Hey guys -

Been meaning to write this one up for a while. Happened to discover this quite by accident.

About a year ago, had some friends with me driving along in a mini-caravan to get some food. One of my buddies noticed that one of the passenger side brake lights didn't light up when I hit the pedal. One bulb lit, one didn't. I knew I had just replaced all the bulbs not too long ago, so I figured it was something else.

Pulled the taillight harness, and the ground wire going to one of the bulb sockets at the socket was broken and dead. Not really the best design in the first place.

Recently, one of the driver's side lights did the same thing. Sometimes it would work just fine, then hit a bump or something and it would go out again.

I've replaced both with brand new harnesses. Fortunately the harness is relatively short - it has the 3 bulb sockets, goes through the wall of the rear of the car, and plugs in at a 4-wire connector. Remove taillight and inside back interior panel, unplug, replace harness, plug in. Easy fix.

The pictures show what I'm talking about - you can see the broken ground wire. The new design is way different and looks to be superior. Time will tell on that.

The new part number is FD01-51-155C - note the "C", that's the letter showing the part has been revised. Should be around $40 from Ray for one of the harnesses, and both harnesses are the same, same part number for both sides.

Also, the first harness I replaced went in super easy. The second one had the tape on the harness wrapped about a half inch too far, keeping me from getting the bulbs in place in the taillight. Cut the tape back a half inch, problem solved.

Anyhow, haven't seen this problem and fix documented anywhere else. For the record, my car is a '94 R2, not sure if they fixed this with the updated part in the '95s or not.

Dale

 

interesting...definitely looks like a WAY more solid design.

 

Good find. This thread is now in the FAQ.

 

nice find. ill have to save that part number just in case

 

damn, what doesn't go wrong on this car?

 

Well, my car had to get over 100,000 miles and 16 years old for the problem to pop up, so that's not too bad . I'm just thankful that a) there's a new OEM part that fixes the problem, b) it's reasonably priced, and c) it's readily available.

In theory, the original harness, if bad, could be fixed. But, I prefer to fix problems the RIGHT way on my car - if it's broken, fix it right and don't worry about it ever again.

Dale

 

So this part was probably an improved design that was included on the 96-02 models?

Makes me wonder what other 96-02 oem parts are an improved design... Other than the obvious parts of course (turbos, brakes, 99 front, etc.)

 

There are some parts that are improved that are readily available in the US that aren't JDM-only parts, like the '96+ aluminum Y-pipe. Some that spring to mind are the coolant hoses - all of them were reformulated with a better rubber compound that resists heat and oil better. Also, many of the air intake gaskets were changed to metal from paper, far better design.

I'm straying off topic here - back to the topic at hand .

Dale

 

Can probably add this to the NLA list, I haven't been able to find one anywhere even from Japan.

 

Wow that sucks!

Dale

 

its for sure NLA in the US, although it may be a good candidate to bring back... also possible that you can buy the sockets at this point and make one

 

My taillight harness has also crapped out. Unfortunately I can't seem to find Part # FD01-51-155C available anywhere. Is there still a source for these updated (or even original) tail light harnesses?

 

Way old thread that was bumped, but I will say my front headlight connector and my front turn signal connectors both did the same thing, I had to source the harness for the turn signal from Mazda, and the headlight connector I was able to find out of a parts catalogue. Works flawlessly now.

 

That part number no longer exists. Multiple dealerships say they can't get it...

 

It is NLA both in USA and in Japan. Trust me, I tried. Just going to repair my sockets on one of my harnesses.

 

The turn signal harness or the connector for the headlight? Because I was able to get both. I'm assuming you are referencing the tail light harness.

 

I'm referring to the taillight harnesses which include the turn signals and brake lights.

 

The Taillight harness. One of the brake light bulbs turns OFF when I hit the brakes (rather than getting brighter); but the dim light does work when you turn the lights on.