chris97conti
New member
Okay, so stupid question. I can not for the life of me figure out how to change the rear brake light. It's one of the side ones. I've got the panel pulled back, but i cant get the socket out to get to the bulb.
Help!
- Thread starter chris97conti
- Start date
chris97conti
New member
Nevermind, figured it out. Now I have LED brakes lights!
chris97conti
New member
Okay, the actual bulb I just got at NAPA, it was just a LED version 3157 bulb. They were like $12 apiece, not too bad.
Installation-
When I first pulled back the panel, there is the wire running to behind the taillight with a rubber gasket. I thought the bulb was directly on the other side, but all that is is where the wires go into the taillight housing. You need to just pull pretty hard on that, or use a screwdriver to try to pry it out, its just a rubber gasket thats bigger than the hole, no screwing motion or locks or anything. Then right next to that are 4 bolts on the inside of the trunk panel. All you need to do is unscrew the top 2. Then unscrew a bolt on the side with a strange large (like 2") plastic washer. When its unscrewed just kind of pop it out, and then the whole taillight housing will come out. All you need to do to get out the 3 bulbs is turn partways then pull out. there are 2 smaller bulbs used only for taillights (bulb no. 194 i believe, not sure) and the main 3157 brake/tail bulb.
Results-
So far I've noticed that that the signals do flash slightly faster due to the less power it requires to light them. Also, on the system check it says i have a brake light and taillight out, all you have to do thought is hit reset when you turn the car on and it turns off, however I usually leave the Comp display off anyways, so it doesnt bother me. If anyone has any ideas to make that go away for good I'd be thrilled to know. I havent got a chance to look at them in the dark, but I'll post it when I do
Installation-
When I first pulled back the panel, there is the wire running to behind the taillight with a rubber gasket. I thought the bulb was directly on the other side, but all that is is where the wires go into the taillight housing. You need to just pull pretty hard on that, or use a screwdriver to try to pry it out, its just a rubber gasket thats bigger than the hole, no screwing motion or locks or anything. Then right next to that are 4 bolts on the inside of the trunk panel. All you need to do is unscrew the top 2. Then unscrew a bolt on the side with a strange large (like 2") plastic washer. When its unscrewed just kind of pop it out, and then the whole taillight housing will come out. All you need to do to get out the 3 bulbs is turn partways then pull out. there are 2 smaller bulbs used only for taillights (bulb no. 194 i believe, not sure) and the main 3157 brake/tail bulb.
Results-
So far I've noticed that that the signals do flash slightly faster due to the less power it requires to light them. Also, on the system check it says i have a brake light and taillight out, all you have to do thought is hit reset when you turn the car on and it turns off, however I usually leave the Comp display off anyways, so it doesnt bother me. If anyone has any ideas to make that go away for good I'd be thrilled to know. I havent got a chance to look at them in the dark, but I'll post it when I do
I think the computer detects whether a light is burned out based on resistance... but don't hold me to that.
If you're handy with electronics at all, maybe you could figure out how much resistance the bulbs were, and add a resistor or something? If nothing else, it's something to think about.chris97conti
New member
So I think I'm going to take the LED's out. They just don't seem worth it. The fast turn signals and warnings lights are just too annoying. Plus the lights actually don't seem as bright as normal bulbs, so the only plus is they only need changed every like 10 years, which isn't enough for me.