Friday, June 3, 2011

Why did my tail lights go out on a 1993 Corolla?

The right tail lights went out. People told us our brake lights did not work when we braked (right only).


So, I changed bulbs in right tail lights (there%26#039;s 4).


Two of the four are the same part number (the two tail light bulbs).


The other two are a different part # (one for backup light, one for turn signal).


During my changing of bulbs and investigating whether the bulbs were indeed blown, I realized the bulbs were ok.


So, I got into the fuse box under the hood. Although Toyota has a diagram of which fuse goes to which electrical thing, e.g. headlights, AC, heater, etc. There is no mention of tail lights on the box or in owner%26#039;s manual.


So, I%26#039;m screwing around and taking out fuses, trying to find which fuse (or relay) controls the tail lights. I take out a small fuse (7.5A); It%26#039;s blown, I replace it with a spare 7.5A.


What it all boils down to is this: I have no tail lights, both right and left. I do have the reverse lights and left brake light. Did I screw up something?|||you have an electrical problem. find the source.





could be a chewed up wire..water somewhere...blown bulbs..blown fuse..damaged wiring|||Because your car is really old.|||you sure did...you got the henway out of calibration....|||you might have screwed something up but some of the wires could of burned together|||check if the parking lights in the front work. if they do that eliminates the parking light fuse (which would be the fuse that has the taillights)





Get under the car and check wiring.





If you didnt replace the bulbs after they looked OK, replace them anyways for the heck of it|||buy a new car|||i own a repair shop and i have had this happen to me before,look on the left or right tail light on the inside of it,in the trunk area and see if one of the taillight has a small relay box on it ,i ran across this a while back and that relay had burnt out,Toyota and Nissan actually had a relay for the tail lights,and mine had burnt out,it only cost a few bucks to replace but it drove me nuts finding it,you can take a 12 volt tester and test the wires right up to the relay,this is how i found mine bad,and when it went out ,it went all the sudden just like a fuse had blown,but look on both tail lights to see if yours has one,those things will drive you crazy trying to find out whats making the lights not work,good luck with it i hope this helps.