Driver's Side Tail Light - Brake Light not working correctly 97 LX450 (1 Viewer)

[tldagent]

Have a weird problem and I've searched for answers but found nothing that matches what's going on.

For some reason my Driver's side tail light isn't working. I've looked over all the harnesses, unplugged and put dielectric grease on them. Everything is so clean and free from corrosion I can't figure out what it is.

So basically the passenger rear tail light works and brake light works well. The drivers side light would work but when applying the brake, the tail light would go out. Now with everything apart and both tail lights out, I noticed that when I put a new bulb in the bottom tail light on the drivers side, the passenger tail light lights up as if the brakes were on but no driver's side tail light.

Not sure if it's related but all of the sudden my driver's side window goes down but not any of the others and at one time they all worked perfectly. Not sure if there's a short or a bad ground but all wiring is almost like new and free from corrosion. The entire truck only has 150,000 miles on it and is free from corrosion.

I do have a trailer lights from the OEM (inside passenger rear fender) and all seems corrosion free, not wet and tested with trailer module disconnected and same results.

Anyone ever encounter anything like this? I'll get pics if needed. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[tldagent]

OK, so if the headlight switch is off, the brake light works well. If the headlight switch is turned to the on position, the driver's side tail light doesn't work and neither does the brake light.... But the passenger works fine. Weird.

 

[bajaphile]

Did you check that the little green (unprotected) wire that runs along the rear (under or right next to the silver strip) isn't shorting out? They routed it over a sharp edge and it may be shorting. Easy to check.

 

[Uglymud]

Had a broken pin in the connector in the driver side kick panel that gave me a similar tail light issue.

 

[1996]

OK, so if the headlight switch is off, the brake light works well. If the headlight switch is turned to the on position, the driver's side tail light doesn't work and neither does the brake light.... But the passenger works fine. Weird.

This happened to me, too. Eventually the brake lights started turning on in the middle of the night. It turned out to be a $1 fix. There's a little rubber coin-sized disk that deteriorates which doesn't allow the brake light switch to work properly. The spring had loosened and come unhooked as well. Look under the dash, on top of the brake pedal. "Brake Pedal Stop Pad"

 

[tldagent]

Sorry for the delay. I found that the bottom brake light socket, where the ground wire is soldered to it, had a little corrosion. I resoldered the connection and the lights work correctly now. The only way I found it was by comparing both sides and while there was no corrosion, the driver's tail light had a little white spot where the wire attaches. I'm probably going to order a new socket.

Everything else was in good shape. Thanks everyone for your assistance in nailing this down.

 

[tbo_cruiser]

Sorry for the delay. I found that the bottom brake light socket, where the ground wire is soldered to it, had a little corrosion. I resoldered the connection and the lights work correctly now. The only way I found it was by comparing both sides and while there was no corrosion, the driver's tail light had a little white spot where the wire attaches. I'm probably going to order a new socket.

Everything else was in good shape. Thanks everyone for your assistance in nailing this down.

So does the metal socket just pull up out of the plastic housing it is in? I have the same symptoms. I pulled on the socket with a pair of needle nose pliers, but it doesn’t come out.

also wondering do both tail lights use the same ground point? Since the problem is on only one side, it seems like it has to be right at the socket unless they have separate grounds.

 

[Perfected]

Same exact issue here. Brake light problem solved. Thanks for the help.