M45Owner Thank you !!!

 

Thx for the info. Fixed mine.

To remove the power outlet you have to turn and move the metal part to show two tabs on the inside, one on each side and the stick the screwdriver in the socket, not touching the negative and positive together to move those tabs enough so that the entire socket will release.

 

First and foremost I want to Thank you M45Owner for this post. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!

I had tried everything I could think of to fix my brake lights. After being completely stumped, I took my Lexus into a local automotive shop who told me it was the "Brake Light Failure Sensor Module", and quoted me $1100 to fix it. Told me the part only came from Lexus and it costs just over $500. I thought "Wholly cow that seems a bit extreme". I told the guy I had to think about it when I searched and found this thread. Since it was so detailed, I decided to tackle it on my own. I think thought I would put together a video of the repair (although not step by step) to hopefully help others who want to attempt to fix this problem themselves. I will post it on Youtube when I edit it and post another link on this thread.

Again, M45Owner, I want to Thank you for such an awesome post. you saved me (and others) big time. By the way, I spent just under an hour to repair the module. The automotive company told me it would take 3.5 to 4 hours to replace.

 

Great tip. Thanks to the original poster! My wife helped with the soldering and now all the brake lights are working. When i first noticed the problem, the car did not show any visual warning(abs light, bulb outage light) in my dash and I was able to shift gear. At first i thought that it was the brake light switch and i was preparing to replace this instead of this low cost fix.

The toughest part for me was removing the plastic pieces. I could not get the bottom piece out because of the power socket but i still managed to remove the sensor.

Also thanks to others for providing feedback to this fix. Feels good not having to pay so much to the stealership.

Here is a pic showing the location of the sensor in case anyone can not find it on the RX300.

 

Thanks for posting this How to. It has saved me $667.00 dollars and all it cost me was $20 dollars total (soldering tool included from pawn shop). The ECU Box wasn't hard to locate because I went to the dealership for a map of the car part which was free. I will post the map to help others as well as a YouTube video as soon as I can. I joined the club based on your help and look forward to being able to repair my BEAST MODE RX300. Unstoppable in the snow.
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Thank you so much M45owner! The fix was simple and save some big $$!

 

Thanks for posting this!; this along with the other info in this thread should help me locate the sensor module and fix it as well if i ever need to at some point.

 

Following my wife home the other night I noticed none of the brake lights were working. Did some research last night and I found this post. Thank you M45owner!! Performed the process this morning and everything works great!! Many years ago when I was in the military "aviation electronics" I was trained in micro miniature soldering. For those out there with little soldering experience I would like to add a few helpful pointers. They will often put a light plastic coating on the back of the PC board. You should gently scrape the top of the bad solder joint before reheating to remove the coating or it could effect the ability of the solder to flow cleanly. I have some old dental tools I used but a small screw driver, a nail, etc will do. Be gentle. Place a small dab of flux on the joint, place the tip of the soldering iron on the pin where the solder ends. You will see the solder melt, get shiny. Add a little more solder and wait a few seconds more for it to flow and form the nice "Hershey kiss looking" joint. Do not stay on too long or you could damage the board. You can gently clean it with some isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip. You're good to go. There was another post about removing the Aux power outlet properly which I found very helpful.(SEE LINK BELOW) I used a screwdriver and some needle nose pliers to pry the metal unit away from the plastic housing as I pushed the small tabs and spun the unit CCW. Once it was out there are two more plastic tabs the hold the housing to the car frame. I used small screwdrive to pry them slightly inward one at a time as I rocked the housing out. It was a little tricky.


https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...er-outlet.html

 

M45, thanks so much for this. My 2001 had same issues. No brake lights everything else working normal. As in NO brake lights - 3rd light and lower lights. It took me a little while to get to the module. All the fasteners are push type, just use a wide flat head or tool made for this. Hardest part was the 12 volt power receptacle. As usual, I found what I was looking for on another thread.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...er-outlet.html

Still had a time getting the receptacle out... After the tabs are pressed, there's only one perfect alignment that it will come out. Keep rotating and tugging until you feel it's free. Is still broke the tab. Very frustrating. Anyway, once that is out, the panel can be moved and window trim lightly lifted. The module is mounted just above a block of foam rubber. It can be easily disconnected and removed. Mine is gray and about the size of a deck of cards. Just like the pictures, the solder joint appeared cracked. Fired up my butane iron and wicked some fresh solder onto the joint. All back together and the brake lights are working perfectly. Thanks again you saved me some big money.

Tim

 

Thank you, M45owner and all of you participating in this thread. My uncle just gave me his 1999 Lexus RX300, and I love it.

He paid $722 at a auto repair shop on December 2015 to replace the Brake Lamp Failure Module.

 

Yes, I never would have found all this on my own

 

Great post! Thank you!

 

Sorry to hear that Nick.

 

Hi Nick:

Your post escaped my attention.

It is unfortunate that you have been diagnosed with a lung disease. No words can bring you comfort.

Instead I will remind all readers that we all have limited time on this earth. So live your life well and be kind to others.

Salim

 

Thanks to M45Owner for putting this together! Finally had to do this on my RX300 today after noticing the brake lights weren't working. I also only had to re-solder the #1 pin.