High mount brake light fix
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From: hayward
High mount brake light fix
Well, my center high mount brake light decided to fail on me. I noticed that I could no longer see its glare on the rear windshield at night, and when I checked, sure enough it was not lighting up. I took it out to diagnose what went wrong with it. I have good power and ground going to the light, so I tried applying 12V strait to the light and no go. Couldn't get it to light up no matter where I applied 12V.
So I decided it was bad and looked for a replacement. Well new ones are like $200+, so that's not worth it. Went down to Autozone to see what they had that I could use to make something work. I found an LED light strip in red for like $15. plus it came with 2 strips so I have a backup too. Here's what I did.
First remove the light assembly by pulling in down. Then unplug the main connector. Then unplug the pigtail connector from the LED's board and set aside to use later.
Next remove the LED assembly by taking out the torx screws, then remove the LED board from the clear lens assembly by clipping the plastic pieces that hold it down. Then secure new LED light strip to the lens. The original had 4 LEDs and the new strip has like 15. They don't all line up with the lens like the original but there are so many more and put out so much light that from the outside you don't notice anything different other than it's probably brighter. I don't have a before pic to compare though.
As you can see, I just zip tied the strip to the lens. It was just quick and easy and didn't really make a difference in how the light looks. It you want you could come up with a better mounting setup, but it doesn't really seem to make a difference in how the light shines, and this is easy to take apart and change if I want later.
Next, trim the Zip ties and then clip the LED board connector from the pig tail. Then wire the pig tail connector to LED light strip. Make sure you know which wire is the power wire on your pig tail. The red wire on mine was actually the ground and the black wire was the power. Why? I don't know. But if you mix them up the light wont work. Solder the joint and cover with heat shrink. Then re-install into light cover, plug in light, and then push light back into roof.
As you can see in the last pic, the light now works and is pretty bright. I think the OEM looks a little more like 4 distinct light sections and this looks more like a solid light bar which I kind of like. Plus my rear window is tinted so it's nicer having a brighter light.
So I decided it was bad and looked for a replacement. Well new ones are like $200+, so that's not worth it. Went down to Autozone to see what they had that I could use to make something work. I found an LED light strip in red for like $15. plus it came with 2 strips so I have a backup too. Here's what I did.
First remove the light assembly by pulling in down. Then unplug the main connector. Then unplug the pigtail connector from the LED's board and set aside to use later.
Next remove the LED assembly by taking out the torx screws, then remove the LED board from the clear lens assembly by clipping the plastic pieces that hold it down. Then secure new LED light strip to the lens. The original had 4 LEDs and the new strip has like 15. They don't all line up with the lens like the original but there are so many more and put out so much light that from the outside you don't notice anything different other than it's probably brighter. I don't have a before pic to compare though.
As you can see, I just zip tied the strip to the lens. It was just quick and easy and didn't really make a difference in how the light looks. It you want you could come up with a better mounting setup, but it doesn't really seem to make a difference in how the light shines, and this is easy to take apart and change if I want later.
Next, trim the Zip ties and then clip the LED board connector from the pig tail. Then wire the pig tail connector to LED light strip. Make sure you know which wire is the power wire on your pig tail. The red wire on mine was actually the ground and the black wire was the power. Why? I don't know. But if you mix them up the light wont work. Solder the joint and cover with heat shrink. Then re-install into light cover, plug in light, and then push light back into roof.
As you can see in the last pic, the light now works and is pretty bright. I think the OEM looks a little more like 4 distinct light sections and this looks more like a solid light bar which I kind of like. Plus my rear window is tinted so it's nicer having a brighter light.
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Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 3
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From: maryland
high mount brake light.
Well, my center high mount brake light decided to fail on me. I noticed that I could no longer see its glare on the rear windshield at night, and when I checked, sure enough it was not lighting up. I took it out to diagnose what went wrong with it. I have good power and ground going to the light, so I tried applying 12V strait to the light and no go. Couldn't get it to light up no matter where I applied 12V.
So I decided it was bad and looked for a replacement. Well new ones are like $200+, so that's not worth it. Went down to Autozone to see what they had that I could use to make something work. I found an LED light strip in red for like $15. plus it came with 2 strips so I have a backup too. Here's what I did.
First remove the light assembly by pulling in down. Then unplug the main connector. Then unplug the pigtail connector from the LED's board and set aside to use later.
Next remove the LED assembly by taking out the torx screws, then remove the LED board from the clear lens assembly by clipping the plastic pieces that hold it down. Then secure new LED light strip to the lens. The original had 4 LEDs and the new strip has like 15. They don't all line up with the lens like the original but there are so many more and put out so much light that from the outside you don't notice anything different other than it's probably brighter. I don't have a before pic to compare though.
As you can see, I just zip tied the strip to the lens. It was just quick and easy and didn't really make a difference in how the light looks. It you want you could come up with a better mounting setup, but it doesn't really seem to make a difference in how the light shines, and this is easy to take apart and change if I want later.
Next, trim the Zip ties and then clip the LED board connector from the pig tail. Then wire the pig tail connector to LED light strip. Make sure you know which wire is the power wire on your pig tail. The red wire on mine was actually the ground and the black wire was the power. Why? I don't know. But if you mix them up the light wont work. Solder the joint and cover with heat shrink. Then re-install into light cover, plug in light, and then push light back into roof.
As you can see in the last pic, the light now works and is pretty bright. I think the OEM looks a little more like 4 distinct light sections and this looks more like a solid light bar which I kind of like. Plus my rear window is tinted so it's nicer having a brighter light.
So I decided it was bad and looked for a replacement. Well new ones are like $200+, so that's not worth it. Went down to Autozone to see what they had that I could use to make something work. I found an LED light strip in red for like $15. plus it came with 2 strips so I have a backup too. Here's what I did.
First remove the light assembly by pulling in down. Then unplug the main connector. Then unplug the pigtail connector from the LED's board and set aside to use later.
Next remove the LED assembly by taking out the torx screws, then remove the LED board from the clear lens assembly by clipping the plastic pieces that hold it down. Then secure new LED light strip to the lens. The original had 4 LEDs and the new strip has like 15. They don't all line up with the lens like the original but there are so many more and put out so much light that from the outside you don't notice anything different other than it's probably brighter. I don't have a before pic to compare though.
As you can see, I just zip tied the strip to the lens. It was just quick and easy and didn't really make a difference in how the light looks. It you want you could come up with a better mounting setup, but it doesn't really seem to make a difference in how the light shines, and this is easy to take apart and change if I want later.
Next, trim the Zip ties and then clip the LED board connector from the pig tail. Then wire the pig tail connector to LED light strip. Make sure you know which wire is the power wire on your pig tail. The red wire on mine was actually the ground and the black wire was the power. Why? I don't know. But if you mix them up the light wont work. Solder the joint and cover with heat shrink. Then re-install into light cover, plug in light, and then push light back into roof.
As you can see in the last pic, the light now works and is pretty bright. I think the OEM looks a little more like 4 distinct light sections and this looks more like a solid light bar which I kind of like. Plus my rear window is tinted so it's nicer having a brighter light.
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Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 3
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From: maryland
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 265
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From: Sacramento, California
Sounds like you need to get a voltmeter and work out if there is power at the connector.
Also connect the led to a battery and see if it lights up, even the new unit.
At least then you will know which side the fault lies on.
Also connect the led to a battery and see if it lights up, even the new unit.
At least then you will know which side the fault lies on.
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