1988 Camry brake light is on and off

[young4210]

The brake light of My 1988 camry LE is very strange.
It works for a few days and then it does not work for a few days.

It happens after I park the car and strart the car again.
The brake light was working when I was driving it . After I parked the car and started the car again, the brake light did NOT work - the warning light turned on.

Or the opposite, the brake light was NOT working when I started and drived the car. After I parked and started the car again. the brake light
worked and the warning light turned off.

It does not happen every time I park the car. The brake light works for a few days and then does NOT work for a couple days.

Some repair shop said the brake light sensor(the yellow box in the trunk)
is broken. However I opened the yellow box I did not see any burned
or damaged circuit.

[Joe W]

It could still be the box,but another place to check is the hinge area of the trunk where the wiring harness is.This is a common area for broken wires.

[calvic]

I'd also put my money on a broken wire or almost broken wire in the harness around the left side trunk hinge. Peel away the harness cover and inspect the wires real good. Also have some one step on the brake and you wiggle the wires around and watch the brake lights. When a light sensor goes bad it usually go out totaly not itermittent.

JJ

[young4210]

Thank you for the great answers.

They make a lot of sense to me.
I will let you guys know the result.

[young4210]

What is the best way to fix broken wire(s)?

Is it better to have a car repairman do it?
How much do you think it will cost approximately?

\

[calvic]

Its a easy job if you know how to strip wire and install crimps. If you identify the broken wire a tech could repair it for you for about .5 hr labor. Probably cost you $35-$40.
JJ

[dmays]

I had the same problem a couple of days ago, went to change the brake bulb and discovered that one of the filaments had blown. However, when I checked the other side just to be sure, discovered that the bulb was still good, just needed a little jostling to make sure the contacts were set well, didn't need replacement. If you run over a lot of potholes, the bulbs could come loose.

[Brian R.]

Originally Posted by young4210

What is the best way to fix broken wire(s)?\

The best way to fix a broken wire is to solder it back together.

Get some shrink tubing (Radio Shack or electical supply store) of the correct size or a bunch of sizes in a pack and put a two-inch length on the wire. The correct shink tubing diameter is the one than barely fits over the insulation of the wire.

Strip the two ends of the broken wire about 1/2 inch and twist the strands to make them stronger. Hold them so that they lay next to one another and solder them together with rosin core solder (there are alot of gadgets that hold wires so that they don't move while you are soldering). If you can't get something to hold the ends together, you can twist the ends to that they hold together without problem. However, this will give you a bulky solder joint and the shrink tubing will have a harder time fitting over it. Both joints work. I only solder twisted wires when I get frustrated. If you have to twist the wires, use shrink tubing one size larger.

Clean up the solder joint so that it is smooth. If it is disgusting and you can't clean it up with the iron, heat it up and start again. When you are joining the wires, make sure the solder joint is hot enough so that the solder wets all the strands in the wire. Slide the shrink tubing over the solder joint and then heat the shrink tubing until it seals the connection. A hot-air gun is best, but a cigarette lighter or soldering iron will work in a pinch. Don't get the shrink tubing hotter than necessary to cause it to shrink. It is not heat-proof and will melt and burn if you hold a lighter flame on it. Get it hot, not melting.

For a two-conductor connection, strip the wires at different lengths so that the solder joints don't overlap. Put shrink tubing over each individual conductor and a large shrink wrap over the entire pair. Individually seal the solder joints and then seal the bunch with the larger tubing. This is overkill, but shrink tubing is cheap and the result looks very professional.

Crimp connections are good, but not as good as a solder joint. I would never use a crimp connection for a critical circuit or one exposed to the environment.