This 1995 Toyota Camry came in with the complaint that the tail lights do not work. I have fixed many of these over the years. Sometimes it is the tail lights and some times the problem is the stoplights do not work. You can see in the picture below that the small marker light is working but not the main tail light bulb.
To remove the light assembly there are two 8 mm nuts on the inside of the trunk that have to be removed. The trunk liner has to be pulled loose to gain access to the nuts.
In the next picture I am trying to show that there are three wires and the bulb has only one element. You may need to double click on the picture to enlarge it.
The bulb on the left is the one that was installed in the socket when I removed it. The one on the right is the correct bulb.
The socket has two terminals inside the hole.
That was the cause of the problem, now for the fix. The bulb failure module is behind a bracket on the left side of the trunk. The picture below shows it after it has been released from its mounting position.
The tabs have to be pushed in and then the module can be pulled from the bracket.
Once the module is out and the cover has been removed, the circuit board can be inspected for damage. I am pointing to the melted solder in the next picture. Again you can double click on these pictures to enlarge them.
The back side of the board where the heat damage is more evident. Hard to see though because of the flash glare.
The resoldered joints at the lower center of the picture. I reassembled the lights with the correct bulbs installed. Put the module back together and all was well again.
