1997 Corolla - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Guest CWoods97

for the past month my tail lights haven't been working probperly. when my headlights are off only ony bulb lights up when I hit the brake pedal. When the headlight are on all the lights come on execpt the highmount one as normal. when I hit the brakes witht he headlight on only that one bulb lights up. any ideas?

Either you have a bad connection somewhere or one of the brake light bulbs is going out. Since they are on the same same cirsuit (at least the one filament is) - if one runs slightly hotter (draws more current) than the others - it will act weird. Check and make sure the fuses and relays are good, check chassis and lamp housing grounds, and try experimenting with the bulbs - take the left out and swap it with the right and observe what happens. At least that way - it will let you know if it is a bulb or socket issue.

for the past month my tail lights haven't been working probperly. when my headlights are off only ony bulb lights up when I hit the brake pedal. When the headlight are on all the lights come on execpt the highmount one as normal. when I hit the brakes witht he headlight on only that one bulb lights up. any ideas?

I am having EXACTLY the same problem with my right taillight for a few weeks. Is it a common outcome of a fused taillight bulb?

Well hell, it sounds like three of the bulbs have the high wattage filament burned out.

I'm not sure I'm understanding your description though...

Sometimes when dual filament bulbs fail, the broken filament causes a cross connection between the 2 circuits (tail & stop).

Try changing the bulb, being certain the higher brightness filament lights with the brake. Some sockets can let you put a bulb in backwards.

Guest corolla96

for the past month my tail lights haven't been working probperly. when my headlights are off only ony bulb lights up when I hit the brake pedal. When the headlight are on all the lights come on execpt the highmount one as normal. when I hit the brakes witht he headlight on only that one bulb lights up. any ideas?

This is very common problem with corolla. I had this poroblem twice already with my 96 corolla with 88K. Just change all bulbs in tail lamps at once and it will run for another 75K with out any issue.

Good luck, Cheers.