LED Brake Light $350 repair

i like the LEDs.. but mine are acting up. i think it's really a connection issue. i've ran a few test (you have to pull the whole thing out to reach the LED resistors... you can't get to the LEDs unless you bake the housing)

the resistors seem fine. there is no bad arching or anything strange. they all seemed ok with an ohm test but i'm not sure.

every time i play with the connection i get different results although one thing is always the same.. i have 1 LED out... now.. to bake it is something like 250 (or was it 300) degrees for 15 mins in an oven.

 

The Toyota dealer in Joliet, IL told me that the module that controled the LED's was potted, having worked for 45 years in electronics I was not about to give up. If the electronics are potted components would be distroyed while trying to chip away the potting. Many LED devices pulse the LED's at 20Khz because the LED can receive a higher voltage than they are rated for continuos duty. They give off more light and remain cooler because the they are not on long enough for the current to reach the critical point.
The LED is actually turning on/off 20,000 times per second. To your eye it looks like it is on continously.

I hope I have not put anyone to sleep.

If anyone can explain how to aquire access to the complete assembly and where the mounting studs are located please let me know. I fished my hand through that small hole that all the other lamps are changed through and was not sucessful in finding any wiring harness or mounting hardware for the Brake Light Assembly on the top right side.
If someone has a photo of the mounting it would help in identifying the mounting position.

Thanks, Pete

 

I attached some pics of a 2004 taillight. And as yu can see its mounted with 2 nuts and two pointy knobs. It's really easy.
The only thing we have to do is search for a picture of a 2006> printplate. A Japanese friend told me this print is different (read improved)
Perhaps we can have a poll to find out how many people have a broken brake light and drive the one with dark housing and how many dirve the chrome one.
This way we can find out if the updated ones (Chrome) are better.

 

I have a 2004 Prius with the same problem as the rest of you, Both LED brake lights appear to have failed! Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Mostly don't!! I found a source on line that has OEM replacement lights for about $ 58.95 plus shipping for each side. (Go-Part.com) Looks like I will be trying them, unless I can find a cheaper fix???

Now on to try and fix the headlight problem, again!!!!!

 

My 2004 prius blew both of the led units within weeks of me buying the car, they had done about 110k miles.
The replacements were about £50 each, I have kept the old units so I can strip them and look at it once I have my workshop built

 

Anyone have any suggestions what I should do if my passenger side LEDs are not working. I do have myself and a friend that are both mechanically able to try a few things. He is a car mechanic and I am just a trouble shooter (I fix things, so long as not electrical). My father is a tv repairman and understand electronics, but I need to know what to tell him and be able to get the parts if I am to try to fix this. I have concidered a junk yard after reading this also. I dont want to spend a lot of money, but I also dont want to be without a tail light on my car (if I pull it out).

Nathan

 

You are going to have to spend money one way or another. Taking the tail light apart, what a P.I.A. Next level up junkyard or eBay! Someone noted earlier that LED's are pulsed with square wave DC at 20khz. I do not think the car is that sophisticated. I am pretty sure it's just brute force 13.8 volts DC! You could test this by getting your trusty Oscilloscope and monitor the brake light DC line. If you find a square wave signal, then I stand corrected, I am betting on pure DC to drive the LED's!
Next step is buy from Toyota!

Look online, Google the question! You might be surprised how cheaply you can find a replacement unit.
Then you have to install it!

 

Removing

Removing the tail light bulb and holder and replacing with a twin filament bulb and holder or the LED equivalent (5/21 watt in the UK) would get over the problem cheaply and effectively if you do both sides together to keep brake light appearance even on both sides of the car. This would also allow easy return to OEM setup at a later date.

John (Britprius)

 

I need some help fixing the led brake light on my 2005 prius, so far i cut some of the plastics with a hack saw so i can see whats going on. but cant quite see the led assembly yet. may need to cut some more. if you can send me pictures and instructions, i would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot

 

Just wanna share my DIY fix with you guys. cost almost nothing!!
Gen2 Prius LED brake light repair - DriveHK.com 駕駛國度

 

SO my 2006 prius braked lights on the driver's side is completely out.... any solutions as to how to fix it without it costing a lot?

 

I just posted an LED replacement procedure I performed on mine. May be helpful:

$1 Prius LED Brake Light Repair | PriusChat

 

Brand new (aftermarket) replacement taillight assemblies are not that expensive on Ebay. Check current prices before trying to fix yours.

 

Cheapest I found on ebay was $82.75

 

Look again, I see them under $62 delivered.

 

Weird, I just checked yesterday but even so, I would have had to replace both as mine were somewhat faded, and $1 was a lot more palatable than spending over $120, for me at least

 

Yes $1 is great as long as you have the time and ability to take the assembly apart, fix the LED array, then reassemble and seal properly.

 

Resistors are the simplest way to drive an LED, but a properly-designed driver circuit should virtually never fail. But then again, business-analysts love to see parts fail and require replacement by the dealer. That way both the manufacturer and the dealer can both harvest the customer, who has few other options.

I bought some amber LED replacement bulbs for the signals, but the problem is brightness. You never know if they will be as bright as the bulbs they replace before you buy them. Mine are about half as bright as the incandescents, which presents a safety concern, but they are still visible enough to do the job. I am on the lookout for some brighter ones, but they seem hard to come by. They also flash rapidly (like when a bulb is burned out) so I installed resistors in parallel to slow down the blink-rate.

 

I have a right tail light assembly that has all of the leds out. You say that you can fix the assembly reasonably. I would like to send my unit to you for repair. How can this be accomplished.
Portland Oregon