Yes, another leaking third brake light thread...

Pulling the headliner down is a true PITA... Since the housing is no good, you best option is to cut it open from the outside and replace it that way. You may be able to replace it with the access cab in which is a screw one type, that way you will never have to go thru the hassle of pulling the headliner down etc.

 

So, there is a third revision to this light.

As mentioned in my previous post, mine just started leaking and out of warranty. Appealed to Toyota and I got a “no”. Service advisor was shocked and sure they were going to do it. He apologized, gave me a massive discount on the diagnostic cost and gave me a 30% off coupon.

Gonna shoot Toyota headquarters an email expressing my disappointment in the decision. I’m not going to be dramatic or anything, truck will stay forever, but I won’t be purchasing another Toyota. I’ve owned 4 fords (all mustangs), 3 M3’s and 2 Subaru’s and a Honda . Never had these little simple issues like this truck has had and all of the bigger ones have been fixed by the company (yes, even out of warranty.....example was Honda repainting my civic with 80k miles under recall for crappy paint). Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky. Who knows

Still love the truck, so I will enjoy it as long as it runs.

Anyway, enough whining! Part numbers:

Original 81570-04040
One on TSB 81570-04050
One handed to me today 81570-04051

 

Did you examine it to see what the difference was?

 

i’ll post pics when I pull it out. Life is pretty crazy but I am thinking mid next week I’ll have a couple hours to knock it out.

 

@shakerhood it’s a thicker foam gasket. Original looks like it was just thick double sided tape. Barely holding on up top, leaking in two places. I’m pointing at the two places it’s leaking below and have posted pics of the old (left) and new light (right)

for those doing this, there are two 10mm bolts holding on the b and c pillars. Behind the SRS Plate on the c pillar and under the lower b pillar on the b. Rest just pulls off. The lower b and c pillars pull out to release them from the upper pieces.

the dome light does not just pull out. Pull the cover and there are two push tabs you push toward the middle to release it.

lastly, if you don’t pull all pillars, the headliner will bend a little middle of the front door. Crease goes away when you put it back and it looks like this is how the dealer does it because it was already creased from when the dealer dropped the rear last week


Also, grab some of the white panel clips. Not necessary as there are plenty, but I dropped two and no way to get them without doing more pulling. Panel still sits nice and tight.

oh, and have fun with it .

 

Thanks for your pics and info Suaveflooder. Any advice on how much to tighten the nuts on the replacement?

 

they physically stop (you will feel what I mean). I just used a 1/4 inch wrench and went to snug — hand tight on both sides, then snug them up (I hold it up near the head so I use as little torque as possible) and recheck just to be sure (mine did not turn any more at this point)

 

much appreciated!!!

 

@suaveflooder Currently in the process of doing this myself, but do you have to also remove the b pillars first to remove the liner in order to access and remove the dome light?

 

What a pita to remove all of that to swap that 3rd brake light. Question, would have been better to replace it with the 3rd brake light that has the outside screws instead? I believe those come on the SR/access cab Taco. That way, if that happens again you can replace the housing from the outside.

 

B pillars just drop (one 10mm bolt and clips). Don’t remove the seatbelt, just need to get that plastic out of the way

dome light just pulls down. It is a bit of a pain to get under it

 

Got it. I thought you had to remove the dome light in order for the liner to be pulled down. Noticed that I had creased it a little up front, but seems like that’s normal. This really is such a PITA.

 

I removed it . It’s a pain, but I did. You yank the cover first. Then there are two clips and the housing drops.

HUGE pain for a light.

crease will go away when you put everything back. Mine did

 

For those who’ll be considering doing this, when removing the 10mm nuts from the brake light it’s best to use a 10mm 6pt deep socket that’s at least 1.5” long to access it easier. Tried to loosen them with a flex head open-ended wrench and there was no way could it work for me.

 

That would be nice! I wonder if the housing would be compatible though. Let’s just hope it’s a one and done type of repair.

 

I will say I recently had a very good experience at Markquart Toyota in Chippewa Falls. I was skeptical at first, but was shocked at the end. The 36 month Toyota warranty was up on my 2017 TRD OR and my extended warranty was justttttttt up by a handful of days. They wanted to charge me 460 to have it replaced (which is ridiculous for a light), but after looking at the images here I could see why.

I'm not sure what I said or did, but Markquart actually replaced the light unit at no charge to me. If you have a 2016-2018 Tacoma you best jump in on https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10154796-9999.pdf or pay the price later. I just wish Toyota would do a damn recall on it.

 

Had my ‘17 for about 6 months now and thought it was from wet dogs getting in the back... even had blankets down, but rear seats ended up getting soaked through. I’m currently at 46k miles, so I’m going to take the following steps, and will keep everyone updated:

1. File a leak claim with my insurance (try and get new rear seats or at least get them cleaned as mine are toast and I live in a rainy part of the country.)
2. Buy the 8157004051 light and install it myself.

Toyota was no help to me when I called them today, and don’t expect much after reading the threads. Have any of y’all tried filing a claim for flood? I’m curious if that’ll cover the headliner and seats, as I do have comprehensive...

 

Any luck on this? Just realized husband's 2017 was leaking and we have no clue for how long; we never use his backseat. We to our Toyota dealership paid $150 for them to tell us where it was leaking. They called him today quoted $660 to replace the brakelight assy. After, I found all this info from so many of yall.

I called spoke to the manager he pulled up where we have bought many vehicles there. And, all our maintenance done there as well. He sent a message to Toyota about us being loyal customers for over 25 years. Manager said hopefully, Toyota will cover it $500, the labor install. Fingers crossed!

Looking when we get the truck back to see about the mold. He's always smelled something and just thought it was his mining clothes everydown from coming underground. Maybe, this is the true issue why his truck smelled so much.

 

I ended up just shampooing my seats and putting a bead of caulk on the top of the headlight. Much cheaper than a $500 deductible for $1000 worth of work

 

Dealership said it might take 24 hours to hear back from corporate. But, I think he's going to go by there on his way home. His truck will be paid off next year and he's wanting to trade my Lexus NX in on a 4Runner. He told me to tell them and maybe it would influence their decision... Not, sure I want to trade what I have for issues with this manufacturer. Think I might keep mine and when time comes go back to another Volvo or Infiniti again.