bbqbrisket
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- 95 XLT
By request, even though it's long, I am posting the complete instructions on how to remove the existing florescent high mount brake light and replace it with LED's.
1995 1996 1997 Ford Explorer High Mount Brake Lamp or 3rd Brake Light by bbqbrisket
Replace or Upgrade with LED strip
I reviewed several posts on replacing or modifying the high mount brake lamp.
I have asked several questions from those who actually did the work and were successful but have been unsuccessful in getting email answers on specific problems I was having on the procedure for doing this. So, after successfully accomplishing the task, I decided to post a step by step approach on how I accomplished this.
So here we go.
First, specific to the 95 thru 97 Explorer is the florescent high brake lamp. This was done before they discovered LED’s.
Second, as you may have found out, replacement of this light can cost between $250 to $600 at the dealer. To replace the florescent bulb and the ballast (that it must have), were talking the high end dollars for both. Buying a used one on Ebay is very risky.
You may use these instructions to either replace the bulb and ballast or upgrade to using LED’s for less than $15.00. The below instructions are intended for converting the florescent bulb and ballast to a strip of LED’s.
The ideal is a Waterproof flexible red strip that is about 18 inches (48 cm) long. Even though it will be behind a red lens, any other color may no show up as red. I purchased mine on Ebay for $12 including shipping. Although I was not crazy about having to wait 2 ½ weeks while being shipped from China.
Be sure to look at other posts on this subject to see pictures and to give you some idea of what you will be looking at.
TOOLS and PARTS NEEDED:
Screwdriver: Phillips, wide flat, small flat.
Pliers
Drill with 3/32 bit.
11/32 or 9 mm socket
Door handle remover (optional).
Putty Knife
Double stick tape or gummy adhesive
Wire terminals 2 sets male and female and wire crimper.
Lighter fluid or adhesive remover
7 #8 ½ inch sheet metal or finishing screws (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Open the rear HATCH DOOR (not the glass window). With a door handle remover or being careful with a large flat head screw driver, pry out the 4 push or snap bolts that are in the upper area of the trim of the hatch door. I did not find it necessary to remove all six or for that matter removing the entire interior hatch panel. Now, you will be able to get your hand between the trim and where the ballast of the light is.
2. Pull down on the upper trim piece and using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the two screws holding in the ballast. Let the ballast hang. On the left of the ballast is a connecting clip that goes to the brake light switch. Disconnect this clip using a very small screwdriver to lift up the latch on the back of the clip. In reference to the warning label on the ballast: As long as the ignition key was not in the “ON” position and no one was stepping on the brake pedal, I really did not see the necessity of disconnecting the battery cable.
3. On the right, are a blue wire and on the left, a white wire. Disconnect these two wires by pulling on each wire at its connection point closest to the. Set ballast aside.
4. Still working inside through the hatch door, remove the 2 rubber plugs up under the lamp on either side of it. With a 9/32 socket, remove the center nut under the light and the 2 end nuts.
5. Close the rear hatch door. Open and lift up the rear Glass Window. Using a 1/16 inch bit, drill out the 3 small rivets on the black plate under the lamp area. Drill out 2 larger rivets; one on each side of the lamp area. Remove the 2 additional larger rivets located; 1 each side located to outside of the glass hinges. The heads of the larger rivets will come out.
6. Close the rear glass window. Re-open the lift gate. Look at the outside corners of the long black trim on the lift gate that encompasses the lamp and lens. On each end, there is one stud that goes through and into the inside trim on the lift gate. These are held by a plastic snap nut on the inside. Using a pair of pliers and a flat screw driver, pry or pop off both nuts using even pressure around them.
7. Close the rear glass window. Gradually loosen up the entire outside black trim that holds down the lamp and lens assembly.
8. As the entire trim and lamp assembly becomes loose, you will now be able to gain access at the bottom of the trim piece the window washer tube. Disconnect this tube by pulling it away from the inlet connector.
9. Remove the entire trim and lamp assembly and wires. Separate the lamp assembly from the black outside trim. Remove the two rubber wire grommets attached to the wires of the lamp.
10. Turn an oven on to 225 degrees. Do not preheat. Place lamp assembly in oven and leave in for 20 minutes.
11. Using a towel or mitt, remove lamp assembly from oven. While hot, squirt a small amount of lighter fluid or adhesive remover around the perimeter edge of the lens. Let set for 3 to 5 minutes.
12. Using a putty knife and starting at the corners where there is a small black tab cut out at each end; pry a narrow space between the lens and the body of the lamp assembly. Gradually slice the knife along the edges all the way around to enlarge the gap between the assembly and lens. Try not to apply too much pressure when prying as the lens can chip and crack. Use minimal expansion and keep going around the lens until you can separate it from the body. As you obtain a larger gap, you will notice a white or gray vinyl trim piece on the inside. Try to preserve this. If you are not making any progress, replace assembly in oven for an additional 10 minutes, remove and continue working to separate the lens from the body. Take note which is the top and bottom and left and right ends of both the body and the lens as they will have to be reassembled in the same way.
13. Once you have the lens separated from the body, you can now remove the bulb from the body. The florescent tube is spring loaded into the ends of the body. With a small screwdriver, push in on one end of the bulb and pry up to slip it out of the body. Remove the bulb and wires that you will no loner use.
14. You will notice a silver backing inside the body. This acts as a reflector to make the lights brighter. You will also notice on the inside of the lens a mesh filter. This disperses the light evenly across the lens. Preserve these and leave if you want it for maximum brightness and an even illumination. Clean the body (without the bulb) and lens with soap and water; dry.
15. Retrieve the ballast. Take a wire cutter and clip the wires of the connector attached to the ballast as close to the body of the ballast as possible. Strip each end of the black and red wires with ¼ inch exposed showing. The ballast will no longer be used.
16. Using a wire crimper, attach a female end terminal of your choosing to the Red Positive lead and to the Black Negative wires of the connector you removed from the ballast. (Ref #2)
17. Using a wire crimper or pliers, attach a male end terminal to match the female ends from step 16 to the two wires of the LED strip. Note: On an LED strip, the Silver lead is Positive and Gold lead is Negative.
18. Tape or plug the right hole of the body where the blue wire of the bulb came through.
19. Feed the connectors and wires of the LED strip through the right hole where the white wire of the bulb originally came through. You can place a grommet for the wires to pass through and close off the passage way.
20. Using double stick tape, (your LED strip may have one attached to it) tape the length of the back of the LED strip and lay it in the center of the body taping it approximating an equal distance on each end.
21. Replace the lens over the body with the LED strip now taped to the inside. The lens should be a very tight fit and you will probably not find it necessary to re-apply any adhesive around the perimeter for sealing.
22. The light assembly is now ready for re-installation.
23. Reset light assembly into exterior black trim piece.
24. Feed terminals and wires and through left hole that the white bulb wire was in.
25. Reinstall light and black trim piece assembly on to outside of vehicle making sure wires are tucked in the upper wire well. (Ref: #7)
26. Secure 2 outside corners of the trim piece with studs previously removed (Ref: #6)
27. Opening up the rear hatch door, secure the new lamp assembly with the 3 nuts previously removed. Reinstall rubber plugs. (Ref: #4)
28. Connect the Positive and Negative terminals. (Ref #16 & #17)
29. Reconnect the brake light connector. (Ref #2 #15 & #16)
30. Replace the right rubber wire grommet in cut out hole (now without a wire through it) and replace the left one with the new wire leading to the LED strip. (Ref #9)
31. Reconnect the rear window washer tube. (Ref: #8)
32. Secure the interior trim piece with 4 push bolts previously removed (Ref: #1)
33. I did not find it necessary to reinstall the removed rivets. You can reinstall rivets or use sheet metal screws if desired. See parts needed above.
I know these instructions are long and maybe more detailed than necessary but, it is well worth the effort.
Please let me know if these instructions are not clear or if there are any errors.
Good Luck!
1995 1996 1997 Ford Explorer High Mount Brake Lamp or 3rd Brake Light by bbqbrisket
Replace or Upgrade with LED strip
I reviewed several posts on replacing or modifying the high mount brake lamp.
I have asked several questions from those who actually did the work and were successful but have been unsuccessful in getting email answers on specific problems I was having on the procedure for doing this. So, after successfully accomplishing the task, I decided to post a step by step approach on how I accomplished this.
So here we go.
First, specific to the 95 thru 97 Explorer is the florescent high brake lamp. This was done before they discovered LED’s.
Second, as you may have found out, replacement of this light can cost between $250 to $600 at the dealer. To replace the florescent bulb and the ballast (that it must have), were talking the high end dollars for both. Buying a used one on Ebay is very risky.
You may use these instructions to either replace the bulb and ballast or upgrade to using LED’s for less than $15.00. The below instructions are intended for converting the florescent bulb and ballast to a strip of LED’s.
The ideal is a Waterproof flexible red strip that is about 18 inches (48 cm) long. Even though it will be behind a red lens, any other color may no show up as red. I purchased mine on Ebay for $12 including shipping. Although I was not crazy about having to wait 2 ½ weeks while being shipped from China.
Be sure to look at other posts on this subject to see pictures and to give you some idea of what you will be looking at.
TOOLS and PARTS NEEDED:
Screwdriver: Phillips, wide flat, small flat.
Pliers
Drill with 3/32 bit.
11/32 or 9 mm socket
Door handle remover (optional).
Putty Knife
Double stick tape or gummy adhesive
Wire terminals 2 sets male and female and wire crimper.
Lighter fluid or adhesive remover
7 #8 ½ inch sheet metal or finishing screws (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Open the rear HATCH DOOR (not the glass window). With a door handle remover or being careful with a large flat head screw driver, pry out the 4 push or snap bolts that are in the upper area of the trim of the hatch door. I did not find it necessary to remove all six or for that matter removing the entire interior hatch panel. Now, you will be able to get your hand between the trim and where the ballast of the light is.
2. Pull down on the upper trim piece and using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the two screws holding in the ballast. Let the ballast hang. On the left of the ballast is a connecting clip that goes to the brake light switch. Disconnect this clip using a very small screwdriver to lift up the latch on the back of the clip. In reference to the warning label on the ballast: As long as the ignition key was not in the “ON” position and no one was stepping on the brake pedal, I really did not see the necessity of disconnecting the battery cable.
3. On the right, are a blue wire and on the left, a white wire. Disconnect these two wires by pulling on each wire at its connection point closest to the. Set ballast aside.
4. Still working inside through the hatch door, remove the 2 rubber plugs up under the lamp on either side of it. With a 9/32 socket, remove the center nut under the light and the 2 end nuts.
5. Close the rear hatch door. Open and lift up the rear Glass Window. Using a 1/16 inch bit, drill out the 3 small rivets on the black plate under the lamp area. Drill out 2 larger rivets; one on each side of the lamp area. Remove the 2 additional larger rivets located; 1 each side located to outside of the glass hinges. The heads of the larger rivets will come out.
6. Close the rear glass window. Re-open the lift gate. Look at the outside corners of the long black trim on the lift gate that encompasses the lamp and lens. On each end, there is one stud that goes through and into the inside trim on the lift gate. These are held by a plastic snap nut on the inside. Using a pair of pliers and a flat screw driver, pry or pop off both nuts using even pressure around them.
7. Close the rear glass window. Gradually loosen up the entire outside black trim that holds down the lamp and lens assembly.
8. As the entire trim and lamp assembly becomes loose, you will now be able to gain access at the bottom of the trim piece the window washer tube. Disconnect this tube by pulling it away from the inlet connector.
9. Remove the entire trim and lamp assembly and wires. Separate the lamp assembly from the black outside trim. Remove the two rubber wire grommets attached to the wires of the lamp.
10. Turn an oven on to 225 degrees. Do not preheat. Place lamp assembly in oven and leave in for 20 minutes.
11. Using a towel or mitt, remove lamp assembly from oven. While hot, squirt a small amount of lighter fluid or adhesive remover around the perimeter edge of the lens. Let set for 3 to 5 minutes.
12. Using a putty knife and starting at the corners where there is a small black tab cut out at each end; pry a narrow space between the lens and the body of the lamp assembly. Gradually slice the knife along the edges all the way around to enlarge the gap between the assembly and lens. Try not to apply too much pressure when prying as the lens can chip and crack. Use minimal expansion and keep going around the lens until you can separate it from the body. As you obtain a larger gap, you will notice a white or gray vinyl trim piece on the inside. Try to preserve this. If you are not making any progress, replace assembly in oven for an additional 10 minutes, remove and continue working to separate the lens from the body. Take note which is the top and bottom and left and right ends of both the body and the lens as they will have to be reassembled in the same way.
13. Once you have the lens separated from the body, you can now remove the bulb from the body. The florescent tube is spring loaded into the ends of the body. With a small screwdriver, push in on one end of the bulb and pry up to slip it out of the body. Remove the bulb and wires that you will no loner use.
14. You will notice a silver backing inside the body. This acts as a reflector to make the lights brighter. You will also notice on the inside of the lens a mesh filter. This disperses the light evenly across the lens. Preserve these and leave if you want it for maximum brightness and an even illumination. Clean the body (without the bulb) and lens with soap and water; dry.
15. Retrieve the ballast. Take a wire cutter and clip the wires of the connector attached to the ballast as close to the body of the ballast as possible. Strip each end of the black and red wires with ¼ inch exposed showing. The ballast will no longer be used.
16. Using a wire crimper, attach a female end terminal of your choosing to the Red Positive lead and to the Black Negative wires of the connector you removed from the ballast. (Ref #2)
17. Using a wire crimper or pliers, attach a male end terminal to match the female ends from step 16 to the two wires of the LED strip. Note: On an LED strip, the Silver lead is Positive and Gold lead is Negative.
18. Tape or plug the right hole of the body where the blue wire of the bulb came through.
19. Feed the connectors and wires of the LED strip through the right hole where the white wire of the bulb originally came through. You can place a grommet for the wires to pass through and close off the passage way.
20. Using double stick tape, (your LED strip may have one attached to it) tape the length of the back of the LED strip and lay it in the center of the body taping it approximating an equal distance on each end.
21. Replace the lens over the body with the LED strip now taped to the inside. The lens should be a very tight fit and you will probably not find it necessary to re-apply any adhesive around the perimeter for sealing.
22. The light assembly is now ready for re-installation.
23. Reset light assembly into exterior black trim piece.
24. Feed terminals and wires and through left hole that the white bulb wire was in.
25. Reinstall light and black trim piece assembly on to outside of vehicle making sure wires are tucked in the upper wire well. (Ref: #7)
26. Secure 2 outside corners of the trim piece with studs previously removed (Ref: #6)
27. Opening up the rear hatch door, secure the new lamp assembly with the 3 nuts previously removed. Reinstall rubber plugs. (Ref: #4)
28. Connect the Positive and Negative terminals. (Ref #16 & #17)
29. Reconnect the brake light connector. (Ref #2 #15 & #16)
30. Replace the right rubber wire grommet in cut out hole (now without a wire through it) and replace the left one with the new wire leading to the LED strip. (Ref #9)
31. Reconnect the rear window washer tube. (Ref: #8)
32. Secure the interior trim piece with 4 push bolts previously removed (Ref: #1)
33. I did not find it necessary to reinstall the removed rivets. You can reinstall rivets or use sheet metal screws if desired. See parts needed above.
I know these instructions are long and maybe more detailed than necessary but, it is well worth the effort.
Please let me know if these instructions are not clear or if there are any errors.
Good Luck!
