91 Camry has Tail/Brake Light Problem

[o1d_dude]

First it started out with the tail lights not working, as in none of the four panels lighting up.

All other lights including brake lights worked fine. The manual said the running lights and a few other things were on the same circuit so the fuse had to be intact. Therefore, I checked the bulbs and found no problem there.

Then I checked the fuses. As a matter of fact, I checked all the fuses (driver side kick panel, passenger side kick panel, engine compartment, battery box) and found them all to be intact. The only thing I did find was that the positive battery terminal was pretty loose so I tightened it up.

Today I inadvertently shorted out the brake light circuit by removing one of the 1157 bulbs and clumsily using a 6/12 volt circuit tester. Briefly sparked but now none of the brake lights work.

Back to the four fuse panels where all fuses are still intact.

Checked all the light bulbs and found them intact as well.

Not a single blown fuse and yet, no tail lights, no brake lights.

Is there some sort of circuit breaker that can be reset? Or am I hosed once again by this POS?

[o1d_dude]

Just sharing what I learned:

There is a tail lamp failure sensor hidden in the left/driver's side of the trunk.

You will have to remove the carpet and the left/driver side trunk panel (three press-in connectors). There is vertical body member that connects the top of the fender to the trunk floor. Follow the cable harness behind (!) this member. See that yellow box about the size of a pack of cigarettes? That's the sensor.

To remove this sensor, feel around on the top of the box for a press down latch. After a few moments of fumbling, you will probably succeed in releasing the sensor from it's mount..

You must then detach the cable bundle from the sensor. Easily done, it's a standard Toyota cable connection.

The lid of the box is held in place with for little nubs so just pry the lid open with a small screwdriver. Remove the cover, drop the printed circuit board into your hand. Turn it over and look at the burned wire. In addition to the burned wire, one of the traces was in tatters and separated from my PC board. There's the problem.

The replacement part can be ordered on the net for approximately $25 US. I'm going to try to obtain one locally tomorrow.

Ironic that the diagnostic becomes the point of failure, isn't it?

Do a web search on "toyota tail lamp relay" or "toyota tail lamp sensor" to get an idea of how many Toyotas have this problem.

[DFBonnett]

Great tip. Many thanks.

[Chwigga89]

I had the same problem - the cost for a new sensor for me was 176 or so, but for a while i worked with the old one and soldered my own wires to make the connections over the burned section of the box. Toyota's only downfall is this box, im tellin ya!

[MotoVIII]

This was the reason I went searching for this forum! I will be tearing mine down today to see if I have the same wiring problem.