1993 Toyota Camry Tail Lights Inoperative

This 1993 Toyota Camry came in with the complaint that the tail lights do not work. The front park lights and the dash lights work.

I checked the bulbs in the rear and found that the bulbs were good and that there was no power on the tail light wire (light green). I consulted a wiring diagram and found the power feed came from junction block #1, terminal H7. The connector attaches to the interior fuse box.

I located the connector at the lower left side of the fuse box. I backprobed the connector and had no power.

Suspecting a loose connection somewhere I left my test light in place and started wiggling the fuse box and connectors. I found that wiggling the fuse box would allow the test light to light up. I isolated it to to lower left side by flexing the fuse box in different areas.

The light green wire is at the far left of the connector and located in the second position down.

I disconnected the plug and inspected for damage. If you look at the far left column in the middle row, you can see that part of the terminal is missing. The lower silver edge of the spring clip is gone. Double clicking on the image will enlarge it for a better view.

I confirmed that the terminal was indeed loose using a fused jumper wire with the right sized terminal to perform a drag test. Failed!

I went to my drawer of old connectors and found a terminal and wire that I could use. I had to use a small screwdriver to pull out the terminal lock on the connector body. I pulled the terminal and wire out.

And installed the replacement wire and terminal that I had found.

The rear lights now work.

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