Back light (left)

Wondering how i can fix this issue myself. When i turn on the headlights up front to drive at night, the back tail light on the left side does not turn but the right one does.

When i brake, both lights on each side work fine. Any idea?

 

Isn't it a dual filament bulb? If so one of the filaments may be burned out and the bulb needs to be replaced.

 

I am not sure. Grabbed them from autozone, recently replaced as well. They were longlife bulbs.

 

Swap bulbs around and see if the issue moves or stays. They are dual filament bulbs which means one filament for tails and another for the brake lights in the same bulb.

 

Just tried that, same story. Left wont stay on, right one is on.

 

It sounds to me like you have a really great reason to buy some fancy aftermarket LED tail lights. Like those Morimoto XB's you've had your eye on.....

 

swap bulb from right to check on left. Use gloves, finger oil residue causes them to burn out quicker due to overheating.

 

Check the bulb socket for dirt, corrosion, etc. If these are incandescent you should be able to see the filaments. There should be two. However, if you've swapped bulbs and the symptom stays on the left side then it's probably a bad wire. My guess would be on the bulb socket. If you have a multimeter you can test for voltage at the socket connections.

 

Thank you all for great advice. Will need to give these a try. Just not sure if i will have to end up ordering a whole new taillight. Seems cheaper than going thru dealership.

 

I would check contacts in the socket for corrosion. I had driver side stop light not working and ended up cleaning up and bending contact in the socket a little to have it sitting tight. Multimeter in helpful to find exact contact. Funny thing that I didn't have to replace a single bulb in my 11 years ownership of 2010 SR5.

 

I owned an '89 Toyota pickup until I bought my '04 T4R. I never had a flat tire in all those years. The first week I had the new T4R I came out from work and bingo, flat tire.

I've noticed that since I moved from GM products to Toyota, it's very rare that I've had to replace a bulb

 

If it were me I'd really try to find the problem with the existing taillight. If I had to replace I'd go to or shop a junkyard. With online searches it's pretty easy now to find stuff. I just don't like buying any after market stuff because it's usually poorer quality. Nuts and bolts, okay. A taillight? I'll fix it or get one from a junkyard. Look in the socket for any corrosion, dirt or blockage.