How to fix a 95-00 Toyota Tacoma broken tail light
The taillight on my 2000 (1st Gen) Toyota Tacoma daily driver recently went out. Since I don't want me or my wife to get a ticket, I decided to see what the problem was and fix it.
Most taillight repair videos deal with the easy fixes, but on the rare occasion when a bulb replacement doesn't fix your issue, I'll share what I did to locate the real problem.
Here's a quick guide that is fairly universal:
Step 1: Remove taillight
Step 2: Identify if the bulb is bad
*If the bulb isn't the issue, continue on
Step 3: Identify if the light housing is the issue
I was lucky the housing on the other side of the truck worked and has the same connector, if that's not the case for your issue you may have to buy a new housing to test this or find one at a junk yard
If the housing isn't the issue, continue on
Step 4: Learn how to use a multimeter and start tracing wires
Tracing wires can be intimidating at first, but be patient and search some wiring diagrams for your specific issue. I searched for 2000 Tacoma taillight wiring diagram to see what each wire color meant.
I'm working on a future video that goes into detail on how to do a high-quality amateur or DIY fix to faulty wiring on a car. I'm no expert, but I have picked up a few things from my dad and other videos on YouTube.