High Mount Third Brake Light Poor Quality

[JamaicaJoe]

Wow I thought Hyundai made terrible brake lamps. Ford has dropped the ball on these.

The third light on my 2013 had a lamp out. I bought a couple bulbs to replace one or two . When I disassembled the fixture it was clear that each of the 5 watt bulbs had totally melted the reflector and distorted the housing. I could not get all of the lamps working and the assembly looks like it will continue to degrade.

The pins on the socket were also dislodged due to cheap construction. Very sad....

I would expect the OEM ones are all going to fail from the combined heat of the bulbs, possibly shorting the brake lamp circuit.

I have ordered an inexpensive Chinese LED lamp assembly from Amazon that gets good reviews.

 

[twodollars]

After replacing melted connectors for the heated seats and front blower, the blown out tensioners, sloppy roller followers, cant say I'm surprised. We have a 2013 too, and while its comfortable, the engineering effort (or latter cost savings) really shows. Call me unimpressed. Let us know how the replacement looks on that brake light, mines acting up too.

 

[Hamfisted]

Joe that's pretty common with many vehicles, not just the Expedition, or Fords. Any of them that use a #94 bulb get very hot, and people sit at stop lights with their brakes on for long periods of time, and the sockets just eventually melt. Look at your old Expy and you'll probably find the same.
The LED third brake light will last almost forever.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

I got the LED version from Amazon and it installed easily. They (Seller) recommend reusing the original wiper squirter from the old light. It was a bit of a tight fit for the squirter as it seems the height of the rectangular hole in the new one is a bit shorter. You might want to lube the parts or file a tiny bit. For added weatherproofing, I added some aluminum HVAC tape to the top of the module where it screws to the reflector to close the seam and added some silicone sealer to the wire grommet in case water gets in past the rubber seal. The old OEM light assembly is garbage compared to this new one. It plugged right in, and the plug was snug. Very bright and the response is instantaneous compared to the incandescent bulbs.

I have a 2001 year old Expy with absolutely no problems with any of the lighting assemblies. In fact the headlights are not too badly yellowed.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4JGZTW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1