alrighty, i still have that tail-lights not working thing. i poked around the threads, and mostly what i found was dudes going back and forth on possibilities and generally ending up deciding it was the parking lights switch..... which is not the problem on mine this time, cuz i fixed it before a little while back, and checked it this time and that is fine. i would really like to get my RX road worthy again, but i have no freaking idea where to look next.....

 

Your tail lights don't work at all?

 

brake lights work, hazards and turns work, it's just parking lights part of the tail lights that don't.... once again, it appears to not be the headlight switch.... actually, the backlighting on the stereo is out too i think. any ideas what the cause of this one is?

 

parking lights? is that the reverse lights? check the connector on the transmission

 

Tail lights = lights only on the back side of the car

Parking lights = the corners and sides of the car

Dash lights = dash lights controlled by the dimmer switch in the light switch.

Which ones don't work???

 

The brake lights don't have a parking light area that I can think of. When I turn my parking lights on, just the round circles are visible. Is it an S4? Does your gauge cluster light up?

Chris

 

No, that is incorrect. There is a 7 watt filiment in each brake light that serves as the parking light. The brake lights are the 35watt filiments in that same bulb.

Two different circuits, two different wires, two different filiments, 1 housing on each rear side.

that is why the brake lights are on dimmly when the parking lights are on, but the same light is on bright when the brake is pressed.

 

heh, sorry guess i should be a little more specific. it's an '86 with S5 tail lights. by parking lights i meant the first click on the light switch. on that, the red circles on the tail lights are supposed to light up, and for braking they have another filament in the bulb that lights brighter. the braking works (i assume it's on another circuit), but when the light switch is on, none of the parking lights or tail lights are on like they are supposed to be. i'm pretty sure the problem is not the connector, cuz i already checked it. the connector thing effects the gauge cluster too, but the gauges light up. hope this helps a little.....

 

How are you certain that its not the headlight switch? Im not trying to be a *****, its just that 99% of the trouble with lights working/not working is the switch.

Just curious on how you reached that conclusion? Did you try a known good switch in the car and get the same result?

 

You have a burnt out light switch or bad light switch harness.

If the dash lights work, it rules out the fuse or power circuits (since the dash lights share the same power source as the parking lights).

Since the brake lights work, it rules out the harness to the rear or grounding issues, or bad bulbs.

I do have rebuilt headlight switches in stock on my webstore.

 

I had Icemark rebuild my electronics, he does good work.

 

this happened to me aswell a short while ago. i know exactly what it is. at the brake pedal there is a little switch/relay which turns on when the brake is pressed. go to an auto wrecker and pick one up for 5$. easy to remove easy to replace. dont waste your money on a factory one cuz itll run you 100$ or more. i went through the trouble of having my car go to the shop and it is what they told me. alas 5 minutes at the wrecker and i had the part replaced. tail lights work again.

 

heh i just read the updates on your car, okay so it isnt the brake switch but it could very well be the relay, another easy fix if you aren't a complete dolt when it comes to wiring and basic mechanics.

 

This sounds interesting. Pics?

 

There is no relay for the parking lights

You may wish to read the FSM

 

There are no relays for the brake lights either.

Please don't post if you don't know.

 

ah! this is so confusing! what more information would you folks need me to give you to possibly be able to help my car?

 

hey, so i just thought of this.... that when i had the lights-out thing in the first place, the problem was a fried wire on the harness side of the connector for the headlights, so i spliced in a new length of wire at the connector where it was burned.... i'm not sure if someone had suggested, but is it perhaps the switch side of the connection that might be jacked up and causing the problem now...? cuz i kinda took it apart and there is some residual burn marks.... in which case i'd get a hold of a new headlight switch and swap it out.....

 

Yes, you would need a new harness as well.

Do not ever use an existing harness that has been damaged with a replacement light switch. One or the other will rapidly fail, leading to having to replace both again anyway

 

shoot...... that doesn't sound like a good thing.... so do you think that would be what's causing the current problem, a jacked up headlight switch?