Tail/brake Light Fault On Driver Side Only

[Yarizman]

Hi there,

My Yaris has developed a brake light fault which I cannot understand.

It started with the rear driverside TAIL/BRAKE light bulb failing.

I know its a combination bulb with 2 filaments, one for tail & the other for Brake.

I simply replaced the blown bulb, but this is what happens now.

When I brake (during daytime) all is fine & both brake lights illuninate as they should.

However, when the tail lights are switched on (at night), & when the brakes are applied, only the Driverside tail light goes out, but all the brake lights illuminate as normal. When brakes are released, the Driverside tail light comes back on.

Checked the bulb, and made sure its inserted in the holder correctly.

Has anyone come across a similar problem?

Any help very much appreciated.

Kind regards

A>>>>

[Yarizman]

Opps it me again, i got something muddled up in my first post.

I mean't to say that when the brakes are depressed (at night), BOTH the driverside Brake & tail light go off. When the brake is released, tail light comes back on.

Cheers :)

A>>>>

Hi there,

My Yaris has developed a brake light fault which I cannot understand.

It started with the rear driverside TAIL/BRAKE light bulb failing.

I know its a combination bulb with 2 filaments, one for tail & the other for Brake.

I simply replaced the blown bulb, but this is what happens now.

When I brake (during daytime) all is fine & both brake lights illuninate as they should.

However, when the tail lights are switched on (at night), & when the brakes are applied, only the Driverside tail light goes out, but all the brake lights illuminate as normal. When brakes are released, the Driverside tail light comes back on.

Checked the bulb, and made sure its inserted in the holder correctly.

Has anyone come across a similar problem?

Any help very much appreciated.

Kind regards

A>>>>

[T600]

Has anyone come across a similar problem?

Hi.

Earthing problem I would think, though not exactly the symptoms these normally exhibit.

Sounds as if your tail light is earthing through the brake light, so once brakes applied it goes out. But usually when that happens the brake light on that side doesn't work when the lights are on.

But check that your cluster on that side has a good earth; if it earth via the bolt securing the cluster then that's probably the problem.

[Yarizman]

Thank you very much for your quick reply (T600).

Yes you are absolutely right, the brake light on the driverside does not work when the tail lights are on.

I made a mistake in my first posting. Sorry everyone.

I'LL check the earth point and see if it fixes the problem.

Thanks once again

Kind regards

A>>>>

Hi.

Earthing problem I would think, though not exactly the symptoms these normally exhibit.

Sounds as if your tail light is earthing through the brake light, so once brakes applied it goes out. But usually when that happens the brake light on that side doesn't work when the lights are on.

But check that your cluster on that side has a good earth; if it earth via the bolt securing the cluster then that's probably the problem.

[T600]

Thank you very much for your quick reply (T600).

Yes you are absolutely right, the brake light on the driverside does not work when the tail lights are on.

I made a mistake in my first posting. Sorry everyone.

I'LL check the earth point and see if it fixes the problem.

Thanks once again

Kind regards

A>>>>

You're welcome.

That's definitely the problem then; either filament can earth through the other, but when both are supposed to be on they cancel each other out and therefore won't illuminate.

Shouldn't be too hard to fix from there. I don't know how the earth on your car is supposed to work, but you should be able to figure it out now you know what the problem is.

Good luck,

Tony

[Yarizman]

Hi Tony, appreciated your help & guidance.

Yes you were correct, It was a simple earthing fault. I just fixed it!!! Its all working fine now. :)

The problem was in the bulb holder itself. The Yaris rear brake/tail light bulb holder has a tiny earth clip in it, and this became dislodged when I was replacing the blown bulb.

I removed the light cluster and found the little silver metal clip rattling inside the light housing.

Fixed it back into the bulbholder, and its now all working as it should!

Thank you Tony

Kind regards

Atul.

Yes you are absolutely right, the brake light on the driverside does not work when the tail lights are on.

I made a mistake in my first posting. Sorry everyone.

I'LL check the earth point and see if it fixes the problem.

Thanks once again

Kind regards

A>>>>

You're welcome.

That's definitely the problem then; either filament can earth through the other, but when both are supposed to be on they cancel each other out and therefore won't illuminate.

Shouldn't be too hard to fix from there. I don't know how the earth on your car is supposed to work, but you should be able to figure it out now you know what the problem is.

Good luck,

Tony

[Parts-King]

The bulb holders on the Yaris are hidden behind the rear panel trim and are easlily lost/dropped into no mans land

It is easy to put the bulb in the wrong way round or bend that earth clip when changing the bulbs, well done for fixing it

A lesson to all Yaris owners learned here :D:

Kingo