How do i get the third brake light out??

[o6tnineo]

my third brake light went out recently and i have done a lot of research on how to replace it, not being a conventional bulb and all, but right now i'm thinking that i have to perform surgery on my back hatch, wtf.....

 

[Stephen S]

When you find out...please let me know. Mine went out a good while back and I had big plans to yank the ballast and flourescent bulb out and convert it to an LED strip. But I have yet to figure out the way to get the red lense out so I can operate on it.

Here's what I do know. If you remove the interior panel from the rear hatch, you'll see the black ballast box. Take out the 2 screws holding in and move it out of the way. Under it you will see a small nut on a stud. You should also notice 2 big rubber plugs on each side of the hole where the ballast mounts. Pull these plugs and you will find 2 more little nuts on studs. I've taken off all the little nuts and the lense will still not pop out. It looks to me like the black trim across the top of the rear hatch has to come off to allow clearance for the lense to come out. And since it is glued to the body and riveted to the rear window flashing, I see no easy way of getting the lense out. That's as far as I have gotten.

If you find another way, enlighten me.

 

[o6tnineo]

yeah, i got that far too, i took off all the little nuts i could find and then tried prying it off, but the black trim on the outside of the hatch seemed to be over the light, i was like wtf....

so i just put it back together and said f*ck it

 

[Stephen S]

I figured out just about the same thing. I hope someone else has done it so they can tell us.