Brake light out on my prius

The rear brake lights are composed of six LEDs per side. You may want to make sure that the wiring harness connector is not loose and that 12V is available at the connector when the brake pedal is depressed. If you have ruled out a problem with the connector or the wiring harness upstream, then you would need to replace the entire left rear light assembly containing the LEDs.

 

The running light and the backup light can be replaced. When one LED burns out it can cause all the LEDs to fail. The only fix is with a replacement of the entire light assembly. It's one of the few things Toyota got wrong on the Prius. Often a used assembly bought on Ebay will work for years.

 

2004? I bleive on the 2004 till the slight redesign in 2006, the brake light is a simple incandesent (sp?) bulb, not the LED cluster

$2 should have you fixed and on your way...

 

it is indeed a bulb on the 2004, I checked mine

 

LEDs can last for 1000s of hours without ever burning out; they are highly energy efficient and a set of batteries can last weeks; also they are very light and are not easily broken. This makes them perfect for adventurous activities such as climbing and hiking.

 

I would do what Patrick suggested & pull the connector off of the tail light & verify that you are getting 12v's to the brake. If you are, then you really only have 1 option......buy a used 04-05 taillight. The 06-09 taillight will fit, but there were slight cosmetic changes.....ie: the brake section is chrome, not black & the entire taillight bezel is smooth on the 04-05 vs the fake LEDs that are between the parking & reverse light on the 06-09 taillight.

Seems like you might be looking & either the parking light or a Gen 1 Prius.

The Gen 2 Prius has incandesent parking, reverse & turn signal bulbs. The brake lights are LEDs.

Gen 3 has incandesent reverse & turn signal bulbs. The parking & brakes are LEDs.

 

Just changed my custom brake light bulb on my 2004.

 

Care to share what makes urs custom?

 

It seems there is some confusion about the brake lights on the Gen II and it would be good to clarify it.

Patrick has an 07 w/ led's, and SpikeVFR seems to have an 04 w/ bulbs. My 06 has led's. So, what's the real story? Does an 04-05 have bulbs and an 06-09 have led's? or is SpikeVFR looking at the wrong bulb? or does he have a mod?

For the OP, if you have a bulb, that's an easy fix (replace it) but, if you have led's, you need to make sure the led's are actually bad.

The chances of all six led's going out at the same time is miniscule. I would try to disconnect and remove the left rear assy and try to plug it in to the one that's working and see if it works over there (this may not be possible, the wire may be too short or it may be keyed to only work with the one side). If you can't do that, do as Patrick said, check to see if voltage is available at the plug when you depress the brake pedal (you might try this first since its easier). If no voltage, the problem is in the wiring or a connector. It's really hard for me to imagine all 6 led's going out at once. If you determine that all 6 led's are bad, the only option is to replace the assy. In that case, I would go for used one from a salvage yard.

I would really be interested to know what it takes to fix this. Please keep us updated.

 

If its the LEDs.......then the only way to fix it is to get another taillight. You could cut the light open but that won't allow u to reseal the light.

 

Fixing this driver-side LED brake light out is no problem... I've done it about 10 times now! I hit the fender or tail-light assembly with my fist or open palm. Sometimes, only the right two vertical columns come on and I have to hit it again to get the last single left-hand LED to come on. Tonight when a motor cyclist pulled up beside me at a traffic light and said the left brake light was out, it was easier. When I got home and checked, it was working perfectly; didn't even have to bang on it. It has been disassembled several times and put back as "fixed" to no avail. The dealer wants $360 to replace the whole assembly. Is it always the driver side? Mine is a '05 with 105,000 miles and yes, it gets hot because it sits in the sun in Arizona all summer. Any more ideas?

 

Seems like its mostly the driver side that I've seen affected. What might be happening is the leads that connect to the LEDs is getting loose, so when u hit it, its causing the terminal to make the connection again.......in short, its a short. Just buy a used taillight & hope it won't have the same problem.

 

Hi all, great thread! I have an '04 Prius, Gen2, and it's all LEDs in the brakelight section of the assembly. I'm working with the Passenger side, all LEDs went out. The banging method (unfortunately) doesn't seem to work for me. I've read in another forum that removing the assembly and re-installing it can fix the problem, and I'll update if I find that to be true.

My main question is this: Have any of you come across an aftermarket tail-light assembly that will fit the '04 Prius that DOES NOT contain LEDs? It just seems to me that if I'm going to replace this assembly once that it had better be the last time I ever need to do it. Has anyone found a tail-light assembly that will fit that uses all bulbs?

Or, would a Gen1 Taillight Assembly fit a Gen2 '04 Prius, as I understand it from this thread the Gen1's have bulbs throughout...

Thanks very much for your expert wisdom ladies and gents!

 

Since the Classic Prius has a totally different appearance than G2, the Classic tail-light assembly would not be suitable.

 

Thanks Patrick, that answers that. I still wonder if there is an aftermarket fix for this issue. Seems almost worth manufacturing the product if it doesn't exist.

Out of curiosity, in your profile pic, is that a 2001 and a 2004 prius? I can certainly see why the tail light assembly wouldn't fit if so.

Thanks again for your guidance on this!

 

Patrick answered the figment of the gen1...... As for a aftermarket non LED gen2 tail light, I've never seen it

 

No, the vehicle on the left is a 2004 Tideland Pearl (my daily driver, now with 142K miles) and the vehicle on the right is a 2007 Silver Pine Mica (which now is my daughter's car and resides in OC, CA.)

 

My 07 has 3 bulbs in the back. All incandescent. Just replaced all 3 last weekend. A small clear top bulb, a big orange and a big clear.

Went to the dealer and said I need all the lights in the back and that's what he gave me and that's what's back there.