LED Tail lights on 2015 Yukon Denali

[benjamminharris]

I have a 2015 Yukon Denali, and the tail lights will work for a few days, then they won’t work. Has 100k so out of warranty. Dealer wants $900+ because they say need the whole light. Does anyone know a cheaper fix or cheaper tail lights or is there a way I can get tail lights that have bulbs instead of LED. Let me know.thanks
Ben

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Get the part number from the dealer, and look at these two web sites below for a price comparison.

RockAuto.com GMPartsDirect.com

 

[benjamminharris]

has anyone dealt with circuit board medics where they either repair led or send a new one? Wondering if they are good website? They send a new one for 300 or fix it for 139. Don’t really want to spend 600 from Rock Auto or 900 at a dealer if I don’t have to.

 

[MobileHomie]

OP, there are yutube videos out there that show a DIY repair. I had both of mine on my '17 replaced under warranty. One of my employees has done the DIY repair to both.
Essentially heating the housing to gently split it then solder a piece of wire in to the board where the thin one broke.

If I had to do it out of pocket I would probably switch to Cadillac lights.

 

[Tonyv__]

has anyone dealt with circuit board medics where they either repair led or send a new one? Wondering if they are good website? They send a new one for 300 or fix it for 139. Don’t really want to spend 600 from Rock Auto or 900 at a dealer if I don’t have to.

I literally was just about to make this post like last night and coincidentally you just did it for me….

Yes my 2015 driver side tail light has given me a problem year after year just to find out that last night it was out again.. I’ve done the YouTube method of fixing it myself, but mine still fails again after a year or so I think this time I’m gonna replace it.

Options are as follows.

- Oem is no less than $700 (my least favorite option)
- used OEM is obtainable through eBay but they could fail tomorrow.
- repair service on eBay offer their service under $100 but you have to ship them the light and wait for it to come back
- a bunch of replica OE equipment lights have flooded eBay recently for $100 a pair (looks ok from picture but I imagine quality is awful)
- circuit board medic is probably the most feasible of them all.

 

[CMoore711]

I had this happen to my drivers side tail light and eventually my passenger side tail light. Used a repair core exchange program from a seller on eBay. Seller username: redseaa

Not sure if he's still doing this as this dates back to 2019. But there are plenty of ebay listings to OEM repaired tail lights and core exchange programs for returning your OEM non-working tail light back to the seller.

OEM repaired tail light shipped to me, swapped it myself (plenty of how to vids on YouTube, it’s simple), shipped back my OEM non-working tail light and got my core refunded back via PayPal.

Both repaired tail lights were still working in January 2023 and still are to the best of my knowledge.

All in $200 (per tail light back in 2019). Highly recommend this route.

 

[benjamminharris]

I literally was just about to make this post like last night and coincidentally you just did it for me….

Yes my 2015 driver side tail light has given me a problem year after year just to find out that last night it was out again.. I’ve done the YouTube method of fixing it myself, but mine still fails again after a year or so I think this time I’m gonna replace it.

Options are as follows.

- Oem is no less than $700 (my least favorite option)
- used OEM is obtainable through eBay but they could fail tomorrow.
- repair service on eBay offer their service under $100 but you have to ship them the light and wait for it to come back
- a bunch of replica OE equipment lights have flooded eBay recently for $100 a pair (looks ok from picture but I imagine quality is awful)
- circuit board medic is probably the most feasible of them all.

I just called circuit board medics. They are in Virginia. Very nice gal. Reviews are 4.9 out of 5 stars. I’m sending both tail lights in today via fed ex. $239 fixes both led lights and also check for moisture. I wanted to send both because whoever owned before me already soldered on of them. Said I should have them back 5-7 days. Or they can send new ones. I’m going to try this. Can’t hurt. Better than giving a dealer 900 per tail light.

 

[benjamminharris]

Circuit board medics can also send new one for around $300 per tail light. Don’t know if they are oem, but I’d like to see if them just fixing them helps. They can also do a one day turn around for extra money but I have another vehicle I can drive.

 

[Tonyv__]

Circuit board medics can also send new one for around $300 per tail light. Don’t know if they are oem, but I’d like to see if them just fixing them helps. They can also do a one day turn around for extra money but I have another vehicle I can drive.

I don’t think they’re new. They require you to send your core back in. So they’re probably all rebuilt Oem products. That might be the route I’ll go just for quick turn around time.

 

[CMoore711]

I don’t think they’re new. They require you to send your core back in. So they’re probably all rebuilt Oem products. That might be the route I’ll go just for quick turn around time.

You're exactly right @Tonyv__ they're not new; They're typically OEM tail lights that have had the LED repair completed. When I had this happen and needed to replace my tail lights I felt this option was best mostly because the tail lights on my vehicle were not "new" they're used with mileage on them.

 

[Pivot]

+1 on the repair over replacement. I've gone the repair route. For the repair, an extra layer of wire is soldered into the otherwise-weak OEM connection to strengthen it, so it's stronger than from factory and less likely to happen again vs replacement with the same potential flaw.

 

[jets]

My passenger side tail went on the fritz earlier this year. A local guy fixes them for a fee; I gave him the broken one. Very cheap and effective.

 

[Bagherra]

My passenger side went out, i replaced them with the Escalade style lights....got my factory ones somewhere in garage..

 

[Denali_lover]

I had an issue with mine, drilled two small holes from the back right through the circuit strip on either side of the break. Made a wire jumper with two ring terminals, and connected them with a stainless rivet one each side. Seal it up with silicone and you have a permanent fix for $5.00.
just make sure where you drill isn't inline with one of the LED's like i did...... lol

 

[benjamminharris]

I used circuitboardmedics.com i called them they emailed me a label to print off, sent both tail lights in for them to look at. They fixed one, and replaced the other. Took about 9 days from time I shipped till the time I got them back. Highly reccomend. They have warranty as well. About 400 bucks took care of both tail lights. Better than the dealer wanting $900 per light.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Another example of why this Forum Rocks!!

 

[Clancy]

OP, there are yutube videos out there that show a DIY repair. I had both of mine on my '17 replaced under warranty. One of my employees has done the DIY repair to both.
Essentially heating the housing to gently split it then solder a piece of wire in to the board where the thin one broke.

If I had to do it out of pocket I would probably switch to Cadillac lights.

Hi, I had this problem on my '15 Yukon XL. I found some youtube videos that showed where to cut holes to reach the broken conductors. (I have a link to the one I liked best but I'm new here and don't know if we are allowed to show them.) Then I soldered small wires across the breaks. I used a flat blade tip on my old solder gun to cut/melt the plastic. I silicone caulked it back into place when finished. It takes a couple hours but I did both sides. It is caused by a poor design in the conductors that causes stress points that eventually break the conductors.