Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I swapped out my rear trunk lamps and I'm getting the "burned out bulb" warning every time I hold the brake pedal. Now what I'm confused about is why the new lamps would have anything to do with it, because they're not responsible for the brake lights. Every light seems to be working fine, so I'm confused as to why I'm getting this warning. Do you think it's alerting me that one of the light bulbs is soon to go out or they're just not strong enough?

One thing I noticed when I swapped out the lamps is that the light bulbs appear to be dimmer than on my corner lights. Here is what my car looks like.








p.s.: I'm not 100% certain on this, but I think it only happens when I have the engine running.

EDIT: I realized it's the license plate lights, but haven't found a solution yet.

yeldogt

I would check to make sure that all the bulbs in the rear are correct per the manual -- The controller may be looking at all the rear lamps as an output amp when you hit the brakes - and the new trunk ones may be low enough to trip the warning.

One of the license plate bulbs on mine was causing an intermittent problem -- I found it by accident - it never went out -- but the connection was bad.


The controllers can be touchy -- you can't use the brass base bulbs on a car with a controller -- they always cause problems. I think all the 300's bulbs are push in .. can't remember.

imherenow

hmmm those lights appear fine to me..but i dont see your license plate lite up?
Or did u put replaced with LED bulb ??bcoz those can show as error too
or check to make sure the fuse/and or the bulbs are properly tightened and loosened
and if u still get the same problem then hmmmm try removing the carpet on side n look for any cracks or breaks on the wires like especially where the trunk hinge area

MikeLex

I had my left trunk light bulb replaced and for some reason (not properly tightened, I guess) the socket got hotter than usual. Now, when the tails lights are on, the left one looks darker than the right one. Grrrrrrrrr!!!! Fortunately, when they are off, there's no noticeable difference between them.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

The pictures were taken with the engine off. So I'll check for my license plate lights today. If anything, I'll replace the brake bulbs in the new lamps.

imherenow

and y do u have 2 "es300" badges ... doesn't look good. i think u got 2000-01 ES tail lamps ya?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Well it seems like my license plate lights don't work - so maybe that's the issue. I never noticed it before, so I don't know if they worked prior to this. Oh and yes I installed the 00-01 tail lights on my '98 ES, that's why I have double badging.

yeldogt

Well - I did not wan't to mention the obvious .......


I was thinking that you may have blacked out the plate lights in the photo to protect the innocent

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Don't bother. This has been my issue since I started driving the car.

During the summer it's always on, and now winter with all the accessories running, it does it rarely... Weird. But I know my bulbs work so I ignore it.

I've done my research on this topic, long story short; clean the contacts of all te current bulbs, or replace all of the bulbs to one rand since they draw the same amount of current, as opposed to mismatched which can be all over the place!


I have my corner lights (not the brake lights) replaced with LEDs, LEDs all over the car, and still doesn't cause the prOblem as it is off most times. So not sure what else to tell you here.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I don't understand. My lights DON'T work, so I need to find a way to fix them. And isn't illegal to not have the license plate lit - in other words I might get a ticket.

marcoes300

my 98 ES did the same thing after i changed some bulb... its the connector, chek if the bulb are tighten rigth

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ I don't understand, clearly. Since your inner lights, are just 'lights'. And your pictures show how the 00-01 3ES looks like at night, in braking position and driving...

Edit; okay. I see what you're saying. And i don't know the solution. I thought you were asking about the warning relative to the brake lights. And noticed after you're concerned with the plate lights themselves.

Check if any fuses are gone, doubt it, but maybe the connections came loose or something.

imherenow

1st of all which tail lamp did u put the new bulb..also maybe bulb that u changed was prolly not the exact one..u had a different power bulb.why dont u check to make sure its the right watt bulb for that tail light.
Also check the wire in the trunk..

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I replaced the brake light bulb in my passenger side corner lamp months ago. I made sure the bulb was exactly the same as the old one. Everything worked until I swapped out the inner lamps. I removed the trunk liner in order to get to them. I haven't had time to get a second look at the connections/bulbs, but are the license plates lights accessed through the trunk liner or do I need to remove them from the outside?

What I don't understand is why the warning only comes on when I hit the brakes. The license plate lights are always off, so shouldn't there always be a warning? It definitely has to do something with the load that's put on the system.

imherenow

the license plate lights are removed from the outside..u just pry out the plastic cap and slide it over.