C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

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C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by Richard_C »

The middle brake light is dead. Surprisingly it passed its MOT, tester told me but said it wasn't part of the test.

LEDS should last forever, so I checked out the wiring around the tailgate hinge and find that I have volts getting past the bendy bit - not got all the way to the lamp itself yet. So next job is to remove umpteen bits of trim and the spoiler to get to it, I have found some relevant threads here, looks to be a bit of a nightmare so will wait until I have a couple of hours free.

I'm guessing that a new one from Citroen will be close on £100, because everything is. Does anyone know of a 3rd party source or have any other suggestions? Nothing pops up on the bay. I seem to be spending a lot on motors at the moment.
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by old-un77 »

Strange that, some years ago a mate at work asked me to re arrange the blown leds and put the others in a continuous block..dead n's at either end......
the tester then wasn't happy and said if there are 14 leds, in the unit they ALL have to illuminate........
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by vborovic »

Richard_C wrote:LEDS should last foreve.
Do point me to the scientific study which concluded this ... :D
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by myglaren »

Earlier estates had a common failure - the resistor in the unit burning out - cheap fix although access was a bit difficult.
Worth taking it to bits to see if replacement parts would be worthwhile.
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by SaabC5 »

vborovic wrote:
Richard_C wrote:LEDS should last foreve.
Do point me to the scientific study which concluded this ... :D
Ya beat me to it. I've seen plenty of Audi's brought in with blown LED DRL's.
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by vborovic »

I had a fresh example of this, from today, Pug 2008, LED 3rd stop light ... I'm not sure how much vertical lines it has (2 leds each), roughly 12? .. 2 weren't working ... I know the car ... it isn't over 2 years old ...
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by Richard_C »

Yes OK, its an exaggeration to say forever but I would expect them to last a very long time. Most domestic LEDs have a rated life of 25000 hours, and Iv'e not sat with my foot continuously on the brake pedal for 3 years.

Anyway, discovered that giving the unit a good whack makes all the LEDs glow dimly and briefly, which suggests it might be a circuit board component fault so one day soon I could strip it down and have a look. Trouble is, if it can't be repaired I have to put it all back together again while I order a new one, double the chance of breaking clips and tabs and scratching stuff.

I was surprised by the MOT tester passing it, but it was a proper garage that I've used for aeons.

So - to buy or not to buy, that is the question.....

(anyway, complete aside, I live near IWM Duxford and its an air day - I hear Merlins en masse and maybe a Griffon mixed in .... off to look at sky)
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by turbom »

From memory 50% of the led"s have to light up for the mot.
Not sure if it has changed??????
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by turbom »

Richard_C wrote:Yes OK, its an exaggeration to say forever but I would expect them to last a very long time. Most domestic LEDs have a rated life of 25000 hours, and Iv'e not sat with my foot continuously on the brake pedal for 3 years.

Anyway, discovered that giving the unit a good whack makes all the LEDs glow dimly and briefly, which suggests it might be a circuit board component fault so one day soon I could strip it down and have a look. Trouble is, if it can't be repaired I have to put it all back together again while I order a new one, double the chance of breaking clips and tabs and scratching stuff.

I was surprised by the MOT tester passing it, but it was a proper garage that I've used for aeons.

So - to buy or not to buy, that is the question.....

(anyway, complete aside, I live near IWM Duxford and its an air day - I hear Merlins en masse and maybe a Griffon mixed in .... off to look at sky)
You don"t have far to go to the dealers....
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by Oldpug »

I`ve done two now and it was a broken wire in the rubber tube on the n/side,they are like human hair.
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by wurlycorner »

turbom wrote:From memory 50% of the led"s have to light up for the mot.
Not sure if it has changed??????
That is correct;
http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_120.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
motuk wrote:Reason for rejection:
b.
inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating
However, the tester may have decided to allow it through using this loophole;
motuk wrote:Additional stop lamps fitted and connected must be tested. Where extra lamps are fitted and there is doubt as to whether they are connected, the benefit of this doubt should be given to the presenter
I suppose it is always possible that Citroen fitted the LED stop light at build, but forgot to connect it ;) :lol:
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by Richard_C »

Thanks for the clarification on the MOT rules. I suppose if you took the 'get out' literally you could conclude that if the wire is broken then by definition the light isn't connected even though that was the manufacturers intention to connect it. That of course is a foolish conclusion, anyone with a failed LED could just cut the wire and tell the tester it's not connected.

I've just read the words, 3rd light doesn't seem to be compulsory, is there any reason why you couldn't just take it out and fill the gap with something else or tape it over? Not that I plan to, I want to fix it because it probably does help safety on gloomy misty motorways, but if anyone was really strapped for cash it might be an answer.

Anyway, I don't think its a broken wire near the hinge because I stabbed it with a voltage tester as far into the tailgate as I could reach and it gave me 12v. Not had time to dismantle and access it properly yet, likely next week now as work has got in the way. I will report back on what I find.
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by old'uns »

does it look anything like mine did?.......
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=44484" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
small cracks where the washer pipe runs through, seeped back and rusted the connectors from loom to PCB, small pins rusted away of which the remains are seen inside the lamp
bodged mine, still OK
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by vborovic »

For the record, I've managed to find 2-3 3rd brake lights (used, from broken cars) on the german ebay, approx 30 GBP with shipping
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Re: C5 III Tourer 2010 3rd brake light

Post by Richard_C »

Thanks old'uns for link and photos of corroded one, looks a likely cause so will give myself plenty of time and be ready with the soldering iron. My kind of bodge - not really a bodge, probably better than original for longevity but not as quick to assemble in factory. Thanks also Vibrovic, but if water ingress and corrosion can happen a used one might be false economy so if I can't fix it I will probably buy new. I am hopeful!
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