So, my driver side tail light round lamp/led is not working. Its JDM light. The turn signal one works fine and so does the rectangular one. I took the tail light out and found two plugs on circuit board that connects the circular led lamp and rectangular one.

At first, when I pressed the connector plug in, the lamp started working for only several seconds then it went out again. Now, nothing happens even if I try to play with the connector plug...it is very difficult to get to.

Any ideas? I am sure the led's are fine. I was thinking of opening the tail light to get better access to the circuit board. But wanted to do without causing too much damage. Basically, wants the light to resuable after that. I tried to look for DIY for it but couldn't find any.

Any help will be highly appreciated! I don't have money to buy a whole new light .

 

You should make sure the plug from the car's harness is good first?

 

You mean the white plug that connects in the trunk? Can other lights function ok if the plug is bad?

 

And how can I check the car harness plugs? Thanks!

 

At least make sure the pins inside the connector aren't damaged and maybe test the connectors

 

I checked the connector -- the voltage and grounding. I checked IPDM and BCM units. Everything is fine. All lights are working except the park light circle of left. Like I said, the rectangular part of the light works.

So, I tried to push in the white plugs that are on the tail light circuit powering the circle and the rectangular parts and light came on for a bit and then went off. And then nothing would happen. Those plugs are really hard to get to.

I think the lights are JDM.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

I think its the circuit board in the tail light. I am thinking of cutting it open. Any ideas on that? Or any tips on checking the circuit board? Thanks.

 

Let me know if you figure out the problem and how to fix it.. I have a spare set with the same issue on the driver's side taillight.

 

I am going to try and dremel open the tail light. Since I dont have a spare set, I was looking for some tips on doing that but no dice.

 

The circuit board does both the 3/4/5 LED layout along with the 12 LED in a ring. It would be unusual for it to go bad for only one of the circuits. Sounds like a connector issue. Here's a better pic of the circuit:



I haven't seen an easy way to open up the lights. Most people use a dremel. Get some high quality cutting discs made to cut metal, since they will last longer. And you'll just need to work slowly along the edge. If it's the driver side for the 06-07 lights, you'll also need to dremel the plastic where the trunk release button is. That is a real PITA area.

Here's a pic of some of where I cut:


It takes me about 1.5 hours to open up a passenger side, and 2+ hours for the driver side with the trunk release. Considering the time involved, it would be easier to just buy a new light if you can't fix the light. If you're going to open it up, then I would retrofit in another set of LED rings.

Don't forget, you'll also need to seal the lights up. Though it's easier I think than opening them.

 

Thanks for pics and details E K. It seems like you tired to cut behind the signal lamp before. Is that necessary? Or just the edges and trunk button plastic will suffice? Yes, sadly its 07 driver side.

Or I was thinking of making a small incision over the connector on the right (with back of light facing you).

I will try to do this in couple of days and post pics. Let's hope it all goes well so I can save couple hundred bucks that I don't have.

Oh yeah, one more thing...how can I test the lamps without connecting them back to the car? Will I need a 12v adapter? And plug to light harness using clips? But which connectors of the harness?

 

The only cuts near the signal lamp area were for the LED ring retrofit. Just concentrate on cutting the edge. Give yourself about 2-4 mm distance away from the clear red plastic. The cuts don't have to be pretty, since you can't see them once it's sealed and installed on the car.

I wouldn't bother with the small incision idea. If you use a dremel, you're going to have small bits flying everywhere and getting into the light. Then you'll have to open it up just to clean out all the debris.

I use a old ATX computer power supply to power my lights. You have to do some simple modifying of it, but once that is done, you'll have a simple 12V DC source. I have two types of HID ballast connectors, a H4 connector, and alligator clips soldered on that thing, so I can power up most car lights.

 

Didn't thought of that! I will just open up the whole light then. Can you post any pic of the modified power adapter?

 

A single pic won't really help you, you'll need instructions on how to mod it.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3908

You'll have to register, but follow the directions and you'll get it. I used an ATX power supply.

 

Sweet! Thanks a bunch!

I will update when I make some progress!