Hello all, I come to you with a strange lighting issue that I can't seem to figure out.

When I'm driving with the exterior lights on, everything will work fine but about 5 or 10 minutes in the orange lighting indicator pops up on the dash. Its indicating that a light is out and its always my left tail light. Now I figured it would just be a loose bulb or fuse but here's where it gets tricky. Whenever I press the brakes the brake light(which is the same as the tail light) illuminates. So the bulb must not be out, and I don't think its the fuse for that reason. I have no idea what the issue is or how to fix it. Help?

 

If I'm on the right page with you... The tail light and brake light share the same socket.. dual element bulb. Replace bulb and you should be good to go. Be sure to get the correct bulb.. don't remember the exact number but it's NOT the 1157.. contacts are slightly different on them.

 

Oh I had assumed that since they illuminate the same reflector that it was just one bulb for both. Thank you!

 

After months of the mysterious left taillight working/not working and the light on the dash coming and going, I decided to leave the car at the garage to be inspected with instructions to get rid of the pesky light on the dash. We looked the car over at the time and could find no light not working. The car was inspected and passed, the dash light still on. In hindsight, the only clue to the problem was that the left tail light, when it was on, burned slightly dimmer than the right. I went to the dealership, not trusting the local parts store, confirmed and bought two correct eight dollar bulbs (good grief) and carefully put them in. Now, the brake lights work, except when the headlights are on. The bulbs again removed, I sanded and cleaned the contacts in the socket while making sure that the contacts weren't bent or out of form. After reassembly, the left light burned brightly as the right and all other stop/tail light issues were solved. Try it before you invest in the complete taillight assembly, or an illumination control module, or a brake light switch, or some other expensive part or diagnosis, and before you scratch your head bald.