Recently my tail/park lights stopped working. Brake, tail light, back up all fine. I replaced the fuse and it worked until I turned the car off, then on again. The fuse kept blowing. I checked all the bulbs/sockets... even unpluging all the connections to try and isolate the fault. The fuse would blow when the park light switch turned on, even without any connections. I was at a loss.
I finally decided to take it to a friends shop. They traced the problem to the Lamp Failure Sensor. The board had fried some of the connections. They soldered the connections and it fixed some of the tail lights.

They suggested I get a new sensor as it was badly burnt.

The dealer's price is $387 plus tax shipping out of the question. I tried salvage shops and ebay. Then found some postings on internet to bypass the sensor.
Some of the instructions give colored wires that do not match what mine are.

Do anyone have a Pics or instructions that will work for 97-01 models.

If the sensor fails I would like to have a way to work around it.

 

You might be able to find a replacement at a auto salvage yard.

To bypass try this:

Connect Green/White wire (comes from stop light switch) to Red wire (goes to high mounted stop light bulb) and Green/Red wires (these go to the low mounted stop bulbs).

Disconnect and tape Red/Purple wire (goes to Gauge fuse) and Yellow/Green wire (goes to indicator light on dash then from there to Gauge fuse).

Connect the Green wire (tail and running light power) to the Green/Orange wire (tail and running light bulbs).

White/Black wire is a ground wire for the sensor.

It is very possible your wiring may have different colored wires then the above, if so:

Use a volt meter to find the brake, tail and gauge power wires.

Find the wires for the brake and tail lights and use these colors. Some of the bulbs are combo bulbs having 2 filaments.

The ground wires are typically White/Black.

Gauge fuse powers in part the gauges and will have power when the ign key is on.

 

I tried multiple shops.

I will give your suggestion a try, if the sensor totally fails.
Thanks

 

What do I do with the white/black ground wire?

 

Disconnect ground wire, it is no longer needed.

 

I have a similar problem with my 99 XLE automatic. Will this bypass work in this case too? My brakes and turns are fine but tails are out. Sidemarkers were able to be lit by removing sensor and bridging with wire to terminal after removing sensor. No signs of burnt out board- it just does not work the tail lights when plugged in. Could not get rear tails working and have changed all bulbs. All fuses are fine.

 

Are the front running lights working, if so power is getting through tail relay and Tail fuse. The Gauge fuse is also connected to the sensor. There are not other fuses or relays.

Locate the sensor and check for taillight power at the Green wire.

A Green/Orange wire may run from the sensor to the taillights.

If no wire of this color check the wire colors at the taillight bulb sockets. Keep in mind these are combination bulbs, there may also be a Green or other color wire for the side market lights.

If no power from the wire coming from the sensor to the taillights the sensor is bad.

Jump Green and Green/Orange wires (or what colors you car uses).

Red/Blue and Yellow/Green wires should be taped as they are hot wires.

White/Black wire is ground.

Green/White goes to stop light switch.

Red is high mounted stop light.

Green/Red stop light bulbs.

You colors may vary from the above.

Also check wiring from sensor to taillight bulbs.