quiver2003

I have a swing out tire carrier and used the link below to wire in a 3rd brake light. Work great for a while but one of the wires rubbed on the bumper and shorted the light. I perfomed a voltage test from the stock/OEM connection and there was no reading with brakes on. It is at dealer now and they are indicated that custom wiring blew the "total control box" or fuse box and I would need to replace the entire box. Total cost is 900.00 with parts and labor. Any other options anyone has ran across to solve this? Not sure how easy it is to swap out the box but I suppose i can buy one and try or go to salvage.

Thanks for any help

Wiring a 3rd Brake Light w/ Swingout - JKowners.com : Jeep Wrangler JK Forum

Mark Doiron

It's called the TIPM, usually. Total Integrated Power Module, but just do your research on TIPM. I'll summarize what I've read, which is a bit conflicting. It costs $200 to $600. Yeah. Amazon has them (at least for some years). You can/cannot change it yourself because it does/does not reprogram itself and you will/will not need to have the dealer reprogram it even if you do/don't do the install yourself. Sorry for not being more specific, but just be prepared for all of the conflicting information. The one thing that has me confused about your situation is why the fuse didn't blow and protect the TIPM. That's what they're supposed to do!

BTW: Ronjenx has a great breakdown of the TIPM and everything that makes it up; I'll let you Google that, but you definitely want to read it and look at the images. Also, there are something like six or seven connectors on it, as well as a battery wire. I had mine out just a couple days ago. Takes about 30 minutes to pull and replace. As for whether or not you need to take it to the dealer: Make sure you follow exactly the instructions you'll find online for swapping it and maybe yours will work okay. Apparently even the factory service manual is wishy-washy on whether reprogramming is needed (something like "check everything out and if it works okay, reprogramming should not be necessary").

quiver2003

Thanks Mark. The dealer may cover the repair but the service manager indicated not to get my hopes up. I am wondering why the fuse would have not have just been blown vs killing the entire unit. If they come back with the 900.00 option I will swap out myself.

thanks again.

quiver2003

Another thought on this topic. Since the 3rd brake light is the only failure I am wondering if I can tap into the passenger side brake light vs swapping the TIPM?

Mark Doiron

I'm not sure. There is some weird stuff the way they have that wired. I do know that when you tap in for an aftermarket third brake light, you can easily end up with the third brake light blinking with one of the turn signals (don't recall which one). You have to pick the correct brake wire, and there are posts on this forum that call out the incorrect wire by color (I've been down this road twice, both times wrong following directions I've found on this site).

4WHLN

The TIPM is currently on a "national back order" or at least that's what two local dealers have told me. Mine has gone out and I lucked up and found one in a junk yard. From what I read, the dealer has to flash the computer once its installed. Hopefully that gets done this week.

It's amazing how incompetent this auto manufacture can be. Good luck

4WHLN

Wait, this is why my break light blinks with my right turn signal!! Why have I never seen this before. Lol

ronjenx

quiver2003,

Describe how your brake lights work now. I'm a little confused whether or not the oem third brake light and the left and right brake lights are working.
Shorting the wire to the third brake light should have blown fuse M1.

If your regular brake lights come on as usual, I would say fuse M1 and the TIPM are OK.
The TIPM turns on the regular brake lights when it sees power on the third brake light circuit. It senses this at a tap somewhere after the brake pedal switch.

4WHLN

M1 fuse is good.
I noticed it doing this a couple months back when I had issues with my clockspring. But this may have been going on much longer since I installed an aftermarket 3rd break light when I installed my tire carrier. I will have to pull the tail light and see what wire its hooked to and report back.

quiver2003

Both left and right brake lights work fine. The only issue is the 3rd brake light. I called the dealer yesterday and walked them through my thought process on how everything else works but the 3rd brake light and the entire TIPM needs replacing. I also asked why the fuse was not blown and he indicated it was only the circuit board area for that M1 transistor. Does not make sense. He indicated Jeep would not cover under warranty due to the custom/3rd party wiring I did for the 3rd brake light. At this point, I am tempted to just connect directly into the passenger side brake light vs paying the 900.00 the dealer wants.

I may also take it to my local jeep mechanic and see if they come to the same conclusion as the dealer but my inspection sticker is now dead .