I just purchased my GS300 and and I ran into a issue. I tried searching and even did a google search but no info. I fries replacing my high mount brake lights on my car yesterday but the new bulbs didn't work. For some reason only two of the five bulbs works. I think I have a wire issue. I even put the existing bulbs that fired into the slots that were off and they didnt fire. I then took the old existing bulbs and put them into the slots that worked and they came on.....

So basically all of the existing bulbs work but I think I have a bad high mount lightu nit.im going to try to find a used one somewhere. Have anyone else experienced this before?? Also if I have some spelling errors please excuse. Im tyiping this while im in my engineering meeting on my Droid.

 

Check the 12v and Ground contacts in the plug on the back of the socket. Once you know which is not getting what it needs then you can determine how best to fix it.

Simply putting another in its place my not fix the issue if its a wiring problem farther up the chain.

 

Should I check on both the male and female sockets? I don't have a volt meter so I will have to borrow one. My car has the spoiler light which is out too.

 

the issue comes about when changing from LED OEM spoiler to OEM third break light (high mount)
I believe it has something to do with the neg, terminal wiring at the light itself. It runs on two different line, i believe, causing two bulbs not to light up. I havent done this in a while so forgive me for not remembering in detail. What i did was cut the wire that feeds the two bulbs and connect them to the other three, simple splice really..You need a test light to check the current circuit and a second person to hit the brakes.

 

This sucks. After doing my reading the spoiler was added by dealer afterwards by the dealer. My led spoiler light isn't working and only two bulbs are working on my 3rd brake light. . Im not good with splicing ...

 

is not rocket science or Engineering Man..its a simple connection/splice.

take the light out have someone press the brake and check which wire from the three bulbs that light up is +. then check which wire is + on the two that dont light up by putting 12v source (you can use a 3 inch jumper wire). Cut the + from the two and join it with the three..BAM!!!! SUper Illumination!!!

BTW..if remember the wires are colored Red & Black

 

Thanks for the detailed response!! Being a electrical engineer I can do it.

 

Bump.

Even w/2 new bulbs, right side bulbs wouldn't stay working. They only work sporadically - in fact, there are times the warning light on the dashboard turn on to let me know they're out, but they're actually still working.

Any other suggestions? I spliced the wire connecting the 3, and got it feeding the wire feeding the 2. It didn't resolve that for me.

Fuse is good too.

Would it make sense to just get another third brake light set?

Thanks!

 

I would try to find someone locally and swap to we if it is the 3rd light, if not then you have a wiring issue and its a nightmare chasing it. Good luck

 

I tried this solution again - and it worked for me (THANKS!!). Now the brake light is working great - but the freakin' light on the dashboard is still on. I'm going to check, and start replacing the other bulbs (even though they all appear to be working) as per the suggestions across the forum, but since I'm not really a hands-on person, I wonder what I should be doing something with the cable no longer being used for the 2 bulbs? And want to confirm that is not the reason the light on the dashboard for the rear lights is still on.

 

Good bump. I actually forgot about my old thread. I never fixed the issue with my lights. I read about this happening with other members on some old threads. Below is a pic of the wiring of our 3rd brake light. I actually don't have a warning light on my dashboard, even though 3 bulbs are not on. What made it work for you this time around. The three bulbs boxed in are the blubs that are not working for me.

 

I exposed more of the black cable and just did a better, more thorough job at wrapping the red to the exposed parts of it. Wrapped it tightly w/electric tape - and it worked right away. 2 days in, still no problems.

But yeah, still have that exposed half-red - and not sure I should do something w/that.

 

Had to bump my old thread because I think this may be my issue now. I will go by autozone to see if I can borrow their multimeter to check the service/power plug. Right now I'm getting NO power to the high mount brake light, which is pissing me off. I switched the light assembly to a new one and bulbs still didn't light up, which leads me to thinking I have a wire issue.

This is very true. I will say that this did work for me for 1 complete day lol. I did this splice trick and everything was ok. I drove around for a little bit, then noticed the warning lamp turning on. After this splice trick, my driver's side tail bulb popped. Changed out the tail light bulb, fixed that problem. Being a EE, I knew that something wasn't right because there was a surge in the wires that caused that bulb to pop once driving and hitting on brakes multiple times. It's no coincidence that this bulb was completely fine UNTIL i did the splice. Went to evaluate my splicing and everthing was ok...until that just totally stopped working all together. Switched the assembly, new bulbs don't work which brings me to the present.

I was thinking that maybe I popped a fuse due to overcurrent, but I couldn't find a lone fuse that operated the high mount brake light. If anyone know where this fuse is, let me know. This is a known issue with the GS models when people add the aftermarket spoiler with the LED light and factory 3rd brake light. Did a search and found multiple unanswered posts with this same problem. Typically 2 or 3 bulbs light up, based on the wiring. Now I have NO damn lights working. The only lights that work is the tail lights and inners which is ok. My only saving grace is that the spoiler blocks the 3rd brake light, so I'm ok but I still would light to fix it. Guess I'll be putting a new led spoiler light soon. This will allow me to trace some of the wires and at least get another light working soon.

Any ideas??

 

Hey Goku, I lost your number but came up with this idea. If anyone else can chime in that would be great. I have the same problem but only 3 bulbs light up. I was thinking maybe we can order an LED strip from VLEDS and use a base adapter to plug it into the middle socket. Then just remove all the old bulbs and tape the strip to the front of the assembly. If the light comes on in the dash, I believe you can just pull the bulb out.

LED Strip:
http://www.vleds.com/strip-lights-le...ip-lights.html

I'm not exactly sure which base adapter to use though...

 

Hey, I got it to work temp for maybe like a hour, then the problems started. I basically spliced the wire that powers the two dead bulbs into the wire that powers the three bulbs. It worked, I was happy, then after driving my dash light came on. The inrush of extra current popped my driver's side bulb. I told myself this was no coincidence due to the bulb working properly since purchasing the car in 2011. I changed the bulb and kept the current splice. NOW, all of the bulbs don't light up at all. I don't know what caused this...I went from two bulbs working, to all of them, now none of them work. I thought I popped a fuse...checked and the Tail and Stop fuses are fine. I ran a ground wire from the engine to the back and checked the plug...no power coming to the freaking plug now!! So this is where I'm at currently....3rd brake light doesn't work, spoiler light was out at purchase...only my trunk lights work. I plan on replacing the spoiler light soon to at least get that working. I guess that I may have to replace the plug for the 3rd brake light now since it's not getting power now.

Any suggestions?