Can someone tell me where the rear light failure sensor module is located on a 2000 es300? I can't find it anywhere. I've looked behind all the trunk panels--Both sides, front, and back. Problem is my rear light failure warning light comes on every time I hit the brakes when my parking/headlights are on.

The mechanic at the Lexus dealer said the tail light failure module is bad, a $975 part! Wow. So I t hought I would look for bad solder joints in my module, or buy one from eBay.

The bulbs all seem to work, including third brake light, license lights, and brake & side marker lamps. But I'm stumped on finding that module, and out of ideas.

Thanks.

 

89373-33130
Hidden behind the inner trunk frame/panel


Also check for broken wires near the trunk hinge left hand side. FYI sometimes replacement bulbs will trigger the warning light even if they work solution is to get genuine bulbs. Another possible fault is corrosion in the bulb sockets.

 

Hello,

The module in question looks at the current consumption of the circuit, so if you have aftermarket or worn out bulbs, or the alternator is not giving enough charge for example, the Light Failure light may come on. My 2000 ES300 has the same issue, but only during the night when all the headlights are on and the system is loaded. To avoid it, you can either try swapping the bulbs in the stop lights, or simply take the bulb out of the cluster if you don't really want to deal with it.

Well, not everything is as simple as it might appear. If you really want to access the module itself, it is located behind the rear seat on the driver's side, don't ask me how long it took me to find that out.. The trunk reverse lights went out once on a different ES, which is a common problem on those cars with the wiring to the trunk getting damaged over time. With that, following my born stupidity, I thought that reverse lights are also routed through the Light Failure module and I will be able to test the wiring from it, and went on search even though I knew full well what the problem is from the very start. I only realized my mistake when half of the car was already out and I finally found that module.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Thanks. I looked behind the trunk panel that is directly behind the rear seats, nothing there. How did you access the module, from the back seat? How did you get to it?

 

You need to take the entire rear seat out, it will be under the sound deadening mat behind the seat, a pink box on the Driver's side. You will definitely need a helper to take the seat out, otherwise it will not make for a very good day..

Here you can find a picture of how it looks. To make sure that you have the same setup, you can take the trunk lining out, if you will see a pink clip near the reinforcement bars, will know that it is definitely there.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Thanks so much. But ugh… sounds like too much work. I may decide to just live with the warning light.