To register a rebuilt titled car in CA, we have to do the usual SMOG but also the Brake and Lamp check. As part of Brake and Lamp, all original brake lights that came with the car has to be functional. My center brake light doesn't come on at all. This is the horizonal bar of LEDs under the wing. Ebay has new ones at $500 from Japan. I also saw a listing for a used one at $200, all cracked up. I didn't want to spend $500 on this just yet but need something quick.
I did all the usual wiring checks per the service manual and nothing. So I removed the led bar and had a good look at it. Right where the wire harness goes into the LED section, I saw something unusual, looks like a dead spider. That shouldn't be there.
Since my led bar had many cracks already, I decided to cut a piece off to see the inside. The dead spider is actually a resistor that had dissolved. If you look closely, there is another one under it, also dissolved into its elements.
I cut them out but there is not enough left to read the color codes to see the resistance of these resistors. Two red bars are all I can make out.
So I soldered some leads on the posts of the cut resistors and use clips to test different resistors to see if the bar will light up (bar hooked up to a 12V battery).
I started high (1 MOhm) and worked my way down. More and more LEDs would light up as I decreased the resistance. I stopped at 100 Ohm (each, there are two of them) and was able to light up most of the LEDs in the bar. A few didn't light up at all and a few were brighter than the rest. I left the LED bar on for 30 mins and the resistors were warm (but not hot) to the touch. I didn't want to go lower, why ruin a good thing.
Soldered the resistors in. Clearance is not good so the solder job is not visually appealing.
Then glued the cut piece using clear silicon glue. The part goes under the wing and is not visible at all.
Hope this helps someone in a pinch.
I did all the usual wiring checks per the service manual and nothing. So I removed the led bar and had a good look at it. Right where the wire harness goes into the LED section, I saw something unusual, looks like a dead spider. That shouldn't be there.
Since my led bar had many cracks already, I decided to cut a piece off to see the inside. The dead spider is actually a resistor that had dissolved. If you look closely, there is another one under it, also dissolved into its elements.
I cut them out but there is not enough left to read the color codes to see the resistance of these resistors. Two red bars are all I can make out.
So I soldered some leads on the posts of the cut resistors and use clips to test different resistors to see if the bar will light up (bar hooked up to a 12V battery).
I started high (1 MOhm) and worked my way down. More and more LEDs would light up as I decreased the resistance. I stopped at 100 Ohm (each, there are two of them) and was able to light up most of the LEDs in the bar. A few didn't light up at all and a few were brighter than the rest. I left the LED bar on for 30 mins and the resistors were warm (but not hot) to the touch. I didn't want to go lower, why ruin a good thing.
Soldered the resistors in. Clearance is not good so the solder job is not visually appealing.
Then glued the cut piece using clear silicon glue. The part goes under the wing and is not visible at all.
Hope this helps someone in a pinch.
