Fabian1027

Greetings all ..has anyone experienced issues with there brake lights ?
I have a 2011 Lexus RX350 ..at first 1 of my tail lights stopped working. I found the replacement bulb from autozone and put a new one in.
The next day 1 all of sudden 1 of my break lights stopped working. I thought maybe it was the incorrect Amps on the bulb.
So I replaced both tail lights with the same correct Amps. Next day...both of my Brake lights stopped working .( my center one still works when you press the breaks )

I think the break lights are LED's and you would need to replace the whole thing approx $400
Is there some module or fuse I can check..given the quickness of both lights going out..I am hoping its some other item

Any help would be much appreciated

3894days

I have changed the bulbs and it still wont work. The tail light works just fine. Its been fine all along and even worked fine when I had trailer hooked up..as I did add the wiring harness for the towing package but that was simply plug and play but it is on the drivers side so just throwing that out there. At a loss... any thoughts? anyone have this issue?

Thank you
Rob

3894days

did you ever learn what was the cause??? I have similar situation where my drivers side brake light stopped working, the tail light works just fine. I have too tried replacing the bulbs.

3894days

I am all set.. found that the issue was the LEDS are burnt out and I need a new side tail light unit...

mushu315

Here's the issue that I am having.

The center brake light is working. The taillight/brake light, will light up, but when I step on the brake, the second filament does not light up. Prior to noticing this error, I replaced the brake light bulbs with Bosch 168 miniature bulbs. The original bulbs that I pulled out say "Koito 12V5W W5W E4". For the life of me, I could not find the same bulb, which is why I ended up ordering the Bosch 168 bulbs.

I read on the forms about people's brake lights not lighting up. The suggested solution was to check the fuses and replace the brake light switch. I checked the fuses and they seemed to be working. I was going to attempt to replace the brake light switch, but can't find a free afternoon to replace it. I took it to my mechanic and he said it's the "LED Assembly" that has gone bad.

Before I drop 1g on ordering/replacing the LED assembly, I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar issue.

Thanks!

RX in NC

Absolutely correct bulbs are crucial in today's vehicles (which are essentially rolling computers). Before doing anything else, I would burnish the sockets and install the proper bulbs.

mushu315

Thanks RX!

I'll give that a try and report back.

N4TECguy

No such thing as "installing the proper bulbs." The 3RX brake lights are LED assemblies as your mechanic said. The 168 bulbs are just tail lights, they turn on with the head lights but should not light with the brakes. You should see whether the connectors are getting any power during brake application and whether the connectors on the taillight side shows an open circuit. The 3rd brake light being lit rules out a bad brake light switch.

mushu315

Thanks N4TECguy,

BTW, I did order bulbs from Lexus and nothing changed.

Is this in any way connected to the daylights not working too?

N4TECguy

Not sure I'm understanding this - is there something else on the vehicle that isn't working right?

mushu315

Here's what ended up happening. I took my car in for a flat tire. America Tire Depot fixed the flat but showed me that the shocks were completely shot. I said not to worry about it and I was going to just sell the car. I mentioned that there's wiring issues and it would cost more to fix the shocks/electrical than to sell. They said they would fix the wiring issue free of charge, if I moved forward with the shock replacement.

It literally took them 10-15 minutes to get the brake lights working again. The mech said it was a damaged resistor and they just had to make an adjustment.

It wasn't bulbs or fuse. Still not sure how they fixed it.

lexusrus

I've used my local America Tire for the last several years now..... They are EXCELLENT!!! They don't charge for a professional flat repair (if repairable) even if you did not buy the tire from them. Also they do not do a half-**** plug job either.....they dismount the flat tire and grind down the inside of the tire and apply a patch.

mandyfig

It is not uncommon for tire places to fix flats for free. That’s the cheapest and the surest way to earn your trust and is a sure lure into getting your car repaired there. As long as they can just plug it (the hole is located on an area that is repairable - not on the shoulder or edge of the tire). I have plugged a few holes, it is not easy for a non-pro. You need a lot of brute force to jam the plug into the hole. Hence a good tool is needed to enlarge the hole. and that is not an easy task.

lexusrus

I like the plug and patch method as done at America's Tire. Not just a plug.

A lot of shops around me wanted to charge for fixing flats....... But no charge at America's Tire.

RX in NC

In my neck of the woods Discount Tire also fixes flats for free (they remove the tire from the rim and patch it properly). I believe Discount Tire and America's Tire are owned by the same corporate entity.