When I lock the doors on my 2002 Toyota Tundra the parking lights sometimes stay on. It doesn’t matter if I use the remote or the manual lock button on the doors. Once the problem starts the lights stay on whether the truck is locked or unlocked. They even stay on while I drive and after I park and shut it off! I haven’t found any sequence to get them to go off and sometimes I have to repeat the lock cycle 50 or more times before it will lock with the lights out. Any ideas?
The ‘parking lights’ are controlled by the light switch. These are the tail lights and front corner lights with out the headlights being on.
Are you referring to the interior lights? These are controlled by a module. You may have a door switch that has gone bad. It is also possible this module has gone bad, and not responding to the proper inputs. I don’t know if this truck has internal door switches or external door switches. The external ones look like plastic pins in the door jam area that are pushed in when the door shuts. You can push these in yourself, and the lights should go out. If you do not see any of these, the internal switches are usually mounted in the door latch itself, and are very difficult to get to.
The interior lights seem to be work like they should, when I lock the doors they go out within a few seconds. This is a 4-door Access Cab, not a true 4-door, so the rear door is a “suicide” door. The door switches are external, there is a lever switch that disables the external rear door latch when the front door is closed and a button under a rubber boot that senses that the front door is closed and turns off the interior lights and dash “open door” icon. These work normally and pressing the button in manually turns the interior lights on and off.
If you stand outside the truck and lock/unlock using the remote without opening any doors it’s the exterior lights that often stay on. If you unlock the doors but don’t open them they will relock like they should, but this sometimes also leaves the parking lights on.
By the way, the lock/unlock beeper works like it should but I had to unplug it so I don’t drive the neighbors crazy while I stand in the driveway cycling the locks for several minutes.
I’ve read on other forums about a main body ECU that controls fog lights etc. I wonder if this ecu or some other module/ecu is controlling the parking lights. If there is, is it accessible enough to re-seat connectors, etc.? I’ve listened under the hood and dashboard for relays that may have sticking contacts, figuring they would be inexpensive to replace but I can’t hear anything. I suppose if they’re solid state I wouldn’t hear them anyway.
I hate to take it to the dealer because it’s an intermittent problem, although it does seem to be getting worse.
You may be correct about a relay sticking though that doesn’t happen a lot. I would check to see if the coil for that relay is energized. It may be there is something wrong with the remote receiver unit. I assume it is controlling things like the lights and lock mechanisms. I recommend you purchase a service manual for the vehicle to help you with this trouble. It is a wise investment in your vehicle. Factory manuals are the best. If the wiring manual is seperate at least get that one.