Rear driver side tail light not working all the time

[ferneyhough]

My 2020 st explorer has an issue where my driver side tail light will shut off in its own. The only way I can get it to come back on it to fiddle with the light switch ie auto/off. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Cdubya]

brake light or all the lights?

 

[ferneyhough]

The whole light assembly unfortunately

 

[Cdubya]

to me, that makes it less likely the tail light itself is bad.

So if you mess with the headlight control switch it can come back? I would try popping that module out, unplugging the module and then replugging it back in. I have had rare issues where forcing a reboot of that switch/module fixed my headlight issue.

 

[Dale5403]

One other thing to try is remove the taillight and unplug it. Spray the contacts with some contact cleaner and plug and unplug it a few times. There could be some corrosion it. If this works put some dielectric grease on the contacts.

 

[ferneyhough]

OK I will give that a go. Thank you

 

[ferneyhough]

Here is 2 pics of the problem that I,am having. I've unplugged the tail light & it did nothing. I also unplugged the light switch & that did nothing as well.

 

[Dale5403]

I think all the lights run through the BCM. I have seen posted where you can reset the BCM. To do this disconnect the battery cables . Then touch them together to drain any remaining current. After that wait a few minutes and connect the cables. It might work and is worth a try I think . Good luck.

 

[Cdubya]

Did you verify that the backup light and turn signal light don't work? those are on bulbs. if only the brake light, your tail light is likely the problem. if everything, bcm. Any error codes on a scan?

 

[ferneyhough]

Sorry no codes as of now. I will check to see the turn signal & back up light next time it happens. Thank you.