Matt Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 It was a long hard day but not as hard as Scottys day with that AC. After dinner I set out to remove the 3rd stop light. My hands and wrists are still killing me. I removed the liner on the read deck and exposed the openings to the light area. WOW they are small and things are sharp. You have to get at the far end of the light at both sides with a hack saw blade to cut off those ribed plastic plugs that push through a hole. That was very hard to do. Then with an 11MM socket you take off the 5 nuts, cut the wire and then very carefully pull out the light. It came out just fine, took a little under an hour. I brought it inside to the work bench and with a very bright light looked in it. There are 3 sections of circuit board connected by two flat ribon cable jumpers. I took a piece of wire and put 12 volts to it and indeed after the second jumper going to the 3rd section was ware the LEDs were out. Now for the messed up part; I taped lightly by the jumper and it all lit up. It has been working now for an hour or so. I put it on and off many many times and it is still working. I tap on it and tap more and it is still working. You can be sure if I put it back in it will stop working. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do. If I try and open it and I can not fix it I will not be able to send it in to LEDfix.com as a core unit for a swap. It is not easy to open, it is epoxyed shut very good. I thought I would open a section by the jumper and check for loose connections but I am not sure yet what to do. Has any one ever messed with one of these.?? Should I get the old dremmel out and go to town?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Here is another view of what I'm up against. That is the jumper connecting the far left segment of the LED strip to the middle and right segments. When I tap here it goes on. After much playing with it I got it to go off and then on again by tapping right over the jumper. I think maybe the dremmel will have to come out. I'm not going to jump, i will think about this first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Its a stupid problem....but difficult repair. Be aware of a couple of issues. Any repairs must be water tight. Silicone, epoxy, etc will blow out. The lamp is like a long tube and will heat up in the sun. Pressure can build in the lamp and blow out materials. The other issue is the circuit boards are double sided. There are circuits on each side of the boards. Its very easy to short out the back side of the board. Both jumpers must be replaced with a newer version jumper. We use OEM quality materials, also the lamps are vacuum checked for leaks. 2 year warranty. I'm sure some people on the site will chime in that have bought lamps from us. Listen to them. I also attached a pic of a attempted repair....the second lamp in the picture is our version of repair. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.logandieselusa.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 I wil add. Here is a pic of what you do not want to do. This issue is the #1 reason for scraped lamps. DO NOT PRY the lamp out. It will break the end tip. Broken end tips cannoy be fixed!! The warning is also on our website....and sent with every lamp.... Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.logandieselusa.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 I was very happy to see this reply,Thanks very much. I did not remember that you were associated with this company. The info was very helpfull. I just put the light back into the trunk lid till I want to put out more money for the car. I have been spending a fortune on it lately. I do not want to ruin the light so I will wait to send it in to your company. I DID read the instructions on your site before I took out the light. I used a hack saw blade to cut off those end plastic things before I pulled out the light. I did no dammage to it at all. Thanks very much for saving me from cutting the light apart. I would have only wound up spending more to buy a light out right from you. Got to run. Be back later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 A funny thing, that darn 3rd light has been working since I put it back in. All three boards in side light up. What the heck happened?? Every AM on the way to work I look in the garage door window and tap the brakes, it's still working. Go Figure..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 A funny thing, that darn 3rd light has been working since I put it back in. All three boards in side light up. What the heck happened?? Every AM on the way to work I look in the garage door window and tap the brakes, it's still working. Go Figure..... Matt, Way to go! Keep it up & people will bring their sick Caddies to you! Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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