Turn Signal Problems of Toyota Tacoma - part 1

2009 Toyota Tacoma. Consumer writes in regards to bubble and crack in passenger front turn signal. The consumer stated the dealer refused to repair the vehicle due to the expiration date for the repair to be made ended in 2015.

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The inner daytime running light/turn signal lens becomes distorted and bubbled with a brown, scorched residue which obscures and/or diminishes the running light and turn signal functions to on-coming traffic. Additionally, the inner lens is cracked and/or separated. Toyota did offer a warranty extension on this defect so it has been acknowledged as a problem. This warranty extension has since expired although the problem still exists for these vehicles.

See all problems of the 2011 Toyota Tacoma 🔎.

5tflu4en0bx007991 lightning/electrical I want to report safety issues with my totyota Tacoma. When I bought Tacoma in san antonio, brand new in 2011, a few months later the daytime running light (drl) and turn signal lens become distorted, bubbled, and cracked. I did a google search, and it was an extremely common issue with many owners complaints. I told my dealership and it was "normal" and I was required to pay to get it fixed. Earlier this year when I was at mountain states Toyota in denver to get the oil change, I inquired about the same issue. The employee told me that it was a very common issue, and that Toyota will fix it for free. I was told that a letter was mailed out to every person that owns a 2011 Toyota Tacoma. However, there was a time limit to get it done and it already already passed. I want to emphasize that I never received a letter from Toyota. In addition, my truck has always has electrical issues since I bought the truck. Intermittently, when I drive my truck, every electrical components and lights, including from the instrumental panel would shut down and instantly start back up, and my steering wheel would momentarily lock up. I called Toyota headquarter, and the lady I spoke to said that there was a time limit when I could get it fixed, and that it has now expired. And that there was nothing she can do about it. I only want Toyota to fix this issue free of charge, because I never received that letter they told me they sent out, and I do not know why they put a time limit on it. If Toyota refuses to get it fixed, I want to put Toyota on notice that I want to initiate arbitration with Toyota.

Tl- the contact owns a 2010 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that head light assemble which included the daytime running lights and turn signal had over heated causing the light housing to become discolored and the bulb had shattered. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred on both the driver and passenger side lights and had failed on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer Toyota of brook heaven located at 890 brookway blvd, brookhaven, ms 39601 ms. Who repaired the failure but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 110,000. Jft.

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The daytime running light / front turn signal is melted and the turn signals are not visible when engaged. Toyota is aware of the issue and had a window of opportunity to repair it but they are telling me I missed that point. This is a very dangers defect and feel they should remedy the problem.

My 2011 Toyota Tacoma has apparently has had a design flaw since even before 2009 in the front turn signal housing. The design flaw causes the lense to melt from extreme heat build up in the housing causing the bulb to burn out and ultimately the socket to char and in my case deform to the point I couldn't replace the bulb. Toyota has in September 2011 released a technical bulletin instructing there techs on how to remediate the obvious design flaw. There was no notices sent out to owners even though they apparently knew before they even built the 2011 trucks that there was a serious problem. To do this and not make us aware is criminal to say the least because in the cab it is telling you that it is working and your not aware that your front signal is not working. Think of on coming traffic not knowing that your gonna turn and you think they do. This is criminal. Images are available if needed. Just go to youtube.

Front running lights melted the plastic causing charring and a fire. Pictures were sent to Toyota national headquarters safety personnel under file # 1408062678, incident 14809-000124. Toyota acknowledges there is an issue with 2005-2011 Tacoma¿s and stated this condition was covered under a "warranty enhancement program" and the deal would correct the problem. I contacted the local dealer and was told my VIN number does not qualify. I inquired profusely as to the process used to determine the VIN number range, how this problem is being fixed and was told these are not publicly released documents. I was not offered a method to fix this condition to prevent it from happening again -- "we apologize but are not in a position to avail a point of contact in Toyota safety management to discuss your case. As we have provided our position on these matters, we do not have further information to offer in this regard. " robert browning Toyota customer experience. I have searched the NHTSA data base and see others are having the same problems under NHTSA 10523691, 10510776, 10457435, 10448124, 10427052, 10405463. I ask that Toyota be responsible to vehicle owners and be required to re-examine their VIN range on this particular problem. The front turn signals are charred and melted so badly they are extremely hard to see and will lead to future accidents. The plastic also heats up enough to cause melting and fire potential in these vehicles.

See all problems of the 2008 Toyota Tacoma 🔎.

Amber inside turn signal lamps attached to front headlights are scorching inside lense of headlight assembly.

Auxiliary audio jack is designed poorly causing failure. Front turn signal both sides yellow bulb the connector for the bulb and the bulb itself blackens and is fragile. Fake front bumper cover is misleading and falsely gives a feeling of safety. Actual bumper is quite small and may lead to catastrophic injury or death in the event of a moderate overlap collison. The accident or collision occurred with a moderate overlap hitting left 1/4 of front bumper the front left fender was pushed into the door causing more body damage than should have occurred.

Front turn signal lights burning and melting lens. Inspection of plastic bulb socket shows signs of heat damage and potential fire hazard.

Noted scorched spot of about 2" diameter in center of both front amber daytime running lights/turn signals. Vehicle has only 34,000 miles but is over warranty age limit. I was at dealership for seatbelt recall and asked service mgr to look at. He stated that there was no recalls but that he had seen "some of this" before. He gave me # for "my Toyota experience" and eventually talked to someone in California. They would not admit any knowledge of this condition but said they could only evaluate if dealership analyzed and told them what the cause was. There analysis; "yellow turn signal bulb seems to get too hot and burning lens". My cost to fix; $932. 72. Toyota customer service apparently talked to dealership and will pay for the assemblies to replace with my cost being $192. With the number of identical complaints on this site it is obvious this is a design defect which has fire hazard potential. Instead of stone-walling this defect Toyota should own-up and fix it at their total expense. People and companies make mistakes. It takes a company with a quality conscience to do the right thing for their customers.

The daytime running lights thats also the turn signals have melted and cracked the lens on my 2009 Toyota Tacoma crew cab sr5 4x4.

The day time running lights that also doubles as turn signals are burning a hole through the plastic lens inside the headlights and cracking the lens as well. These are a known issue with Toyota and they put out a t-sb-0129-11 on September 7th, 2011 and called it an "appearance concern". It is also a fire hazard as I don't believe the lenses should be melting.

My 2009 Toyota Tacoma x-runner has approximately 34,000 miles and has dtrl (day time running lights) and the turn signals (which are used for the dtrl) have burned, melted and cracked. I am guessing this is because of the lights are running constantly and this is causing excessive heat on the plastic lenses. I will be showing a local Toyota dealership this week, and if they will not replace the headlights (I am out of warranty) then I will have to bear these costs to ensure safety from possible fire. I will be looking into removing the dtrl option, as well as possibly looking into led bulbs to cut down on the heat.

Upon noticing that the left front turn signal was not working, I inspected the turn signals, noting that both front turn signals/dtrl's are cracked and appear burned. I replaced the turn signal bulb, but the turn signal still does not work.

It seems that the Tacoma's that have a drl and turn signal all-in-one assembly are burning or melting the lens in front of the bulb. Mine currently has a yellowing lens are cracked and the plasitic is burned in front of the bulb. The Tacoma forums are full of drivers with this problem. Obviously, this problem has been ongoing with no solution to repair. Toyota states there is no problem with this assembly, but will charge $1000+ for new headlight/turn signal assemblies for replacement. The current solution is to turn headlights on as this turns off the drl.

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When I took my Tacoma pickup to the local dealer for its 35,000-mile oil change and tire rotation, they pointed out that the lenses on both daytime running lights are burned and distorted, apparently from the heat of the amber bulb. They said there is no solution other than replacing the entire headlight module on both sides. Parts and labor would be somewhere between $700 and $1,000. I'm past the three-year warranty coverage. I sent an e-mail complaint to Toyota and they said this is a cosmetic problem that they will not fix. Wrong. This is a fire safety problem. From online research, I have now learned that this is a huge problem with Tacomas. On new models, it has been fixed with a redesigned headlight module that moves the bulb socket farther back to prevent the heat from the bulb from damaging the lens. On older models, you could just remove the bulb to avoid a fire except that the daytime running light bulb is also the turn signal bulb. I hope you will do something about this huge safety hazard.

2008 Toyota Tacoma, 4x4, double cab, 6 cyl noticed that the exterior front running-turn signal lights are brown & one is cracked. Original light bulbs in place. Fire hazard???? running hot. Reported to beaverton Toyota in oregon this am. Please advise. [xxx] or [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Inside the front left and right headlight assembly is a combination turn signal indicator/ emergency flash indicator/daytime running light. The lense for this combination indicator inside the headlight assembly has melted and affected the integrity of the component. I contacted my local dealership twice and Toyota customer satisfaction by telephone. But they did not offer any additional information for correcting the problem, except for total replacement of the complete assembly at my expense. By the regulations of the federal government with the dot Toyota should comply with part 564 of the safety regulation requirements, and by this should notify owners of the optional replacement parts as a service bullitin with a mailed notification letter. Because of this oversight Toyota has chosen to adapt a stratagy to use an exception to their warranty contract by limiting their responsibility in effect of component exclusions I. E. Light bulbs because of Toyota's inabillity to recognise and address this issue with a notification. Many of the dealers and owners who could have corrected the improper matching of the assemblies, before damage to the integrity of the signal indicators required safe operation was lost and Toyota gained considerable financial advantage at the expense of safety.

My trucks headlight unit has daytime running lights "amber turn signal lighting" and its continued to cause melting around the housing. This has been going on for a year now and the dealership has been informed on more than one occasion and they refuse replacement because its not a declared recall from Toyota. The light issue continues to get worse and is almost completely melted around the turn area.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when he noticed that the turn signal bulbs had burned through the turn signal covering. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the turn signal bulbs were positioned too closely to the casing. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 56,250. The VIN was unavailable.

On 5/2/12 one of the right turn signals stopped working. While inspecting the lights to determine which bulb to replace, I noticed that the plastic lens immediately in front of the turn signal bulbs on both sides in the front is blackened and melting from the heat of the bulb. Additionally, the lens on the passenger side front is cracked on the inside where the bulb has overheated the lens. Further inspection of the lamp socket shows heat fatigue and discoloration due to overheating. It appears as if the light bulb is too close the lens and there is inadequate ventilation for the heat. I am concerned that continual heating of the lens and the socket may lead to an electrical failure of that component, causing a fire. It should be noted that this truck model's running lights (which are also the turn signal lights) are always on whenever the headlights are off, there is no way of shutting these lights off. Fyi: internet searches have turned up numerous complaints regarding this same issue. Many concerned customers have reported the issue to Toyota (myself included), however, Toyota will not fix or even acknowledge that there is an issue. I have taken the liberty of looking at the turn signal lenses of parked Tacoma trucks just to see if they have the same issue as mine. An overwhelming majority of the trucks show the same type of defect.

The headlight lenses are melting in the front of the daytime running lights/turn signal. Both sides have the same issue. They both have a horizontal crack and a melted blob of plastic that will likely keep getting bigger. I consider this to be a safety hazard. While at lowes yesterday, I checked the headlights of one other Tacoma, and he had the same issue. When I got home, I performed a google search and found several forums where owners were having the same issue. Most said that when they mentioned it to their Toyota dealership, the dealership acted like no one has had this problem before. Some customers were able to get the headlights replaced and some were not. I'd be concerned that the replacement will have the same issue a couple of years from now.

The headlight lenses are melting in front of the daytime running light bulbs/turn signals. I feel that this is a safety hazard and should be recalled by Toyota. I was told by Toyota customer service that my Toyota extended platnium warrentee will not cover this part and they will not authorize the replacement of the headlights.

My 08 Toyota Tacoma drl (daylight running light/turn signal) lens burned/melted/cracked the lens but the bulb is still working so chances are it could catch on fire. I have exceeded my warranty but I feel Toyota should stand behind their product and replace my light lens. Light lens should never burn/melt/break regardless of how old or how many miles the vehicle has on it. Not all Tacoma's have drl , this is a safety option, not so safe. I contacted Toyota and was told Toyota would not stand behind their product because I had exceeded my warranty. Nice customer service.

I noticed that the dtrl had started to melt the amber lenses and brought it to the attention of my local dealer. Although I was still within the warranty mileage, I was over by a few months on the 36-month warranty (I bought the truck used in Dec-2011. ) I just heard from my local dealer that I've been trying to work with concerning the melting lenses in my '09 Tacoma trd. I tried to get Toyota to replace the lamp assembly and they would only cover half of the replacement and subsequent re-aiming of the head lights. I then printed out some instructions to install a Toyota relay and jumper wires to turn the dtrl function off, leaving the turn signal function alone. According to the dealer, Toyota will not sign off on, nor allow their dealers to make this modification, even though the parts are all Toyota oem parts. I would also strongly suggest that every owner of a Tacoma that is having any issue (melting, bubbling, cracking etc. ) with the dtrl's write Toyota corporate expressing their deep disappointment with the quality of Toyota products and the corporations lack of concern for the customers safety buying the product. With all the negative that Toyota has received during the past few years over safety related issues, you would think that Toyota would be falling all over themselves to correct a known safety issue in a required system, instead of tap dancing around like they are doing. As a retired law enforcement officer, I find that the response I've been receiving from Toyota to be particularly disappointing, especially since this is a safety issue involving a mandated lighting system. The staff at NHTSA is welcome to contact me at any time to discuss this.

The drls/turn signals of the 2009 Toyota Tacoma have a faulty design resulting with the lens melting (Toyota calls it bubbling) and cracking. Toyota did issue a recent TSB (t-sb-0129-11) to replace the headlight assemblies on impacted trucks. Several model years were included. The TSB is worded that only trucks with less than 36k miles and less than 36 months old will be repaired. My truck had about 40k miles and was about 34 months old when I finally took it to the local dealer. I didn't bring it in when I first noticed the defect because I didn't think Toyota would even consider not replacing the lights because it's an obvious design defect. Some of the older models mentioned in the TSB would have been older than 36 months when the TSB was released. Drls were developed so other drivers can better see you. A melted drl lens will dim the brightness of the light to other drivers. Toyota should be repairing all the damaged headlight assemblies.

The daytime running lights have melted and cracked the lens/plastic. These are also used as front end turn signals. If these fail, it could be a major safety hazard. While there is a TSB, the dealership denied to pay for replacements since my 36k warranty has now expired. This is not something that just started to happen and Toyota is aware of the problem.

Daytime running lights are melting the plastic lamp housing. All components are factory stock: bulbs, housings, wiring, etc. Melted plastic housing has changed the turn signal beam geometry resulting in reduced visibility and risk of accident. Also, melted material indicates a possible fire hazard.

My 09 Toyota Tacoma drl (daylight running light/turn signal) lens burned/melted/broke. I have exceeded my warranty but I feel Toyota should stand behind their product and replace my light lens. My local dealer did do a 50/50 split on the cost of replacement, but this is a design problem. Light lens should never burn/melt/break regardless of how old or how many miles the vehicle has on it. Not all Tacoma's have drl , this is an option, my local dealer did not know this but I pointed this out to him. I have a friend with same problem but his Tacoma is still in warranty and the dealer did a 100% replacement. I contacted Toyota with a letter and pictures and was told Toyota would not stand behind their product because I had exceeded my warranty.

The daytime running lights (drl's) on my 2009 Tacoma have bubbled up and cracked the lens/plastic. I am not sure if this is because the bulb is too close to the plastic or the wattage is too high for the plastic. The drl's are also used as front end turn signals. If these fail, it could be a major safety hazard. Dealership denied to pay for replacement for it is not covered under the agreements of my extended warranty.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that front turn signal lenses burned out. The contact noticed visible burn marks on both lenses. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 66,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the lenses for the daytime running lamps and the turn signals were melted. The contact was concerned that the failure could lead to a fire. The dealer was contacted and advised that the entire lighting assembly would require replacing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000. The current mileage was 100,000.

2009 Toyota Tacoma front turn signals burning lens. Amber turn signal bulbs appear to be to high of wattage from factory. Lens are bubbling/melting and discoloring from heat from the bulbs. Drivers side must have gotten hot enough to crack the turn signal lens itself. Possible fire hazard. A check of 9 other similar Tacoma trucks on hickam afb shows the same problem with 3 other vehicles or 3 Tacoma's counting mine. Vehicle has just under 20,000 miles and never been in a accident. Turn signals also act as daylight running lights which are turned on whenever truck is running. Jeffrey. Chlupsa@navy. Mil jeffrey. Chlupsa@hickam. Af. Mil only property damage was to the truck lens, burnt/cracked.

The daytime running lights (drl's) on my 2009 Tacoma have bubbled up and cracked the lens/plastic. I am not sure if this is because the bulb is too close to the plastic or the wattage is too high for the plastic. The drl's are also used as front end turn signals. If these fail, it could be a major safety hazard. Dealership denied to pay for replacement for it is not covered under the agreements of my extended warranty.