Completed this repair over the weekend. One thing I would recommend is using a 60w soldering iron. I originally bought a kit with a 30w from Walmart and was having no luck getting the solder to stay on my copper. Went and got a 60w and finished both lights in a matter of minutes.
I fixed it like in the video and the top and bottom are on again but the middle is still out. Any suggestions where the break might be to fix this? Thanks
What was the original problem? Was the tail light or brake light not working at all? Mine is going out intermittently so I'm not sure if this will fix my issue
Thanks for the instructional video, great help. I did mine and discovered (after installation) there is a middle section of the "C" shaped brake light that is not lit.... Any idea what I did wrong?
Great video. Thanks for bringing us along and showing us where the trouble spot are. Here's a couple of tips that some others may find helpful: - Before soldering, scrape the metal surfaces where solder will be applied down to the underlying copper. Then apply some flux to those surfaces before applying solder. Be sure to apply solder to all of the exposed copper. - Substitute the wire with a short length of soldering wick and apply solder to the entire piece. The wick absorbs the solder better, lays flat, and is extremely flexible, thus avoid future repairs in the same spot. It's also the same width as the area that we're fixing. - When replacing the piece of plastic, use the same hot knife or razor blade to melt the seams back together. If you need to add some plastic in a few areas to help bridge the gap, lightly scrape off some plastic from bulkier areas of the housing and put those shavings into the seams. You can also use a soldering iron with a flat tip to help spread the material.
Worked for me. I used a roto tool to get in. Here's a soldering tip: 'Tin' the wire. That means cover the wire ahead of time with solder. Also put solder on each side where the wire will join. Then, just use soldering iron to push wire into place. I used plumbers putty to reseal area. I caught a bit of the metal when prying up the plastic and the metal bent a little. Doesn't affect the connection. It did affect one LED but I can live with that. Can one side affect the other? IE: If left side is out, is it a serial connect over to the right? That answer may affect diagnostics. Thanks for video.
Thank you very much for sharing this info. Man what a mess this is from GMC. Should be a recall on the light since it breaks for so many. You are a lifesaver. I haven't done it yet but curious if it breaks in the same area each time or is it random?
I did this fix and it did not work. I removed and exposed both fail points and one was intact and the other was clearly broken. I soldered a piece of wire across, plugged it in and... nothing. Still didn't work.
I watched this video and went for it. What's the worst that could happen. I am on the road and so I bought 100 dollars worth of tools at Home Depot and it worked. Saved myself 900 bucks. The cost of a new installed light from GMC dealer was 1000.
Irritating because my wife has this problem, has a warranty to cover it but the deductible is 100 dollars. So it’s not a bulb but more likely something akin to a motherboard break in circuit? And a 50 50 chance of getting the correct side. Cheers Bill. By the way thanks for taking so much guesswork out of the equation. It’s easy to do all this once you know which end to pry off without causing damage.
