Hey Guys, this month I took my SSR to my local repair shop to get my state inspection renewal done. However the center 3rd brake light was discovered out. And of course here in TX if your car has a center brake light it must work in order to pass inspected. ??
I found a replacement online at Simple Engineering & plan to purchase but I can't figure out how to remove the old one. Can anyone out there help??
The light has double stick tape on the back side and sits into 2 holes in the tailgate with small extensions that expand to hold it in there in case the tape fails.
Let the tailgate down. Remove the carpet from the tailgate if you have it, just velcro, then remove the bolts along the edge of the black filler panel to gain access to the interior area of the tailgate. Disengage the tailgate handle to remove the entire inner panel if needed but you can probably leave it connected to get to the stop light connector.
Disconnect the connector, then apply some light heat from a hair dryer then try pushing out the light from the backside. If that does not work you might need to use some plastic pry tools or some fishing line (make sure to protect the paint around the light with some tape) to cut through some of the tape on the back of the light so you can push it out properly. Don't forget about the 2 expanding pins on the back, with the light loose you should be able to use one hand to pull the light and the other to squeeze and push from the backside.
When you get the new one you will probably see how things work better. Good luck!
The old one can likely be repaired if there are a few or even all of the LEDs are not lighting up. If you want me to take it apart and see if I can do something with it so you can have a spare in the future feel free to send me a PM. I offer repairs on quite a few failure items on the R.
