1987 Camry - No brake lights

[BenCole]

Hey guys,

My car is a 1987 Camry 4-door sedan, 4-cyl engine and all of a sudden the brake lights stopped working.

I have already:

-Checked the stop light fuse, it was good (are there any other fuses other than the one labeled "stop" that could cause this problem?)
-Replaced the stop light switch (located at the top of the brake pedal, behind dash)
-Replaced all the bulbs

none of those things had any effect, so now I am completely lost.

I have heard of a "light failure sensor" on camry's of this generation that can cause the brake lights to stop functioning but I have been unable to find it. Apparently shorting something in that box has solved the problem for other people.

Any ideas?

[Airjer_]

Its been a long time since I fixed one of those. It is a white box in the trunk on the drivers side. You should be able to follow the harness from the tailights to it. When you find it pop the cover off. If its bad you will see a burnt printed circuit. If your handy with a soldering iron you can solder a short piece of wire to the two solder joints on either end of the printed circuit. The last one I did was over 4 years ago. It still comes in for service and it still works just fine.

[BenCole]

I had been tipped off that it was on the left side of the trunk but still could not find it. I'll look again, thanks much for the reply.

[Airjer_]

I appologize, I just don't remember specifically where it is. Somebody will know and chime in!

[BenCole]

Hey its no problem. I was just out lookin around again and still couldnt locate it. Tomorrow ill pull some carpeting/panels to see if i can find it. thanks again for the reply, man

[RIP]

According to your factory service manual you can download in the "Factory Maintenance Manual" thread at the top of the forum, the failure sensor is in the trunk on the driver's side, likely under the side liner you are going to pull off.

[BenCole]

Thanks, you guys were right - ripped off some of the side panels on driver's side of trunk and found it between the metal parts of the frame.

However, the circuit board is not blown/burned/black, seems in good shape.
Could it still be the problem?

I pulled it out and took some pics, I am not sure what to solder together. I also read that on the electrical connector to the circuit board if I short Green/White to Green/Red it would accomplish the same thing.

Pics:
(click for full size)

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

Originally Posted by BenCole

Hey guys,

My car is a 1987 Camry 4-door sedan, 4-cyl engine and all of a sudden the brake lights stopped working.

Any ideas?

==========
Before soldering a circuit board that indicates no damage, if you have any wiring along the trunk hinge, check there. The repeated flexing will cause wires to break inside the insulation.

[BenCole]

Thanks, will do. First I am going to check for continuity between the wires located at the light fail switch and those located at the brake light bulbs, and ill test the brake light switch as well. I'll let you guys know if I find anything.

[BenCole]

So even though the light fail switch looked fine, it turned out to be the problem.

-Checked for voltage on the brake light wire located at the light fail switch when the brake pedal was pressed, and it was there
-Checked for continuity between the brake light and the light fail switch, and it was there

So, since everything but the brake lights worked, I just re-routed the brake light wire so it didn't have to go through the switch (soldered the two leads together on the switch), and presto, brake lights are back up and running.

Now I just wish I hadn't spent 20 bucks on the damn stop light switch. Thanks for all your help guys.

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by BenCole

So even though the light fail switch looked fine, it turned out to be the problem.

-Checked for voltage on the brake light wire located at the light fail switch when the brake pedal was pressed, and it was there
-Checked for continuity between the brake light and the light fail switch, and it was there

So, since everything but the brake lights worked, I just re-routed the brake light wire so it didn't have to go through the switch (soldered the two leads together on the switch), and presto, brake lights are back up and running.

Now I just wish I hadn't spent 20 bucks on the damn stop light switch. Thanks for all your help guys.

What I highlighted in red; are you talking about connecting the green/white and green/red wires together on the wiring harness that plugs into the yellow box. is this how you fixed it?

JOET/CAMRY

[RIP]

Glad to see you found a cheap work around. The light fail sensor can cost upwards of $150-$200. Thanks for posting your fix.

[BenCole]

are you talking about connecting the green/white and green/red wires together on the wiring harness that plugs into the yellow box. is this how you fixed it?

JOET/CAMRY

Yes, routing green/white straight to green/red is what i did and what solved the problem.

[stardog champion]

Hey there. I can't thank you guys enough! I had the exact same problem and did all the same trouble shoots. I was just about to tear the wiring out to look for a short. I finally stumbled onto this thread and fixed my problem. The failure light circuit board is faulty however. But I cut and spliced the green red and the green white wires together and plugged the box back in for the rest of the lights. It was the solution! I can't thank you enough. And your right. That box would have cost me $200. And, I wish I could have saves the $27 on the break light switch I replaced but oh well

Thanks again,
Brian Trester

[RIP]

Ya would be nice to have that $27 back but consider what you would have paid a shop or dealership to get this fixed. Your wallet is still a whole lot fatter even without the $27. Great job.