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Tail light failure with a twist!

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Old Apr 17, 2015 | 05:09 PM
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Default Tail light failure with a twist!

Alright so I have searched the forum about my problem but from what I read from the search results (rx's, ls', etc..)! everyone had the problem when replacing bulbs that were not factory lexus ones.

My problem is different in the fact that my inners were faded, so I went to the junk yard and pulled some newer looking used ones. Came home cleaned them up and disconnected the harnesses from the new used tails I got, realizing that I only needed to swap out the housing since there was nothing wrong with the lights on my car currently. Proceeded with said plan by just replacing only the housings and when I go to test the lights they looked 100 times better. But as soon as I stepped on the brake to move the car out of my drive was the indicator pops up.

What causes this ?

I didn't do anything but replace the housing. I didn't dosconnect any wires. Only turns on when I step on the brakes. I also had my friend hit the brakes while I stepped back to make sure all my lights were working and we switched to make sure we were both seeing the same thing and not white and gold or blue and black.
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Old Apr 17, 2015 | 08:11 PM
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I had this happen to me, the tail light indicator only turned on once the brake was pressed.

For me it was the dual filament on the trunk bake light was burnt out. It's tough to diagnose if you don't know what you're looking for but pay close attention to your lights. One of them will not get brighter when the brake is pressed.

Last edited by justim; Apr 17, 2015 at 08:15 PM.
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Old Apr 19, 2015 | 02:05 AM
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Come to think of it I don't recall the inners getting brighter! Thanks for the input! Currently in seattle so I will have to wait til tomorrow to buy new bulbs and test it out. Will try to take pics to confirm the problems!
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Old Apr 20, 2015 | 10:50 AM
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Hope it works out for you, those bulbs kinda suck to get to. You need to remove the entire trunk door lining to get at them.
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Old Apr 20, 2015 | 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by justim
Hope it works out for you, those bulbs kinda suck to get to. You need to remove the entire trunk door lining to get at them.
Here are the results. I had the trunk liner off already so it wasnt too bad. Need to get a new driverside bulb tomorrow. heres some crappy pics from my wannabe gopro.






Everything seems to be working...





Driver side is out...
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Old Apr 20, 2015 | 09:18 PM
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yep, thats the same one that was out for me too. I replaced both bulbs just so I wouldn't have to remove the lining again for a while.
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Old Apr 24, 2015 | 02:54 AM
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Quick stop at autozone for some Sylvania 7443's for about 7 bucks and back in action.
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