Center brake light not working

I haven’t noticed anything wrong with the center stop light assembly on my car.

For reference, it’s also called the high mounted stop light assembly, and it’s held in place with two screws. It uses LEDs, and Toyota’s procedures don’t mention any replaceable internal components.

Parts catalog Figure 81-17, Center Stop Lamp, says the Toyota part number for the assembly is 81006-47030, list price $117.86. If I were to need one after the warranty expires, I’d probably buy it from Japan (list price ¥4,890); the same part is used worldwide.

 

When that center brake light went out on my spouse's '89 Integra, the problem seemed to be in a many-purpose controller module, not merely a bad bulb or socket. Considering the age of the car, it isn't worth replacing, so we just stay vigilant at checking for and replacing any bad regular brake lamp bulbs. And since it it has 4 regular other brake lights, vs. just 2 on most cars, I'm not so worried about the center being out.

I have no guidance for checking a Prius to determine if the outage is in the lamp assembly vs wiring vs a controller module up front. But it is something to be checked or considered before blindly buying a not-so-cheap replacement lamp assembly. The LEDs themselves ought not to be burning out, and they aren't as cheap as old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, so the old pattern of simply shotgunning the cheap bulb on the (fairly good) assumption of a burned-out filament, no longer applies.

 

That is not good. I'm always complaining about how small the Gen4 brake lights are. I want all the lights working. Thanks for the heads up. I will check it often.

I wonder if all the closing (slamming?) of the hatchback lid has something to do with it?

 

The Repair Manual says, “Apply auxiliary battery voltage to the center stop light set,” after having removed it, and if it doesn’t come on, replace it. Terminal W1-2, usually connected to the blue wire, is positive.

If the light works away from the car, the trouble is probably in a wire harness or connector. If the other stop lights are working, it wouldn’t be the stop light switch assembly, since the lights are connected in parallel.

 

At least its not like the new NSX's problem where a dead brake light completely disables the car due a cascading failure in the system. Gonna have to check mine when I get a chance.

 

i just checked mine. It's good. I place a gallon jug of water up against the brake pedal.

Had the same brake light issue with my Camry. Always the left rear light. It went out 3 or 4 times a year. Three different dealers could never find the reason. I kept seeing other Camrys with the same brake light out. I wish the auto manufacturers would go back to making cars simple.

 

I recently had to replace the whole right hand tail light assembly on SWMBO's Gen 2 because the LED brake light was not working. Sod's law that the non replaceable LED part failed when the other bulbs are all replaceable filament bulbs (that have never been replaced), so much for LEDs lasting longer than bulbs.

 

When designed and manufactured properly, the LED elements themselves do last vastly longer than incandescent bulbs.

But they still fail prematurely from design errors (over-heat, over-voltage, over-current) and manufacturing problems that don't seal out moisture and other contaminants from the working environment.