2012 Tail light trouble (VIDEO)

[Scott VS]

Recently got water in the passenger side tail light which ruined leds. Ordered a new tail light assembly and installed. Now, when I get into the vehicle and press the brake before starting, the new tail light does not come on until I start the car. Also, when the car is running with the lights on, when the brake is applied, the new light briefly goes off before coming on brighter for braking. All other lights appear to work normally. I checked the fuses under the dash and they look fine. Is there a capacitor or something in these tail lights? Any ideas what might be wrong? I have video. Thanks for any and all help.
Tail light .mp4

 

[jo7hs2]

Do you have the part number of the assembly you ordered?

 

[Scott VS]

This is the part I ordered (New OEM Tail Lamp Passenger 2011-2015 Ford Explorer LED Snap Bulb #BB5Z13404D $379.99)

 

[Scott VS]

I checked everything with the part numbers against the old tail light and they a appear identical.

 

[peterk9]

Recently got water in the passenger side tail light which ruined leds. Ordered a new tail light assembly and installed. Now, when I get into the vehicle and press the brake before starting, the new tail light does not come on until I start the car. Also, when the car is running with the lights on, when the brake is applied, the new light briefly goes off before coming on brighter for braking. All other lights appear to work normally. I checked the fuses under the dash and they look fine. Is there a capacitor or something in these tail lights? Any ideas what might be wrong? I have video. Is there a way to post it here? Thanks for any and all help.

Welcome to the Forum Scott.
I wonder if it could be 'grounding' issue? Perhaps trying to reinstall it might help to see if it makes any difference. Not sure how difficult that might be. I've never attached a video but the Camera icon is for attaching 'media'.
On another note, now that you've removed the old taillight, can you tell if the area with the 3 LEDs is replaceable or is it part of the whole fixture. A member the other day posted that the LED lights on his are no longer working. Thanks.

Peter

 

[Scott VS]

Hey Peter, I've pulled and reinstalled it twice and it seems nothing has changed. The three leds I believe you are referring to on the upper part of the tail light are part of the whole assembly..All my research to this point indicates that all leds in these fixtures are not replaceable on their own.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks Scott on the LED info question. Not sure where to go from here on your problem. If the water level was such as to reach the wiring connectors I wonder if that could have caused some electrical issues up the line? Did everything have a chance to completely dry out between changing the fixtures? Unfortunately I don't know enough about the wiring system and any controller(s) that might exist. Is it difficult to remove these fixtures? Just wondering if it is possible to connect the new taillight to the driver's side to see if it does the same thing (assuming that's even possible).

Peter

 

[Scott VS]

It is actually pretty easy to change out the whole thing. It's just 2 screws and then the entire unit just pops out with a good tug. I think you may be on to something with checking it on the other side. As long as the plugs are the same, I could just switch them around without completely installing them just to see if it works. Assuming it doesn't need to be installed completely for it to ground properly or something. I may give that a try. It has struck me as odd though that when I was shopping for a replacement, everywhere I looked, the passenger side was always about $60 more than the drivers side. Can't imagine this is only due to the side its on.

 

[Scott VS]

Oh, yes, everything was dry. Water didn't get higher than bottom of leds.

 

[Scott VS]

Here is a link to my video. If someone could even just let me know if it works.Thanks.

Tail light .mp4

 

[peterk9]

Video link works. That is a very interesting issue. I noticed that there seems to be about a 1 second time delay at times before it comes on with the others. I agree with the "weird" part.

Peter

 

[Scott VS]

Thanks for checking that for me Peter. It is weird. Just doesn't add up. Now I'm just hoping someone will have some idea what is wrong because it just doesn't work as it should.

 

[Jon M]

Have you checked the connector for corrosion?

 

[Scott VS]

Thanks Scott on the LED info question. Not sure where to go from here on your problem. If the water level was such as to reach the wiring connectors I wonder if that could have caused some electrical issues up the line? Did everything have a chance to completely dry out between changing the fixtures? Unfortunately I don't know enough about the wiring system and any controller(s) that might exist. Is it difficult to remove these fixtures? Just wondering if it is possible to connect the new taillight to the driver's side to see if it does the same thing (assuming that's even possible).

Peter

Peter, double checked the wiring on both driver and passenger side to see if they were the same. They are. Wiring is in the same order for plugs on both sides. Confident in that, I proceeded to swap the tail lights and lo and behold, the new tail light didn't work on the drivers side. So I guess it's the new light that is the problem.