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Hi guys, new member here and I could use some help because I’m stumped. Lol
So, earlier today I pulled the driver side tail light out to check out the top brake light was burnt out or if there was just corrosion in there. Running light part was fine but brake light went out.
I pulled the bulb out and there was a small amount of rust in the socket and I decided to try to scrape some of the rust off with a screwdriver and I bridged the two contacts when I was trying to scrape it out and now I the outer brake lights don’t work.
All four running lights work and the two center (trunk) brake lights work but the outer brake lights won’t light up with the brake pedal pressed.
I pulled out the tail light fail box and all the contacts look fine. I pulled the black two plug thing off and put it back on a few times to see if that would do anything and I wiggled both the trunk hinge and other harness to see if it would light up but still nothing.
I guess my question is will replacing the fail box fix this or did I fry something else? I’m sorry if this is a stupid easy fix but I couldn’t find a specific thread about what’s happening here.
This is what happens when the brake pedal is depressed
I would try a battery disconnect, then a fuse check. Also, double check that it is the right bulbs. They may look the same but aren't. Reconnect the battery and see what happens. Always disconnect the battery when replacing anything on an LS400. Sorry, I wish I knew the fuse location for brake lights.
The trace indicated by a red circle is completely open. Fix the trace adding/soldering a copper wire which can endure the current there. 18 AWG wire would be fine. The trace sends the current to bulbs and the short-circuit caused the too much current to melt the copper trace. It's just an easy fix.
One more advice. See the enlarged photo below. You can see solder cracks at soldering lands indicated by pink arrows. You'd better to resolder those for the better reliability. Those 4 pins indicated by the character S must had been resoldered before since the color of the solder is different.
thank you that’s exactly what I was thinking because all the fuses are good so I opened the box and I was like “i definitely melted something somewhere” but I had to get another opinion.
Hopefully it will hold up until I get off work on Monday.
07-18-18, 09:42 PM
91 LS400 outer tails stopped working
