Toyota Avensis (1997 - 2002) - 01 2.0 Faulty Tail Light

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Wed 23 Sep 2009 13:52
01 2.0 Faulty Tail Light - FunkyG
Hi there!
First post, go easy on me!
My near side tail light stopped working at the weekend and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction.

First thought was to just swap the bulb. Took the old one out and the inside of the bulb glass had blackened as if it had blown. Put the new one, didn't work.
Checked the fuse, was intact. (Besides both would be out if the fuse had gone.
All the other lights on the rear near side cluster (fog/reverse/brake/indicator) are working just the tail light that isn't.

I then removed the light cluster and plugged it into the off side and the tail light did work, proving that the bulb and light cluster is working.
The wiring goes into the plug on the off side and then out of that plug across the rear of the car and into the near side cluster.

Does it sound as simple as a broken wire from the off side to the near side?
If so is it just as simple as running a fresh wire from one plug to the other? Out of the bundle of wires, does anyone know which colour one to aim for? Cheers.
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Wed 23 Sep 2009 15:36
01 2.0 Faulty Tail Light - Simon
Are you sure that you checked the right fuse? The other side rear bulb will be on a different circuit with a different fuse. I would have thought that it would be very unlikely to have any broken wires.
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Wed 23 Sep 2009 18:32
01 2.0 Faulty Tail Light - FunkyG
Thanks for the reply.
Yes I'm pretty sure that I checked the right fuse. On the panel in front of the fuse box is a key saying which fuse runs what, and there is only one fuse for tail lights.
I've also checked this in the owners manual for the car.
I'll check all the fuses tonight just to be sure.
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Sun 3 Oct 2010 13:23
01 2.0 Faulty Tail Light - cjdub
I have exactly the same fault on my Avensis estate. Was this resolved? Can anybody confirm what the problem was? I checked the bulb holder for power when the pedal is pressed but get nothing. Also checked all fuses I could find (in 4 locations) but no problem found. I was wondering if there is a relay/switch somewhere that may have a contact problem? Any help greatly appreciated.
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