09 HL Rear Left Tail Light Problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

thenebula873 · 09-04-2011, 09:16 PM

Ran into a bit of a problem with the rear left tail light of my Highlander today. The red tail light does not turn on while all lights are on. It only turns on when the brakes are applied. Anyone know what the problem might be?

***sweeneyp*** · 09-04-2011, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenebula873

Ran into a bit of a problem with the rear left tail light of my Highlander today. The red tail light does not turn on while all lights are on. It only turns on when the brakes are applied. Anyone know what the problem might be?

burnt out bulb? they are dual light source bulbs. 1 is dedicated brake and the other is dedicated to that dim light while headlights are on. That 1 element is probably burned out.

thenebula873 · 09-04-2011, 10:34 PM

Ah that might just be it. I thought the dim tail and brake lights were using the same bulb. I'll replace it when I'm back from my road trip. Odd that it burnt out so quickly. I don't drive often at night and that tail lamp was replaced recently from a fender bender.

***sweeneyp*** · 09-04-2011, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenebula873

Ah that might just be it. I thought the dim tail and brake lights were using the same bulb. I'll replace it when I'm back from my road trip. Odd that it burnt out so quickly. I don't drive often at night and that tail lamp was replaced recently from a fender bender.

its a single bulb (not two, sorrry if I wasn't very clear), but its a 7443 which is a dual filament bulb vs a single filament one 7440 (no dim). It could be that the socket got damaged or the filament just broke the filament off the two arms that support it during the fender-bender. I drive a lot at night and haven't needed to replace mine yet so its weird that yours went out. I would check the bulb first (just look at it) before you go and replace it, because it could be fine and the problem be caused somewhere else.

thenebula873 · 09-05-2011, 06:38 PM

Ah I got it now. Didn't expect it to be dual filament. I was worried that a trooper would've pulled me over on the highway for a busted tail lamp (even though both brake lamps were functional). Luckily, that didn't happen.

I'll extract the bulb this weekend and see what's going on with it. Hopefully it's just a busted filament and not an electrical issue. No idea why it died so fast since the whole tail lamp assembly was replaced after the fender bender with a new unit.

GaspipeBob216 · 01-09-2012, 02:31 PM

How do you guys actually get to the brake light? There is a little panel in the back that I opened, but can't even get close to getting my hand in....

***sweeneyp*** · 01-09-2012, 02:34 PM

Its a tight fit, buts that's how you do it. You just have to kind of maneuver your hand around the metal to the back of the taillight. Its a real hassle to get to them. I have large hands and I barely get back there (by that I mean the tips of my fingers barely touch the bulb socket enough to twist it and unplug it)

GaspipeBob216 · 01-10-2012, 07:02 AM

Thanks for the help - Next question...

How do you get the actual bulb out? I was able to fit two fingers in last night (insert Michael Scott's favorite line), but all I could do was pull the cable out...

I'm assuming I need to get further in and twist the bulb one way to loosen it and pull it back into the compartment?

***sweeneyp*** · 01-10-2012, 08:40 AM

did you pull the cable out of the back of the socket?!? (or just find them and give them a little tug)
the 3 wires for the brake go into a twist socket that the bulb is pushed into. You have to twist that socket like 45-90 degrees to have it be able to come out. Once you get the whole socket out it will have plenty of slack to come through the opening you are putting your hand through. Then you just pull the bulb out of the socket.