Tail Lights are Out

[LovemyCamry]

My back tail lights don't work. I know where the problem lies. It is where the trunk the slides & that allows the trunk to open and close. Well I noticed that a few wires were cut. At the dealership, and at the time only lights were out were the lights on the trunk itself. Dealership said that it would be still good to drive at night. They said that is a common problem with the Camry's wires getting cut by the trunk.

Now, they don't work at all. I am just wondering if I can re-connect the wires myself? I would use electrical tape. Or should I take it to someone that knows what they are doing. Dealership said it would cost about 200 - 300 dollars for the repair. Or is there a manuel that you can recommend? Its a 99 Camry LE

[toyomoho]

If you know where the broken wires you can reattach them together based on wire color. Each wire should have its own color such as Black with a White stripe. Normally there is only one wire to be attached to the other so just reattach by same color.

One route is to go to a hardware or auto parts store and find crimp connecters that can be used to reattach the wires. Have the sales person explain this if you can’t figure it out. You can use a pair of pliers to crimp the connector to the wire instead of the special tool usually used. Take note of the wire diameter that needs splicing, the connector size varies with wire diameter to be spiced.

If you don't have time just reconnect and tape each wire then wrap tape around the wire bundle.

It is very typical for the wires to break at the trunk hinge location you describe and common for owners to splice the wires back together. Once all the wires are spliced wrap electrical tape around the wires to add some protection.

The link below provides excess to a Camry manuals and wiring diagrams:

http://www.camrymanuals.com/