CAK 500

I have a brake light out on my '07 GS350, and I can't for the life of me figure out what the problem is.

I was in the process of testing some LED strips to replace my center brake light. I had already removed the center brake light fixture and was testing one of several LED strips I am considering by alternately attaching the two brake light wires to each. On the last strip (which unlike the others has 4 pins instead of two), the passenger side brake light went out upon connecting the wires.

Thinking I had shorted and blew a fuse, I checked fuses 7,8 and 9 in the trunk fuse box. No dice.

I then swapped the brake lights themselves, thinking maybe I damaged the LED, but when moved to the driver side, the passenger fixture lit up normally. The driver side fixture did not light up. So, I'm thinking a problem with the wiring ... although I can't imagine how it would be possible.

I then swapped the passenger side wiring harness (that connects to the brake light fixture) with the driver side one. The passenger side light worked, and the driver side didn't. I checked the continuity of each wire and each is fine.

I did notice that the connectors are wired differently, but I don't know how that would make a difference.

I'm stumped ... can anyone help?

Passenger side harness on top (black tape)

CAK 500

I decided to re-check everything again, starting with the fuses. This time I used the trusty multimeter to test continuity. So, the first suspect was the #7 fuse in the trunk. I pull it, tested it and ... no sound from the meter. I re-check my settings. Still fails. A check under a magnifying glass showed a tiny crack in the fuse filament. Damn! It was the first thing I checked two days ago!

The break is so thin I just didn't see it the other times I checked it. I never saw a break like that. The fact that the other brake lights still worked threw me too.

Will be using a magnifying glass next time I check fuses I guess.