brake light/shift lock issue

[BugDiddy]

so 2 days ago i find out my brake lights dont work (tails do though). I narrow it down to the lamp out sensor which i discovered had fried part of itself. I soldered it back together and they worked good again

today however, after i started my car and hit the brakes to get into reverse, the headlights dimmed a lot, and then i noticed that the shift lock wasnt being released when i pushed the brake pedal. also brake lights are now gone again

the lamp out box looks ok still
15a brake fuse is still good
bulbs are good

so im guessing it might be something with the brake switch? that would be the only thing that would cause it the shift lock to cease functioning right? or maybe there is something im missing?

[new echo owner]

Use a test light to make sure you have power going to and coming from the brake light switch!

N.E.O.

[es250nut]

I bought a Camry that had the tail sensor burned out like you describe. The previous owner had tried replacing it and burned out the second one. They also had started to pull apart wiring harnesses looking for the short that was causing them to burn out. As it turns out the reason the lights out sensor box was shorting out was because someone had replaced one of the rear taillight bulbs with the wrong type. They had put a single filament bulb where there should have been one of the dual filament ones. The single contact at the base was shorting out on the dual contact in the socket.


First, check all your bulbs to verify they are correct type for the socket they are in, then you will need to track down what in the circuit blew this time, you may still need to fix or replace the lights out module.