Hi!

A few weeks ago, I started to get this message on my dash saying "Taillight failure". I tried replacing the bulb in question which is the inner (upper?) taillight, placed in the trunklid, but the lamp does still not work. I've got a 2002 LS430, so it's not LED.

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do next?

 

Test your fuses. I think if a bulb is out, it just says bulb out and says which one.

 

Shouldn't both lights stop working if it were a fuse? I highly doubt that it's one fuse per taillight.

 

I believe these are dual filament bulbs. Have you looked into the light bulb socket to see if there are 2 or 4 contacts? Do you have a multi-meter to test for power from the light socket?

 

No, I haven't. I don't have a multimeter either.

 

Replace with the correct bulb. Replacing this bulb is nearly as easy as replacing an Edison base bulb in your home. The trunk lid cover over the area of the bulb removes easily. The tail light bulb is a 5-watt wedge type, single filament plug-in bulb. Bulb #2825. The bulb socket unscrews 1/4-turn counter-clockwise to access the bulb. You could substitute with a #194 LL (long-life) bulb (4.9 watt).