Hi-stop Light not working

[doggido]

Hi there,

my hi-stop light has stopped working in the 2005 sedan, can it be fixed or will I need to get a new one?

[sonicii]

Mine stopped working about 6 months ago, I took it out, took it apart and found a bad solder joint.  I re-soldered that and a few other higher stress joints and put it back it, it has been working fine since.

Can't guarantee yours has the same fault though.

[doggido]

How would one go about taking it out to be able to check it out?

[sonicii]

  that is the fun part.. you can unplug the lamp from underneath the parcel shelf (access from the boot).  However, you need to remove the rear seat, so you can remove the parcel shelf, the lamp is attached to the bottom of the parcel shelf.

Maybe try having someone hold their foot on the brake pedal and ensure the normal side brake lights are on, then, push and flex the cable to the lamp (from the boot side) and see if the light turns on and off.  If it does, a bad solder joint is probably the issue and you will need to remove it to repair it.

[doggido]

Managed to get it out through the boot, took about half hour. Bit of a hassle getting the 2nd screw out.

Got somebody else to push the pedal down as well as wiggling the wires but nothing.

Would a V36 light work?

[GTSBoy]

You have it in your hand. Have you tried putting power on it straight from a 12v supply? Looked inside for broken connections or exploded LEDs?

[sonicii]

Take it apart and have a look, you can remove most of the casing, then check for bad solder joints or failed components as GTSBoy suggested!

[doggido]

I'll rip it apart over the weekend.

[doggido]

Tried to take it apart as far as I could and found nothing that seemed out of place.

$450NZD for a new one, I offered to sell a kidney but nobody wanted it!

I think i'll just get a aftermarket one and try to make it look like its made for the car.

[V35_Paul]

http://www.l8ter.com/?p=178

If you're keen you can fix it yourself 

 

[doggido]

Checked out the above website and it looks promising so I will give it a go over the weekend.

So then, it leaves me one question, where does the red come from?

[V35_Paul]

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/kadink-coloured-transparent-sheets-76cm-x-1m-assorted-5-pack-showk0100

😁

But it wouldn't last and it would go pink in a week or 2

[Vee37]

2 hours ago, doggido said:

Checked out the above website and it looks promising so I will give it a go over the weekend.

So then, it leaves me one question, where does the red come from?

I dont have a direct answer, however, many years ago when I first got my 350GT Coupe, I replaced the front orange indicators with clear lenses. It failed the pink slip, but my mechanics didn't skip a beat, and put in orange caps inside the clear lensed indicators, and passed it without question. I guess what I am saying is, just try asking your regular mechanic. My guys didn't even check with me before doing it, they just told me when I went to pick it up.

If you want a selfie, maybe go to wreckers and find a broken red plastic taillight, and cut it to fit & cover the globes; or even a smaller upper taillight from a different car. Maybe even heat it a little to conform to a shape. Just spit-balling

[sonicii]

Wouldn't you just use red LEDs?

[GTSBoy]

Yeah, well, what's worse is that the DIY link above used RGB LEDs driven to make white. They could have made red. Maybe not as bright, but then winding up the brightness by going white and then filtering down to red with the red plastic diffuser is probably going to have the same effect.

[doggido]

If I can't get red LEDs, then I'll try and get a piece of red transparent plastic to fit inside the original clear plastic case as Vee37 mentioned.

Let's just hope Jaycar has what I'm after.

[GTSBoy]

Well, of course Jaycar will have LEDs, but....there are a million other places to get them. eBay, Aliexpress, Farnell, Alltronics, Aztronics, a high level brake light from another type of car at the wreckers....

[doggido]

Jaycar is only down the road from home. But they out of stock due to being a discontinued line.

I'll just get an aftermarket one and be done with it.

[doggido]

 

As I was doing the rounds of the local wreckers, I found one that had a V35 in the yard which they haven't stripped yet. I grabbed the brake light out of it and got them to test which all LEDs worked. I ended up getting it for $60NZD. As long as I can at least a couple of years out of it I'll be happy.

[niZmO_Man]

That's why step 1 should always be go to wreckers