07 Hybrid Camry, right brake light won't come on but taillight works fine. How do I pull it and can it be fixed?

Stating hybrid because this model uses LED brake lights built into the housing like the Prius did versus the v6 that used an incandescent bulb. I've gotten into arguments about this with people who insistent all Camrys of this vintage are the same.

Found out the right side brake lights are out, but the thing lights up as taillights when you engage the stalk in the right modes. Pressing the brake pedal down it looks like one flickers ever so slightly so I'm guessing they're dual element LEDs and a driver has failed? Bad solder joint? Invidual bad LED? Can I crack this open and solder something or do I have to drop the $200 to buy a new one? Almost 300k miles on this baby I definitely got my money worth.

I also can't engage cruise control. Pressing the button to turn it on does nothing now. I had a Saturn do the same when the brake light switch went bad so I'm assuming this is connected to the bad brake light? I know there is no CAN bus connection to any of the lights but that doesn't mean it isn't wired in.

As for removing it, I've found three nuts to remove and a plastic clip of some sort but it looks like there's something under the bumper cover stopping me? I'm not sure how to pull that without likely breaking something so I'm hoping I'm missing a fourth nut.

Posted Feb 19, 2022, 5:26 AM UTC

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GotMyOrangeCrush•

It's certainly worth taking apart to inspect.

Potentially there's an issue with water ingress and it's damaged the circuit board inside.

I would start looking on eBay for a used one.

Of course if only one lamp doesn't work then it's probably not the switch. You can easily confirm this with a test jumper in place of the switch at the pedal.

In terms of taking it apart, look for a photo of the lamp assembly on eBay. This would show you a clear picture of where the fasteners go.

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