Failed Tom's Tail lights
 

Anyone else with Tom's have any problems with their lights? I love mine but my left light has a broken reflector that will be exchanged once the guys get the stock in. Now I've seen that my right tail has a LED dead.

Before I bought these i researched them and they looked like a solid choice. Maybe mine is just a bad batch?

http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/...d7c517df25.jpg
Right side (dead LED in corner)


http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/...6e7574654d.jpg
Left side

These are with the brakes applied right?

I've been running mine for a little over a year and no problems. Sorry maybe you have a one in a hundred defective pair.

No issues with my Tom's tails either

I believe your the first to have a defective light, there is another complaint thread somewhere, but those members were having problems with their lights sealing/condensation.

JDM 2 years, no problems personally.

I don't think they've been out for 2 years..

Correct, I waqs thinking model years. 2013... current 2015 lol. :bonk:

I HAVE THE SAME EXACT ISSUE & AND IT ANNOYING ME :(

How do we fix them, or do we just have to buy knew ones?

BTW the leds that dont work on my tail lights are the same ones you have.

The right is missing on the top corner and the left is missing on the bottom corner :(

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=8574

This is the Right tail light, its a little worse now

I'm getting mine warrantied. Guys I bought from is going out of their way to send me new ones. Brilliant service.

Add me to the list, right/passeneger side brake cluster failed entirely sometime in the last several months...lights ordered Dec 2013 and only installed for ~5.5 months (yeah yeah, took me awhile to get around installing them). Asking for help from FT86Speedfactory right now over email.

Edit: yes, the photos are with the brakes applied, lights on and hazards on.

http://i.imgur.com/6TPXB5Z.jpg

TOM's Tails Fail...

I have had mine installed on the car for only 4 months :(

I should e-mail them too

i believe it's the gasket. you could try the ninja gasket and apply 3m gasket seal.

Could you please elaborate? Not sure how that would have caused the broken LEDs.

I don't have a condensation problem and I am in an extremely dry climate...it's that a whole section of LEDs won't light. If water getting passed a gasket caused a short, fixing the gasket isn't going to fix my now broke LEDs (though of course if that did cause the original issue I will have to repair it on my replacement)

walked out after a rain and leaving mine outside for 1 night and the driver side was full of water!! waiting for a response.

I dont think it has to do with gasket

Its the gasket, they give power to the led's.


But seriously, this concerns me I gotta check mine out.

Didn't seem like a water or gasket issue on mine. Update, got them warrantied and had a replacement very quickly. I am happy with the support from FT86speedfactory and Buddyclub

Be careful out there as I heard there are a lot of fake ones.
And I really don't like DEPO. I hear Tom's gets made by Depo, too?
I want the JDM-JDM one that is NOT made by Depo, if possible..

Just a little fact that could help you.
LEDs usually don't outright fail or better word is burn out like light bulbs do.(For natural deaths) How they naturally die is they get dimmer and dimmer until they fade away.
So if your LED isn't lighting up, it could be the circuit board or electrically shotted out or defective.
(From my electronics knowledge)

Take a look at our research section if you would like to learn more about automotive lighting technology: http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/r...ed-design.html

"Heat, or thermal stress, is almost always the cause of premature failure in automotive LED bulbs."

They will start to flicker if a lead-wire gets charred and eventually stop working altogether. They don't get substantially dimmer over time the way a filament style bulb will.

EOS events (essentially static discharge) can also damage LED components during production, thus shortening the lifespan of the LED greatly, yet still allowing them to pass through quality control undetected.

Wearing anti-static gear is very effective in preventing EOS events from damaging LEDs. (All of our production team and shipping teams wear anti-static gear FWIW)

That might be what caused this issue, but it should be covered by warranty nonetheless. DEPO is one of the top 20 largest companies in Taiwan and they manufacturer products for OEM's

Nick C.

This thread scared me! Just checked mine and they are fine (going on their 2nd winter and 15k miles).

Just notice this today...frown:

http://i.imgur.com/BqnOKZm.jpg

Anyone sorted out how to take care of this? Is this a bulb I can just replace myself?

Add me to the list now as well. Passenger brake in top corner. :( Also another guy in my area had a few LEDs go out. I bought them used so I may be screwed.

can you specify if they are clear lens or red lens TOMS?

man all I hear is problems with the clear tail lights. either the leds going out or the plastic piece on the inside melting...I was really considering paying the extra bucks to get these but it seems the valentis will be a cheaper and better quality choice now...so disappointed...damn you toms...

I just found out some of the LEDs went out in my TOM's yesterday. I contacted the seller and they said the warranty doesn't cover the LEDs, only the housing on the TOM's. Now I'm like :sigh:

So how do you replace the leds on these? Do you have to actually open up the housing and replace them one by one?

Do you guys have the clear or red TOMs?

I have the same problem on my clear toms on the top left corner of my left light.... I've just tried to cope with it. It's hard though. :iono:

Are your clears starting to melt too?

Yea on both sides right at the top in the middle. The melting stopped though. Is this only with the clear ones?

The melting only happens with the clear Toms from what I've read.

It would be interesting is the LEDs going out is a result of melting tails. This seems like a growing problem though.

My LED went out on one of my red Toms, not the clear. I believe if you aren't under warranty then Toms USA will still offer you a replacement tail light at a discounted rate. The individual bulbs themselves are not replaceable.

do you have contact info for Tom's USA? All I can find is contact info on their japanese site for their JDM dealers.

Just wanted to say that according to BuddyClub/TOMS USA, individual bits ARE replaceable but you've gotta crack open the taillight and solder in new relays.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Any updates on these? I'm at the point now where I have no left side brake light and have a dead one on the right. I bought used and would like to repair vs buy

It's a shame people are having problems with these tail lights. Tom's are some of the coolest units for the 86 platform.

Lotus Elise / Exige owners have had to deal with a very similar issue with the LED taillights of 2006 and later cars. I've had mine burn out as well. The issue with the OEM units is the resistors for the diodes are too weak, causing the LEDs to be overdriven and that shortens their service life. At least, that's what the forum consensus seems to be. Owners have cracked open the housings and desoldered the resistors and put in higher rated resistors and the problem hasn't come back since. The diodes are not as bright, but only just. Probably wouldn't even notice unless someone pointed it out.

Maybe that's the same thing going on here? :shrug:

Has anyone purchased the Red (DOT approved) TOMS lately and experienced any issues? I've gone through 2 OEM's due to condensation and thinking of putting TOMS on this time. I've been very hesitant reading through this topic as there is no true answer as to why the LED(s) is failing. I'm going to be patching up the gap between the metal and tail light with something more resistant and stronger this time, and I don't want the lighting to become another issue as the condensation is already a pain in the a**. Anyone with the Red TOMS longer than 3 years without any problem??

I have owned my red TOMs for almost 2 years now. So far so good. The car is garaged in Northern California though, so it doesn't have to deal with the elements constantly. I try to regularly check them out to make sure nothing is burned out.