AVOID Cheap Aftermarket Car Accessories and Here's Why! A $750 Lesson
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
- Please avoid cheap aftermarket car accessories and don't go through an expensive lesson that the owner of this brand new Toyota Tacoma went through.
Folks when it comes to accessorizing your car, Most car guys will start thinking on how to personalize their new car before they even get it. Aftermarket accessories done right and with good sources always goes well. But do things on the cheap and things will never go well.
I hope this helps you not go through these issues. The owner of this Toyota Tacoma is a gem of a guy, However a small mistake on install led to this $750 bill on a brand new car.
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0:00 Intro
0:52 What Happened
2:10 Diagnosis
8:49 The Repair
16:08 It's All Fixed
17:16 Deep Dive Into What happened
21:56 AVOID Cheap Aftermarket Accessories - Auta a dopravní prostředky
As an aircraft mechanic I love seeing real automotive technicians do troubleshooting instead of just part replacemrnts that is all too common these days.
I was in a B-52G debrief once when the Bombardier explained how when a fuse blew he proceeded to replace the fuse with ever higher amperage until smoke poured from the panel. Bomb Nav maint guy almost went over the table to choke him.
Amen brother; the quest for Mission Capable Rate glory long ago killed genuine troubleshooting.
how long to discover what caused that Alaskan Airline flight that blew put the window panel?
@@maxrx7 after seeing the video and pics of the door plug I already knew what happened lol people working long hours and didn't fully install it, along with inspections being pencil whipped. Boeing and the FAA will make up some other crap reason but me having worked at an OEM making parts for planes, I know exactly how it went down at Boeing when they put the plug in since I have seen with my very eyes things being shipped out after 16 hour days and parts coming back due to not being made/tested correctly.
@@meowmeow2759 funny enough, I saw a headline around an hour ago stating they were grounding multiple 737's because they were found with loose doors. Can't remember which airline was mentioned though, but sounds like you're spot on
It’s sad and somewhat annoying to see what sells on Amazon these days. Louis Rossmann made a video a few days ago where he tested Amazon fuses with a bench power supply and he had some that were passing 6 times their rated power without blowing. It’s CRAZY!
The owner probably put a fuse marked with the right value, but it did like the ones in the Rossman test. I watched Louis do that test, and it was pretty scary.
I either buy new Buss fuses or raid OEM ones from junk vehicles at wrecking yards where they can be had for next to nothing. I have containers of nearly every type fuse commonly needed, including old glass cylinder fuses.
@@donreinke5863 I never thought of pulling them from junk cars. I’m going to have to get in on that now.
@@PrinceAlbertsI didnt say it, but some people I know just fill their pockets with them and walk out.
@@donreinke5863 No doubt.
Congratulations on integrating graphics and circuit diagrams in your videos. Also love the teardown of the offending part and demonstrating what damage aftermarket redesigning can cause to an otherwise good operating system. $750 is a heavy price to pay for trying to improve the electrical circuitry. Let this video be a warning to future enthusiasts who would venture to trod the same pathway. The camera work, sound and lighting were excellent as was the explanation of the preventive measures needed to overcome these issues. I can now see that 2024 is going to be a year full of promise.
The editing was great too. Especially, the speeding up of the parts where he struggled with the disassembly. So first rate. Well planned ahead of time with the assistance in place and alerted to what to do; with someone holding the camera steady. Quality production.
I think the mistake this customer made wasn't just using the aftermarket accessories, but replacing the first taillight fuse after it blew. My experience, limited though it is, taught me fuses don't just "blow" for no reason. They're put there as a failsafe device to protect a circuit. They blow to prevent something worse from happening. That's usually a fluctuating or overloaded circuit which can cause fried connectors, such as what you've shown here, or sometimes, even fires. If the customer had not replaced the fuse and went to you immediately, this whole mess could have been prevented.
I agree 100% I’ve never seen a fuse just spontaneously blow for no reason. I’d be willing to bet that they replaced it with a higher amperage fuse and that was what fried that PCB trace.
I design PCB's for a living. The fuse is there specifically for overcurrent protection. It seems likely the customer swapped in a higher amp fuse. The weak leak went from the fuse wire to the PCB. Fuses don't blow unless they are defective or the current passing through them exceeds their rated capacity. A defective fuse should malfunction right away and that should happen during testing of the populated PCB. A problem with the PCB could cause a fuse to blow as well, but that should be found right away, too.
Agree!!
@@Jon-tt9bo There's a lot of sellers on Amazon selling faulty fuses, recently saw a video where a 2A inline fuse didn't blow until it had 8A through it. I wonder if they're selling bunk automotive fuses as well
@@splitt3r Holy cow. Yeah, that would be a problem and that would explain what happened. The customer may have effectively put a higher rated fuse by mistake as you describe. Definitely buy fuses from reputable manufacturers and resellers!
You, sir, are a real mechanic! Electrical diagnosis is some of the most difficult around and you knocked it right out.
My guess is going to be that he replaced the fuse with a cheap one from a place like Amazon that didn't actually blow at it's rated load and instead melted the cable. He's lucky it melted the wire right at the fuse box and not further down the line in some panel where you would never find it.
Thanks for pointing out that if you *DO* go aftermarket LED they need to be high quality.
I bought LED turn signal bulbs with built in resistors and work with Canbus systems. They were expensive $50/pair but they are plug and play.
You shouldn't hack your cars wiring to add stuff to make it work.
I bought some decent quality LED's for my 2019 Tacoma and had no problems at all. If I blew a fuse with them, they'd go in the garbage right away.
Sadly the 'proper' way is to install a resistor on the wiring circuit. But it has to be adequately sized to match the original load, then tested. The resistors on the bulb itself shortens lifespan considerably and creates excess heat, which leads to thermal runaway - i.e fire.
@@khalidacosta7133 The high quality bulbs have built in overheat protection, in most cases they simply bypass the resistor and will hyperflash until they cool down. The cheap ones will do this about 5 minutes of constant use while the better ones will last over 30 minutes. (will basically never hyperflash in real use) The ones I'm using have a ceramic housing for the resistor. Ceramic can whistand over 1000F. Good LED Bulbs have come a long way.
This is why NONE of my vehicles have, or ever will have sensitive systems that make it risky to install aftermarket anything. Having EVERYTHING controlled by computers is why I have zero desire to own a late-model vehicle. From this perspective, even a mid 70s vehicle is far superior to any late model vehicle regardless of manufacturer.
I'm trying to keep most of mine to 90s to early 00s. Durable, forgiving, easy to work on, and modern amenities.
I agree with your diagnosis, cheap aftermarket LED replacement bulbs that require additional resistance is a NO GO for sure. Today there are many reputable companies that sell proper LED bulb replacements with the correct resistance built into them. The problem most people have is they want to go cheap and don't realize it can be more costly when circuits blow fuses and more.
No, the problem is people don't know what the hell they are doing. You can easily get the correct value resistor for the system to operate. LED's don't draw the same current that Halogen bulbs do. Problem is you can't just guess what resistor value to use or some use 50 ohm resistors in series which adds further load and gets rid of canbus errors but can draw MORE current than the original halogens did -- that leads to failures.
I installed LED bulbs that I found for cheap on Amazon on my vehicle and never had a bit of trouble....BUT...theres no stupid canbus on my vehicle..just basic electrical, not electronic circuitry..the way it should be.
I've used Auxito LED tail light and headlight bulbs in multiple vehicles for the past few years and never once had a problem with them!
Thank you for educating owners about what could happen to them when they use products that could destroy their cars, which they paid a lot of money to obtain.
One of the very few channels I press "like" before I even saw the video. One can never go wrong here. You have come a long way and much respect!
I'm with you. Never a bad video.
All Toyota Owners need to subscribe to this guy and listen to him. I live in NW suburbs if you were close I would bring my Avalon at your garage. Thanks for all the useful advice. Have a great new year brother
I'm going to go out on a limb and say they put a larger fuse in probably a 10 or a 15 possible a 20 in there.
I've done automotive electrical for 40 years, just retired. The last I used to do were just GPS tracking. Very simple sometimes until you have to start adding things like an ignition disable. Problem with cars today is just that they like the Tacoma here are just getting way to technical and unless you know exactly what you are doing, you can leave the customer with some kind of a fried part that you are going to have to replace.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
Look up Louis Rossman. He just made a video on cheapo Chinese fuses NOT burning out when they should.
Looks like a too large of rating fuse was used on the taillight circuit that caused the burned copper trace. With the "hyperflash" turn signals, I had that symptom with aftermarket LED turn signals (all four) on my 2011 Corolla, and the fix was installing a different flasher module. Never had any trouble after replacing the module, or with any other LED lights. I changed all exterior lights to LEDs without trouble. You just gotta be careful, and know what you're doing.
i was thinking same thing
Yes I did the same with my 2005 RAV4. LED flasher module and now I can run LED signals. Works beautifully!
@technodan3083 where did you buy flasher module?
Exactly! I had the rapid flashers thing with my 2006 ford taurus after going to all LED everywhere, changing the flasher module to an adjustable one solved it. Been 3 years and still working flawlessly.
Those LED flasher relays are for "off road use only". if I remember correctly, it's because it bypasses some (federal?) law requiring burnt out turn bulbs to be indicated to the driver (or something similar)
I'm glad you put this video up. When LED lights started becoming popular I couldn't tell you how many vehicles I seen come in with cheap aftermarket LED lights installed that fried electrical components and wiring, melted head/taillight assemblies. Those cheap bulbs may look cool when they work, but when they fail or take something out, it can get real expensive real fast. Melted headlight assemblies are very expensive to replace in modern day vehicles. Just don't do it, it's not worth compromising your vehicles electrical system or your wallet.
this loooks like he used a bigger amp fuse. Anything over 7.5 amps will melt internal circuits burn if the aftermaket bulb is defective. Ive used aftermarket leds my entire life. Ive just never used resistors. Leds have a lower power consumption hence the hyperflashing.
Where do you get the right LED lights?
@@snouteryes , Lasfit makes great LEDs . Have them in my GX
@@snouter Lasfit is one of the very few manufactures that make solid built LED lights. They're expensive, but for good reason.
@@gianmariavolonte4315and VLEDS
You’re doing excellent things for everyone, I’m retired mechanic after 45 years, I know the original parts it’s the best, but very expensive, for myself I use aftermarket parts, water pump fuel pump belts, relays, always if I find cheap parts I buy it just for my family cars, so far I have no issues, by the way I have three Toyota cars 2010 Corolla one hundred thousand miles, Tacoma 2009 two hundred thousand miles dose not use any oil, also 2004 Corolla two hundred thousand miles with very clean engine, only one thing changed in this car, air compressor air condition relay, and normal things and maintenance, for 17 years, still very smooth car,
It depends on the quality of aftermarket parts. Some are actually superior to original parts, or they were made by the subcontractor that supplied the factory parts.
I use Denso and NTK sensors which were the OEM suppliers to many Japanese manufacturers and they are half as much or less than going to the dealer.
I use aftermarket parts for my cars. Never had any issues. I will always look for Denso parts first if applicable for my Toyota Camry.
I have a 2016 Tacoma TRD Sport. Two years ago I converted all bulbs to LEDs and no problems. I did NOT buy cheap, but ensured they would be from a reliable source and tested. They continue to work perfectly. After market is ok but you must do your homework, and due diligence before making a purchase. In general, they are not cheap, but they can improve your ride.
AMD, For us, this is a free lesson in the cost of expensive mistakes. 🤨
I was going to buy aftermarket LED bulbs for my 3rd gen, the company stated that resistors were needed for proper use, so I decided immediately to cancel. This supports my decision. Thanks for the video.
I came here from Louis Rossmann's channel as he highlighted this video in his video about dangerous products being sold on amazon. I am now a subscriber. Just like I am not a pilot, but watch aviation videos, I am not a mechanic, but I figure I can learn some good things. And today I learned, "stay away from cheap aftermarket products." Thank you.
The fuse box PCB is fixable. And honestly it's quite an easy fix. I understand the logic behind replacing the whole assembly but it really hurts to see a device thrown away just because of one fixable trace.
Testing every i/o logic function of all those distributed ground and power lines to prove that it functioned correctly is more expenxive than replacing the whole unit, and carries more risk. I can see why a shop would take the route explained here.
Only if it's your own car you are fixing, Shops don't have the time to do that and test everything. Even if they did, at $150 an hour by the time they are done the price will be so close it didn't make sense. And lets say they break the plastic tabs and the customer now accuses them of breaking their components and demand a free one, what a headache. Lets say the shop owner refuses to replace the unit because of the broken tabs now the customer leaves a negative review on their shop because they thought they weren't careful. You're signing up for a million headaches to prove the point that it was fixable. Everything is "fixable" but most components aren't worth fixing when you look at the whole picture.
As a automotive engineer i love this guy his videos are gold.😊
I wish you were in Las Vegas,id bring my oil burning Scion xb to you for a rebuild. Your one of the most informative mechanics I've ever came across !!!
I love my Scion XB but it burns a quart every 600-800 miles @ 160k. I bought it for 4K at 130k miles. Since I don’t know a mechanic I trust to do this job I will just feed it oil until I eventually buy a new Camry hybrid SE or ES300h…
You can pickup a used engine with low miles for way less than a rebuild
We rebuilt one and they're almost not even made to be rebuilt
@@YungSteambuns I found a remanufactured 2AZFE in Ontario Calif for a good price. I just don't know a good mechanic in Vegas that I'd trust to do the swap.
@jeremyshideler4187 Yes I agree I love the space in my XB ,I too am just feeding it oil. It's not that bad about a qt every 1500 miles. She's got 150,000 on her now...
ohhh I see, you have the 2.4l xb, sorry to hear that, great engine besides those rings, hopefully the new one is truly a reman with upgraded rings, goodluck!
Fantastic! You walked us through the entire process, all the way to finding the burned connection. Thanks for your time and care for us folks that want to learn more about our cars.
So nice to watch the Toyota master at work! This is the reason I, still, haven’t replaced my old-school headlights in my 2014 Tundra, fear of causing electrical gremlins!!!
I believe a wise man once said - don't fix what isn't broken.
Spot on .
Agreed. I am learning if it ain’t broken don’t fix it. Sometimes the hard way.
It's not a matter of fixing something that isn't broken but rather improving upon what is there because new and better technology become available to do so. Personally, I live in a rural area that gets very dark at night. Upgrading my headlights to LED was a no brainer for me because they give me a much better view down the road (I can see twice as far with the LEDs than I could with the OE halogen bulbs) thus are an improvement in safety.@@hokie9910
Thank you Care Care Nut!
I'm sure tens of thousands of people never have a problem, but that is why I prefer to purchase a vehicle from the factory with any accessories (stereo, rims, lifts, lights, racks, etc.), even though from the factory they are, "overpriced". I just like having the peace of mind that, 9 times out of 10, they're going to operate without a problem and are much less likely to cause a problem down the line.
YOU CAN ADD ACCESSORIES AS LONG AS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. IT IS NOT JUST A SIMPLE PLUG AND PLAY THING. MUST KNOW PHYSICS (WHEN LIFTING, SUSPENSION WORK) AND ELECTRONICS WHEN DEALING WITH ELECTRICAL WORK. .
A lot of the dealer accessories are the exact same product, possibly even made by the same manafacturer as whats available as aftermarket. Theres no guarantee the installer for the dealership is properly trained and qualified either
I dont know if this is really the right message to make
@@cpzmelbs I'd say if someone has a beater and they're crafty and want to save a few bucks, sure, DIY with aftermarket stuff away. However, this is a brand new car - I'm struggling to understand why anyone would splash the cash on a new vehicle, but then cheap out on accessories. Especially when voiding warranties could be involved. I find that aspect confusing.
Plus if they’re fitted at factory they have dealer warranty too
Most "factory" accessories aren't fitted at the factory. They are installed at the dealership and sometimes the dealership outsources the installation to a third party. Even some factory "options" are installed and the dealership level and require irreversible modifications be made to what is otherwise a brand new car (spoilers are a good example of a dealer installed factory option). If it is a factory "option" it is covered by OE warranty but when it comes to accessories they are not covered by the OE warranty, though they may carry their own stand alone warranty. It's all there in the fine print if you read it @@davyarthurs
Now I’m not sure what to do. My 2023 Tacoma can with out heated seats and I was thinking about aftermarket one. But you just convinced me to get the OEM ones with the relay and wires. Thank you for all the time you take to educate us
ANY MODE YOU DO, DO IT EXTERNALLY TO EXISTING WIRING FROM THE FACTORY. YOU CAN RUN A DIRECT POWER WIRE (VIA A FUSE ABOUT AN INCH TO TWO FROM THE BATTERY POSITIVE) AND THEN MOVE ON. DO NOT TAP INTO FACTORY WIRES. SIMPLE AS THAT.
Seat heaters use a lot of power, going OEM here is the right call
@user-rz8ps4js5m you should have bought a ford, mechanics warm them up free of charge
I have had dealer installed seat heat on my 2020 RAV. Luckily no issues. Was $600 compared to 7000 for the model with installed seat heat.
A breath of fresh air, an honest mechanic!
The problem wasn’t specifically the after market LED. It was the owner adding a resister to it. Ohms law is I=V/R. Based on what resistance he changed it to, he changed the current running through that circuit which exceeded the current carrying capacity of the traces on the PCB. Don’t start adding random circuit elements to your car’s electrical system and you probably would be fine.
Agreed. Worth also noting that if your light fast-flash after installing LED (or some HID) bulbs, you bought cheap ones. Lots of companies make bulbs designed to support modern electrical systems and do not need resistors.
Adding a resistor and increasing the resistance on the circuit should reduce the current if voltage isn't changed. For instance, on a 12VDC circuit that starts with 6ohm resistance, the current would be 2A. If he adds a resistor to increase the resistance to 8ohm, say, the current drops to 1.5A. We don't know when the customer added the resistor. I'm thinking he added the load (the LED bulb) first without changing the circuit resistance, blew the fuse, changed to a higher current fuse, blew the PCB trace, then added a resistor after the damage was done. Another guy here suggested that the replacement fuse the customer used may have been spec'd for the right A but could have been faulty and allowed much more current through.
@@Jon-tt9bo LEDs have higher resistance than incandescent bulbs, not lower. LEDs alone cannot create the overcurrent condition.
@@shiftfocus1 Yeah, that's true, but who knows if the stuff the customer bought was working correctly? Something drew more current and if it wasn't the load he put on, then what? Adding resistance to LEDs should increase the resistance on the circuit that much more.
@@Jon-tt9boYou are assuming that the owner added a resistor in series with the LEDs. Resistors are commonly added to LED tail lights in parallel, to increase current draw, not to reduce it. And almost certainly, at some point, the wrong fuse was added to the mix. I sincerely doubt that circuit trace would have burned up with the correct 7.5 A fuse.
It is highly unlikely that the problem was caused by the aftermarket LED-s; it's probable that the owner, not knowing anything about electronics, used the wrong resistor. It's obvious that he blew the original fuse, indicating that he did something wrong, he also may have put the wrong size fuse in (in addition to the wrong resistor). The printed circuit conductors are sized to withstand currents which are higher than the fuse ratings. The advice in this video is good: if you are going to tinker with your car, know what you are doing, aftermarket or OEM.
Agreed user error, if the fuse blew in the first attempt, STOP. I’ve used many aftermarket led and resisters of proper ratings, works fine if you know how to use them. Wish we got the full story of what the customer did when the first fuse blew.
This is the correct take.
I’d bet anything that you’re exactly right👍
Yeah, sounds like someone put a 0.5 ohm instead of 5 ohms.
100% agreement. The stuff coming from china is high quality these days and I don't see that screwing up an electrical system to the point it delaminates the trace off a board. That looks 100% like an uprated fuse issue. Owner didn't know what he was doing. Luckily it didn't start a fire.
This was a PHENOMENAL technical explanation and video production. This is EXACTLY how a circuit debugging exercise should be explained... With the actual schematic as an inset with an arrow pointing in real-time to exacty what you are discussing. I suspect the real cause of the problem here was one of a couple of things. 1) The new part had lower resistance than the factory part, drew more current which was enough to fry the wire AFTER the fuse to the connection pin but not enough to trip the fuse... OR 2) While doing the repair with the headlight switch on, the owner may have temporarily shorted that pin to ground by contact with something else, etc. Electrical work in cars is WAY more dangerous than most think. They think "12 volts?. Tthat's not 120. How dangerous can it be?" They forget how much CURRENT car batteries can deliver (400 amps) and how much power car parts actually draw. A halogen bulb can draw 12 amps at 12 volts. That means the wiring harness has wire guagues capable of handling significant current that will continue working for a longer time with "near shorts" or wiring errors that reduce the circuit resistance significantly.
Yep. It's hard to electrocute yourself with 12V. Fire, on the other hand...
Another great video,I'm so glad you showed us the guts of the box.I believe the issue was caused by the owner 100 %,he FAILED to understand how the circuitry in the box works.The wire {circuit trace on PCB}is only MEANT to carry the signal from the light switch to the relay and NOT that big of a load.That's why the circuit and fuse blew,they might have put a larger fuse in temporarily to see if that would work,that's when the smoke from THAT WIRE was let OUT.NOW they said OH OH we" F "ed up.I BETTER put a 7.5 fuse in it and take it to the dealership>AND of coarse tell them "I DON"T KNOW what happened they JUST STOPPED working!!!!haha
There was never a reason to use resistor setups. When you can just change the relay for proper blinking timing, you don't use resistors. That is ancient and no good in new cars. You're supposed to swap out the blinker relay
Super impressive that you were able to diagnose the exact cause of the issue with this truck!
Love this channel the production quality has grown to fantastic levels and the advice is top notch! A DIY repair might make sense for a beater but not something this new!
Let's be fair, the problem was putting too large of a fuse in, not the aftermarket turn signals. The fuse's job is to protect the wiring and that failure mode (burnt to a crisp and peeled up trace) didn't look like it was from 8 or 10A of current. Now, the fuse may have blown because of the replacement signals but that's a $0.20 fix as long as you don't try bumping up the fuse size...
Yeah, that screams "the 10A fuse kept blowing so I put a 20 or 30A fuse in.
Resistance is very important in electrical circuits. If you add/remove resistance it changes the current which can burn small wires.
Excellent video AMD! With each video that I watch, I feel like I learn something valuable, or is that Invaluable. Any way, I learn from watching! Thank you. God bless you.
You explain electrical troubleshooting excellent, and the video editing is also excellet. Thank you for the work.
😊i bet the fuse was from Amazon. Saw videos of a 2amp fuse not blowing till it hit 12 amps and the other fuses from different off vendors all blew at least 3x their ratings.
I converted my halogen heaflights to oem factory leds on my 2020 sr5 tundra. All plug n play no splicing worked like a charm thru headlight revolution. I left the tail lights alone when i researched, converting them to led.
love your channel
your attention to detail
and your commitment to excellent craftsmanship
This is an excellent educational video on auto electronics, long story short; stay OEM.
Again excellent and honest advice
Thank you for this video Nut. I know some people like LED headlight bulbs, and I'm not against those as long as they are good quality and you adjust the aim of your headlight appropriately afterwards. At least with headlights you do see a benefit. But with turn signals and tail lights, LEDs are a total waste of time and money. All they do is blink. You don't use them to see forwards. They only light up when needed to warn other drivers. This is why they need to be super reliable. Factory tungsten bulbs are reliable. LED bulbs, installed in a location designed for tungsten bulbs, are not. I have never and will never mess with my brake light or turn signal bulbs. When they burn out after several years, just replace them with a like bulb and you'll be right as rain.
100%.
I swapped the interior lights on my RV to LEDs, for the reduced power consumption. Even that was a marginal gain, and the LED bulbs have their own reliability and performance issues.
On automotive taillights it’s a pure vanity project. The risk/reward tradeoff is too high for me.
Thanks for sharing AMD. I shared this with my son. I just bought him a 1st gen Tacoma as his first truck. This is perfect for him as he wants to make upgrades.
I fully understand a repair shop not wanting to get into this trouble but, personally, for that price, I would have fixed the circuit and test all the rest of it and the relays. I had fixed a similar circuit burn on my girlfriend's cloth drier 10 years ago and it's still going strong since. I wish big companies would start having more serviceable parts so we have less of those to throw on top of our already big junkyard pile. Someone could also get a similar issue while on a very remote trip and would really need to fix it himself so this is still good info! Thanks for the troubleshooting video, and the extra step to show the inside of the junction box! Cheers!
I was thinking precisely the same. Durable repairs do exist, and at that price, I definitely would give it a try. It's not like it takes 10 hours of disasembly to reach that part, nor a very complex part.
It's amazing that the damaged trace is actually not part of the computer! That's a fantastic design IMO, even thought the pricey piece. In a Mercedes that would be at least a 1,500usd rear SAM replacement that requieres dealer level programming.
"Customer states" they didn't put a 40 Amp fuse in the 7.5 Amp fuse slot.
The problem is not with the cheap bulb. The customer wired it wrong, blew the fuse, and then the customer put a high amperage fuse in place of the 7.5 amp one. That's the only possible reason the fuse block burned out internally. Don't spread misinformation just for clicks. It detracts from the usual high quality of this channel.
Great video, as usual. Wish I lived closer to this guy to service my 4Runner! Always excellent descriptions, illustrations and advice on this channel!
The way I see it, either the owner put a too large (or faulty) new fuse in (likely) or the fuse block is simply badly designed since the FUSE is supposed to be what blows, not the connecting wire inside the fuse box. There is no issue with aftermarket accessories *in this particular case*. Someone messed up either the owner or toyota.
A fried PCB after the owner rewired the taillight harness…and that’s on Toyota? Yeah…no.
My money says the owner tried a larger fuse.
Aren't you contradicting yourself? If you suspect that the owner "put a too large (or faulty") new fuse, you don't think that would cause the wire to burn? Questionable what the owner did 7:32
@@Mr.President.2028 no im saying its not because of aftermarket LED bulbs it's due to someone messing up. yes more likely to be due to the owner putting a too large fuse in. only the owner knows for sure
@@vx-iidu I think you are clueless. No one argues about the LED light since because of its low power consumption that triggered the flashing light which made the owner add a resistor. Last time I checked the resistor is an "aftermarket" item ("There is no issue with aftermarket accessories *in this particular case*.")
@@Mr.President.2028 that's not how it works bro. if you add a resistor and you screw up and short something out the fuse is supposed to blow. if you then go and replace the fuse with a bigger one and burn some wires, that's on you. cant shift blame to aftermarket parts.
I had read so many horror stories over the years about folks installing LEDs only to have multiple problems, and this delayed my upgrading any of the lighting in either of my Tundra trucks to LED. I installed expensive LED reverse bulbs in my 2007 Tundra back in 2017 and it was 2019 before I installed my first expensive LED headlamp bulbs, they have pre-wired resistors and they work as advertised without issue. Last month I installed expensive LED fog light bulbs in my 2002 Tundra, and they are also working as advertised. I am taking methodical baby steps upgrading my lighting with plug and play bulbs.
I see those fast blinkers all the time, I know from years past that they either have one burned out bulb somewhere or they swapped in LED bulbs.
Thank You !! ... May I say this is one of the most informative and instructive presentations you have produced !! ...
Great reminder to be very careful when modifying the electrical system! I'd be very curious to know whether the customer installed too large of a fuse to cause this problem though. If they didn't, this is IMO an engineering fail too since the entire point of the fuse is to protect the circuit from damage by being the weak link. Shorts happen and user errors such as installing the wrong bulbs also happen, neither of which should destroy the fusebox like that IMO. As thin as that burned trace looks, I could see it potentially overheating before a 7.5 amp fuse blows under the right conditions, but we may never know the full story.
This is a Toyota, not a Kia, so pretty much guaranteed the owner installed too large of a fuse and the circuit and fuse block design was fine.
It is UNTHINKABLE that the engineers at Toyota spec’d a fuse too large to properly protect the wiring. The failures would be legion.
@@shiftfocus1 IF the owner didn't install a larger fuse, perhaps the engineers just spec'd the fuse for short circuit protection and didn't consider the possibility of someone overloading the circuit. If, for example, the aftermarket lighting was drawing 7.5 amps continuously when that trace was only designed for a continuous current of 2-3 amps, I could see it overheating and eventually failing. A short circuit that draws perhaps 40 amps for a tiny fraction of a second before blowing the fuse is totally different than drawing a relatively large current for minutes at a time.
I bet they blew the fuse messing with the new lamps and then shorted the fuse terminals when trying to diagnose the issue (eg probing for 12V supply at one leg). When you screw up it is best to fess up to EVERYTHING you messed with because diagnosis time is expensive!
@@averyalexander2303 “perhaps” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in your scenario. An engineer would have had to have failed the most basic and obvious rule of fusing a circuit: the fuse protects the wires.
I guess this lesson boils down to not knowing what you're doing. I would not take any risks modifying anything connected with a modern car's electronics. One other side of the coin is just how much of a margin the OEM puts on a lot of their parts. It's often this that makes us consider our options. Good electrical diagnosis here AMD, thank you sir.
Search out online “advice” on LED bulbs, and you find a whole industry dishing ”advice” on requiring your expensive car to make it look “cool.” I’m 100% sure none of them offer a warranty.
You pay your money and you take your chance…
I changed my 2014 Corolla tail turn signals to Amber LED with added resistors and works like a charm.
After watching this....i immediately removed the led turn signal bulbs and resistors that i installed. Next time i will buy the ones that are plug and play. Keep up the great video's.
I put in a pair of after market LED turn signals(Both front and Back) on my 2023 GX 460. It works great for the first 3 minutes, then the hyper blinking starts. I reached out to the support team from the LEB bulb manufacturer. They suggested to added a resistor to fix the issue. I did not like that idea and switched back the OEM Halogen bulbs. There are many cheap LED lights its not a good idea. Thanks for putting these video and as suggested by the expert always stay with OEM accessories.
You just have to understand why the hyperflash, why the resistor, and what size resistor is appropriate. An LED draws much lower current than the standard halogen lamp, the computer “sees” this as a failed lamp, thus the hyperflash. A properly sized resistor adds enough load to the circuit to fool the lamps out monitoring, but not any more than the original equipment halogen lamp. While I prefer modifying the settings in the BCM (if available), using proper load resistors can be ok. I have suspicions that someone installed an oversized fuse in this one at some time, causing the end of fuse block.
Use VLEDS
Flasher relay, I had that happen when changing to LED turn signals and got the hyper flash. Look into a flasher relay that’ll solve it, I was not about to wire in any resistors.
There's certain aftermarket parts you can buy online such as wiper blades, air filters, cabin filters, etc. When it comes to important engine components such as spark plugs, ignition coils, coolant, hoses, radiators, etc. I would go with dealership parts. I had a bad experience purchasing ignition coils for my Prius on eBay and learned my lesson. For the record, I purchased some LED Lasfit turn signals bulbs online and they haven't given me any issues. My Aftermarket HID lights haven't given me any issues. When you buy cheap light bulbs you are taking chances.
OEM parts come with warranties (express and implied). ‘Nuff said.
You can get Denso on rock auto for 1/3 the cost at the dealer. I will disagree on the air filters though, there have been many tests that show OEM engine air filters are superior to anything else on the aftermarket. Wix are pretty good if you can’t get OeM and you need something fast, but you can get Denso air filters for under 10 bucks on rock auto and Denso oil filters for 4 bucks and typically have them delivered in 2 days. Now that’s a pretty good deal in my book!
@@hokie9910 I get my parts at the largest Toyota dealer in the world and they got cheap prices. Five or six bucks for an oil filter. I bought a 12v battery not too long ago and got it for $190 out the door, cheaper than anywhere else. I like rock auto but their shipping prices are expensive.
@@hokie9910 I find those items on Amazon, and with Prime I dont pay shipping like Rock Auto..thats why Ive never used them.
NTK/NGK and Denso are the suppliers to the factory on many Japanese vehicles.
I use conventional green or extended life gold coolant in EVERYTHING. I dont do the "rainbow coolant" B.S. Never had even one issue.
I use Gates hose..superior to factory. Denso or Hitachi coils on imports, unless their European...then Bosch.
I know----51 years doing automotive repair. Dealership parts arent always better.
Ahmed, thank you always for your words of wisdom.
You are amazing, I only wish I could have you take care of my vehicles. What a timely video! I just bought a 2024 4Runner and was considering upgrading my turn signals, DRLs, and back up light to LEDs. Now on second thought, I will leave well enough alone.
AMD you are a genius!!!!
You sure those giant Ants didn't just chew through some wires?
😆
I definitely agree. Aftermarket stuff can create havoc. Especially with today's tech. Keep it OEM. Led upgrades? Do your homework. And yes electrical diagrams do help. If you access. I have O9 Tacoma. Completely upgraded everything. And I mean everything. LED. Blown many fuses, but I figured it out. FYI. Light sockets on Toyota's are reverse grounded. I believe it's a CKY circuit.
Love how this guy diagnosed the problem why using wiring diagrams to trace back to the problem. As a Electrical Engineer, the designer of aftermarket electrical parts needs to have a high degree of knowledge of electrical components and what they need to function properly.
i never understood why people go crazy for led after market leds? the more you keep your vehicle oem the less problems you will have. LED light are becoming redicules. theyre way too bright and blind people. the last 5-10 years ive noticed almost every car that drives towards me at night is blinding me , its getting stupid , manufactures need to re-asset headlamps way off adjustment
TLDR Don't buy ebay or amazon parts
Temu is even worse
Better yet, don't alter your vehicle.
Only stupid people do this to there 40 grand car over a 50 dollar part
I bought the turn signal lights for my rav4 on Amazon and without any problem after 1 year of use...now I am going to change all the rear lights.
Especially fuses. There's youtubers who tested Amazon fuses and got a 2A fuse that took 8A before it blew.
Another point about lED's is that lights are engineered for specific lights so that they point properly, don't blind others etc. The focus is so important. Don't just change bulbs and know they are actually developed for said vehicle. I have 30 Tacoma with factory led Hl's, the rears can suffer
You are one of the best technicians and a great teacher. All ways good to watch your videos.
Welldone! You choosed the safest and cheapest solution.
If you would solder a bridge wire , then probably it would work, and it would be cheaper. But then you cannot give guarantee, and if something goes wrong, then the customer would come back and then the total amount of the repair would be even more expensive than having just a new part ordered.
And having such a brand new car , it would hurt knowing that maybe something can go wrong with this wire.
I am sure that many shops would just do the cheap fix and say that they ordered a new part... :(
I am wondering if you gave back the old fuses as spare to the customer?
That was the conversation with the customer. Can you fix this fuse block? Yes, is it a good idea on a brand new truck when the part is readily available? No. Some have commented that perhaps fixing it and saving the customer some money would’ve been better. My answer to that is that this truck is under warranty. If any issues stem from the repair it would void their warranty and I would be liable for that. Not worth it. And I gave the old fuse block to the customer to keep some spare fuses. I have plenty of spare fuses from previous jobs that the owners did not want the spare fuses.
Great video! Another example of Toyota making junk these days. In the past, you were able to hook the truck up and the worst thing that you had were blown fuses. Anytime you have burned copper traces, it means that it is a flimsy design and they went on the cheap when building these. If I were to add aftermarket anything, I would certainly tap from the battery with a fused link at the battery with a good relay and add separate switch to power the accessories. You will never have a problem by using this method. Toyota means Junk these days. I have decided to keep my 2003 Tacoma and have the frame rebuilt because the build quality of the 2003 is extremely robust in comparison to my 2021 which is Junk! No more new Toyotas for me.
TOYOTA'S MADE ELSEWHERE IS NOT A PROPER TOYOTA. I STOPPED BUYING TOYOTA AFTER NOTICING A QUALITY CONTROL IN MY 21 TACO. I DID A STARTER KILL SWITCH, AND THE STARTER WIRE AT THE IGNITION HAD ABOUT 3-4 METAL STRANDS! MY 92 COROLLA HAD ABOUT 15 METAL STRANDS!
This was the customers fault not Toyota. Lmfao.
@@Sixstringbassist503 Yeah but if the fuses worked properly they would have blown instead of burning the relays.
Fault is not what I was talking about. It's the fact that regardless to who's fault it was, the car should be able to survive with just a blown fuse. If the fuse keeps blowing, that is user error. You don't build it so that the entire fuse box burns up simply because you overdid something.@@Sixstringbassist503
My 2021 is garbage. The transmission shifting issues are inexcusable. They are not the bullet proof vehicles of yesterday. I can't see my 2021 Taco lasting anywhere near as long as my 1989 of my 2003. It's sad that it had to get to this.
@@janpur1417
I love this channel and learning about Toyotas and cars in general!
Excellent to be able to see, the diagnosed with equipment, problem. It shows the problem described, the physical damage, after seeing this I doubt other owners will take the risk of buying HD aftermarket tail lights.
I design PCB's for a living. Definitely do not jumper a burned out PCB trace like that if you don't have the PCB schematic or know the layout. You may be able to add a jumper wire to bypass the burned trace, especially if you know how that circuit is routed and you know the current carrying requirement, but that's not going to be a long term or reliable solution. That's something that you might want to do for testing purposes only but that's really on the engineering side of things and not for repair. Even if you can bypass the burned trace, you might be missing damage elsewhere on the board caused by transients from the overcurrent condition that likely damaged that circuit. There could even be thermal damage to adjacent circuitry. Best thing to do is exactly what you did. Swap out the entire populated board or the assembly it's used with. Great work!
Chinesium
Love the attitude, always positive and curious
Excellent video
GREAT VIDEO! Makes me rethink all my aftermarket options👌
There is no excuse for the internal wire to break before the fuse. Either the owner used too large a fuse or it’s a defective fuse block. The entire purpose of a fuse is to protect the wiring and prevent a fire. If the fuse was properly sized, and yet the internal wire heated up enough to break, then that is the manufacturer’s responsibility.
I would bet the OEM fuse blew and it was replaced with a higher amp fuse that caused this.
So true!
yep. I woulda put everything to factory and taken it straight to the dealership for warranty coverage!
@@AZOverland2017 I think you’re right.
He did say the fuse blew
1st fake Amazon Ebay parts view
Another awesome video for us Tacoma owners. Thanks so much! 👍
Your customer is blessed you are there to helped him solve that problem you are the best Ahmed 👌
Excellent presentation! Love the channel!
Wow Amd ..never would have thought. Thanks for the heads up on this, thanks for making the video! I have done reverse and side marker lamps but left my directionals alone. Seemed like a can of worms and yep it is!
Thank you so much for posting these amazing, informative videos. I love your presentation and simple explanation. 👏 👌 👍
I agree... enjoyed watching you open the broken part
This is why i watch your videos! Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting your videos. They are fascinating to me.
Excellent information and a top notch presentation. Thank you!
Excellent troubleshooting video! 👍🏻😁
Best advice ever!!! Thanks AMD!
Thank you so much for this great tutorial about some technical aftermarket parts. Some are good & trouble-free and are NOT worth your while.
Been following TCCN since purchasing my 2015 Tundra Crewmax SR5 (bought used) & added a 2022 4Runner Trail (new) to the stable. Anything I've added to either vehicle is either plug & play from established companies (i.e.: REDARC; Running for Tacos; etc, or OEM replacement/upgrade part(s). Installations of anything electrical, unless it's plug & play - I'll go to a specialist installer.
If I think I might be able to install it, unless there's a CZcams video for exactly that job, I'll go to a specialist. It'll save any warranty, it'll save money long term, and it will save any anxiety about long term reliability. For what it's worth - the guidance TCCN has provided, recommendations he's made, have all been heard and followed by me, from oil change frequencies to cautions like this video. A great source. Keep up the great work TCCN.
It's always very informative watching your videos. You are a master technician that is truly a master. Thank you for your hard work helping us.
Great information Great video. Love your diagnostic skills 👍🏼
This is a very well done video. You have made one of my very favorite channels. Right up there with Eric O and South Main Auto. That is high praise indeed.
I enjoy the soft vocals of CCN, especially as compared to screaming Scottie
What a great diagnostic lesson AMD, thought I was watching Ivan for a minute there.😂 Also a great lesson on aftermarket stuff, especially electrical.
Excellent video thanks for the information.👍
This is one example of definitely bringing to The Car Care Nut to have everything figured out and fixed!
Awesome video!
Really enjoy your Channel!
Very informative…thanks for posting.
Excellent Video! I always refrained from adding LED's to my vehicle because of this very reason! Thanks for the video! 👍