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Right Brake Light out, No Warning Message On Dash

14K views 40 replies 15 participants last post by  ghstudio 
#1 ·
I need some help please with my just out of warranty 15 Macan S. The right rear brake light is not working. However, all the right rear leds work fine during other functions, i.e. blinker, key fob lock/unlock. I checked all the fuses with a multimeter and all are ok. Checked for loose wires and clips....none. Also, no warning message at all on the dash. Any ideas on what's going on would be greatly appreciated.
 
#3 ·
Rear Brake Light Out

Any luck determining the cause of the brake light issue. I finally took my 15S to the dealership in April. They pulled the bumper and light and checked all the connections. Still did not work. Then it randomly started working ok. They did not know why! Now it's out again! Frustrating.
 
#5 ·
IIRC, a few months after I bought my '15 MT (in '18), I believe first one, then the other tail light
assemblies were replaced under warranty. In those instances I was getting warning messages
in the instrument cluster.

Check this thread (in particular, posts #3 and #4):






Good luck!

?
 
#6 ·
I had read that post but theirs seemed to have a message appear in their dash board letting them know their light was malfunctioning.
What makes this interesting is that we are not getting a message at all.
Only reason we found out is by someone telling us our brake light was out.
Any/all input would be greatly appreciated

thanks
 
#7 ·
Just as an update:

my rear passenger light started working again out of the blue. Right now the only thing I can think of is that some moisture seeped through the bumper when I washed the car the other day which cars caused it to malfunction. I’m not 100% sure but that’s the only plausible cause as of right now. I will be washing the car again to see if I can replicate again and when I do I’ll report back.
What’s really weird is the fact that we never got an error message.
Either way, hopefully we can eventually pinpoint a cause.
 
#10 ·
So I went to go wash my car today and before I got started I asked my wife to pull the car out in order to make sure the rear passenger brake light worked beforehand.
Come to find out, the rear brake light wasn’t working again although no message has appeared on dash and led lights do light up for other functions (turn signal, emergency lights, unlock/locking car)

banging head against the wall

this is frustrating not knowing what is causing this.
 
#11 ·
So I went to go wash my car today and before I got started I asked my wife to pull the car out in order to make sure the rear passenger brake light worked beforehand.
Come to find out, the rear brake light wasn’t working again although no message has appeared on dash and led lights do light up for other functions (turn signal, emergency lights, unlock/locking car)

banging head against the wall

this is frustrating not knowing what is causing this.
Hi. I know its been awhile since you posted this, but I'm having the exact issue with my right rear brake light with no dash board message indicating brake light fault. I was wondering if you have discovered what was wrong and if the dealer found a fix. Thanks in advance.
 
#16 ·
So the dealer wants to charge 1400.00 to change the tailgate and body right rear light assembly led. I remember when fixing my rear break light was a 5 dollar bulb. What kills me is the led in the assembly works. It just doesn’t turn on when you depress the brakes. Will probably let the dealer deal with the headache.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Came here after searching for a fix for the same exact problem. 2015 Macan S. Rear right brake light is out, everything else works, no warning light. Live in PA and it happened in mid-December last year. Brought it to the dealership to have it checked out (inspection was also due). Charged me for running diagnostic which obviously did nothing. Starting taking it apart and poof...started working. Didn't give us problems the entire year. Then this year, when the inspection is up again in late December, stopped working again. Brought it to a mechanic, wasn't sure what to do with it so he told me pick it up. Was pulling it out of his garage, the light worked. Was driving it home (was going to drive it right to a shop to have it inspected), and it stopped working again. Left it sitting in my garage for a few days, and now it's working again. Seems like in the cold weather something happens. Makes me think there is condensation somewhere that is freezing and preventing the light from working. Really not any reliable mechanics in my area knowledgable enough to work on Porsche and I’m sure the dealership will burn a hole in me. If I find anything out I'll post here. Hope everyone else does the same!
 
#20 ·
Well I got my car back from dealer today. I decided to buy a set of dark tinted rear tail lights from suncoast. They were on sale. Dealer installed and performed 2 service campaigns on front passenger seat sensor mat and fuel pump flange. They could not find a cause other than failure of the tail light. Hopefully this set lasts longer than 5 years.
 
#21 ·
@Tigas, have the lights been working properly since you had the dealer install the new ones?

My light started working about a month ago but just yesterday I noticed it wasn’t lighting up again.

It has been raining here for a couple of days and I’m thinking water must be creating this short circuit somewhere in the light which causes it to fail.

I just purchased one rear passenger light to exchange for my current one so I’m hoping that will fix the problem.

I’ll keep this thread updated as that might be the only fix to this problem....exchanging the lights.
 
#22 ·
Good night this would drive me nuts. I will ask our local guy if they've run into this. I'm going over there this afternoon cause they got a Taycan in last night and I wanted to see it first hand.

I know this isn't a help, but I had a side marker light issue for over a year on a Merc. It only surfaced when it rained, sometimes following a wash, but mostly when going from cool to very warm temps. So I attributed this to perhaps condensation building some where. I got the dash warning though, and that was really annoying because the warning would go off just enough to be a PITA. But after I shut off and left it parked for a while, the warning would go away, the light would start working again and then continue for months at a time.
 
#23 ·
I wanted to update this post:

Today I changed my passenger rear light and it is working great. While I was doing the exchange, I did not notice any condensation in the panel after taking the light out which is why I was thinking it might have been failing on and off.

I believe it was just a defective light, as once I replaced the outer portion of the light, the smaller light (the one attached to the trunk portion) worked as well.

Seems like the light has some sort of computer module inside itself? Not sure, but I’m just happy I was able to get the entire light to work without having to disassemble the trunk to get the small light out.

If you are experiencing problems as describe above, I would suggest buying a rear light and changing it.

Looks like that is truly the only way to fix it.
 
#26 ·
Hi! I have the same issue with my Macan 15S. I went to the dealership last week but they couldn't say what's wrong and asked me to leave the car 3 days... But today, out of nowhere the brake light works again. I will monitor during the summer and update if it stops working again.
 
#28 ·
Bumping this thread to see if there have been any more definitive solutions. Temps have dipped here significantly in Minnesota and I just noticed my passenger rear brake light does not function (although it works with lock/unlock etc). Seems like the only tested fix is to replace the outer (bumper) taillight portion.
 
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