shmi

Hey

Recently my instrument cluster displayed a warning that a tail light bulb was out. Sure enough, one bulb was out. I replaced it, and now all the lights work fine, but the message won't go away. 2003 LS430.

Has anyone run into this or heard of it before? Is there some reset procedure I'm unaware of?

Thanks

Tom57

No reset. There must be other bulbs burned out. Also check your 3rd brake light.
Suggestion: Replace those # 2825w (5-watt) wedge base bulbs in the tail lights with #168 LL (long-life) bulbs. The #168 LL bulbs are 4.9 watts and are more durable to trunk slam vibration - last much longer.

shmi

Negative. The warning only comes on when my headlights are on, so can't be third brake light or any brake light, just one of the regular tail light bulbs that turn on with the headlights. However, I checked them all manually after this occurred, and they all light, and none are dark or blown.

Now that I think of it, though, I wonder if maybe I replaced the blown bulb with a different amperage bulb, and it's still causing the car to see a problem. I'll pick up an OEM replacement and see if it goes away.

zapola6

Guessing it's one of your tail lights..... More than likely a running light like mine... On the tail light assy there are 3 bulbs... The top bulb is the running light, this light is the bulb that is out on mine and only came on when turning on headlights... First time I looked I did not see the top bulb as it's up high on the housing and you can't see it we you look at the back of the housing... I kept focusing on what I thought was the top bulb when in fact I was working on the middle bulb... It's a small bulb not your typical turn signal bulb... Phillips 168 I think... Doing this off memory... If it's not a tail light, check your front turn signal housing for a running light as well.. There are small bulbs there as well... I've had both issues in the past... But the top bulb on the tail light assy is the one that threw me for a few days until I looked harder at the left tail light.

shmi

User error.

I realize the bulb I installed is 12v3w, which is what I had lying around. Couldn't read the writing on it since it was so faded, but I found my receipt and looked it up. Going to install a 12v5w tonight (which is what it should be!) and I'll report back.

shmi

That's funny, thats the same bulb that went out on mine. I put in the wrong wattage bulb, so going to replace it with a correct one tonight to see if it fixes it.

zapola6

Ya... As these cars get older we are all going to start seeing the same little trivial issues, I had no idea that a off wattage bulb would still work but throw a caution light.... Good little trivial fact to know..........

Just like my dog and wife, my car keeps getting older....

Tom57

If you use lower wattage bulbs (far less than the OEM 5-watt bulb), you'll still get the message. For example, if you use a common #194 wedge bulb, it has only 3.74 watts > not enough current draw to the ECU to remove the message on dash. A #161 wedge bulb is only 2.66 watts. They all look exactly the same though in your hand.

shmi

Replacing the 12v3w with a 12v5w fixed the message.

Thanks for the input everyone!

samsonn25

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My 2000 es300 third brake light went out and I replaced it wiwith an aftermarket led bulb. It only pulls 1.5 watts but the output is a respectable 180 lumens. The light works but the indicator on the dash goes on when I step on the brake after I start the car and stays on.

I guess you are right about the power draw and the computer thinking it is too low versus the original 7440 which pulls 25 watts.

Tom57

Plug-in LED bulbs for the 3rd high-mount brake light are widely available, inexpensive, brighter and light up a split second faster than the filament bulb. But, they're not plug n' play.