Hello,

My 2000 LE Rear Lamp Failure warning light is lit with no rear bulbs actually burnt out. The dealership said the Lamp Failure module (the little yellow box in the trunk) is faulty. A new one (part #89373 AA040) supposedly costs $280.

So, I'm looking for one at salvage yards, eBay, and so on. Is this part year/trim-specific, or can I get one from any Camry 1997-2001? I know that the tail light appearance was changed in 2000 and am guessing that the electrical layout also changed. So, it seems more likely that any module from a 2000 or 2001 should work, right?

I also did a little bit of investigation myself... besides being stupefied as to why that part costs so much, it also appeared to be in perfect condition. Could it really fail without any indication of loose, burnt, shorted, etc components on the circuit board? I have no reason to distrust their diagnosis, but it would also suck to pay so much and not have the problem resolved.

I also read somewhere that a non-OEM bulb could cause the warning light (because of improper wattage or resistance)... how likely is that? I bought the car with the warning light lit and don't know which of the several bulbs may have been changed recently. It could be time consuming/expensive to try to rule out an incorrect bulb.

 

i will give you the most likely problem. 1st one or more of your bulb have the wrong resistance, i would start with the 3rd brake light bulb. 2nd short in the wire harness, this is located on the drivers door hinge. 3rd would be the ecu. good luck

also to reset the warming light the key most not be in the ignition and then just start the vehicle.

 

Here's an update for anyone who searches on this problem in the future:

After living with the "faulty" indication for a couple months, finally one of the license plate lights burned out. After I replaced the bulb, the warning light cleared. So, it is apparent that the bulb was causing a failure indication before it even burned out. I sure am glad that I didn't pay a couple hundred dollars for a new sensor that I didn't need.

 

Good catch!

Will add this to my collection of items to check when sensor light comes on.

 

I am having this same exact problem with my 2001 Camry LE. The "rear light failure warning light" is on. I have checked all thebulbs (even removing and replacing a few) and they all work. Is there really any problem with just ignoring the warning light? I do not want to spend a lot of money if all it does is turn the warning light off.

Thanks for any advise/help.

 

Sometimes a bulb or bulb socket has corrosion on the terminals, in some cases a bulb will work but the filament has too high of resistance, both can trigger the sensor. Or the sensor unit itself could be bad.

A lot of owners clean the socket terminals and change out all the bulbs even if good,this often fixes the problem.

If you don't have time or money keep on eye on the bulbs, if they continue to work OK, ignore the warning light.

 

I did read somewhere that if the bulb looks smokey colored inside you should replace it. What you said above is correct, that was the problem. I replaced the bulbs even though they still worked and the warning light is now off. Thanks!

 

Hello,

My lamp failure sensor warning went off last week and coupled with that my shift lock broke. When i went to an auto repair shop they fixed the shift lock but told me that the lamp box had failed due to a bad toyota wiring design (no recalls i checked) and he gave me an estimate of $2200 to fix this problem including $950 for the part itself. My current situation is that i am driving around with my rear brake lights not working (this is dangerous i know) but i dont have a 2nd car and there is nothing i can do for now as i cannot afford to pay $2200 to fix it.

Do you think the auto repair shop is charging me too much? What are my options? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

-HR

 

What year of car? Can you be more specific about the problem. What lamp box, bad wiring?

Was this a Toyota dealer who quoted this price?

The price seems sky high but without more info can not provide more help.

There should typically be after market sources of parts such as an auto salvage yard, perhaps even on the internet. This would greatly lower the part cost, then find a shop that has lower hourly rates.

 

Its a year 2000 model. Sorry if i am not being specific but the auto repair shop (Not a Toyota Dealer) told me that some of the Camry's have a wiring design problem where due to flexing the wires short and the lamp fuse box gets busted. I have gven it to a AAA approved repair shop for a second opinion and will post their findings.

Thanks!