plug I do need to have one wired up to complete the circuit right? I can’t just cut the wires to test if that’s the problem can I? If so I already did that and nothing changed. If not I’ll go buy another one and find out lol.

 

If it's an aftermarket trailer plug, a lot of people use those shitty ScotchLock wire tapper things, and they end up corroding and causing a lot of problems in the circuit. Sadly, we've seen a few people with that straight from the dealer, taped up into the wiring out back. Not saying that's your issue, but verifying the wiring may be worthwhile, especially if someone used ScotchLoks/QuickTaps/T-taps on the wiring. Those should NEVER be used on wiring, especially if it's exposed to outdoor conditions. Huge mistake that often ends in failure/problems.

 

It's according to how your LEO's view no proper breaking lights and what a "little while" means. My small area we know everybody and our officers won't warn us but once.

 

So this was about 2 or 3 weeks ago I went to my grandfather shop to test the trailer plug and if I remember correctly it only worked until I started checking the blinkers, hazards etc. I’m actually gonna head over there sometime today to check again. I’m currently in the middle of moving so it’ll probably be after 6pm. I checked the tail light wiring when I got the truck a couple months ago and someone was definitely down there, but there wasn’t any t taps and all the wires seemed to look good, I even removed that wire insulator to double check and everything looked to be intact all the way to the rear lighting circuit.

Edit: everything that was “fixed” was fixed using butt connector that also looked good. Definitely going to go through it again just to triple check but like I said that’ll most likely be after 6pm

 

Word of advice: When using butt splices outside the vehicle, make sure they’re the self-sealing flavor. They cost 3x as much, but essentially once you install, no water/salt/corrosion is gonna get into that connection.

And regarding not seeing other stuff, I’m stuck on mobile so searching tough and I can’t find the post to show you. But I recall one member with the earlier year trucks which didn’t come with the factory 7-pin harness, bought his from the dealer with tow package added. He traced the white/green/yellow/black flat-4 wires back to where they entered into the taped wire loom. When he unraveled the tape, that’s where he found the dealer had spliced things together with scotchloks, and the wires were shorting.

Not saying you’ll find the same, just sharing what another ‘00-02 drive found.

 

Ah so the 4 flats not factory then, only the second truck I’ve owned so I figured the Reese style hitch was factory. I will definitely do that then.

 

I'd need to defer to one of the earlier-year guys. I don't think tow package was offered from the factory, but I'm not looking at the brochures either. Every person I've seen with a 2000-2002 that had tow package, a 10-12awg lead was crimped off the battery, run to the back to a feed behind the driver tail light, then out to the 4-flat, others I've seen had a 4-flat spliced in from behind the bumper, between the license plate and corner.

 

Post picks of your brake switch area and the trailer light plug and wires.

 

If you're speaking of the Reese hitch that fits into the Receiver Hitch Bracket, your Tow hardware might be factory for your TRD. Mine came with tow package but had to buy hitch/ball.

All that to say if you're interested, create account at Toyota Owners then get copy of Vehicle Specifications and it will say if you have factory tow package.

Does the 4 way harness appear to plug into factory connectors underneath ?
@shifty` mentioned some of the other items needed for the 4 way.

None of that necessarily fixes your issue but can lead you to know more about what you have on your truck.