Brake light gremlins appeased,hopefully ?

roncoinc

Well-Known LVC Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
379
Reaction score
13
Location
Seacoast NH
2004 ls8
So the message center tell's my right brake light out,no biggie,pick up a couple bulbs.
bulb dont look bad ?
test's good,put in new bulb.
right brake light out.
swap harness from other side,,,.
right brake light out.
search,,dont look good.

drive car,NO message for a couple days,,then,,
LEFT brake light out !!!
sometimes the parking brake warning would be listed in the message center.
search,read,,,REM controls that it seems.
so,thinking, ( it hurts when i do that ! ) about the water in trunk problem i had ,wondering how long it went on before i got the car,and how electronics and moisture are not compatible i considered the wire connectors on the REM.
I like to unhook power before working on such things.
the positive terminal looked clean but underneath hiding was a considerable amount of corrosion.
having read how finicky the LS is on batteries a thorough cleaning was in order.
found the neg terminal also loose and dirty.
tighten bolt and still to loose.
a little cutting wheel and enlarged the slot's in the clamp allowed it to tighten properly.

terminals unhooked i pulled the REM to get at connectors easier.
cant clean much there by hand but had electronic cleaning spray under pressure and used that.

during this i did nothing to drain any memory like open doors or step on brake pedal,etc.
so i don't think i reset anything ?

Two days now and no issues with brake lights :)

did battery unhook reset something ?
cleaning REM contacts help ?
did cleaning battery terminals fix it ?
or did i just get lucky and problem will resume in time ?
 
I keep losing rear blinkers every few weeks. Right one's out now. No message saying it's out. Change the bulb, it works for a few weeks.
 
I keep losing rear blinkers every few weeks. Right one's out now. No message saying it's out. Change the bulb, it works for a few weeks.

Probably the bulb socket. The next time a bulb stops working, pull it out and look at the base of the bulb. See if any of the bare wire contacts are melted part way into the plastic. If they are, it's because of poor contact in the socket (causes the contact point to heat up).
 
those basic sylvania bulbs in the red packaging are trash... i went thru a handful of em in the manner described before i got a good one that has held up for a few years
 

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top