Hi All:

I suspect many of you have run into this. First of all.....I only have vols 1 and 2 of the maintenance manuals and they don't cover the car body. I think vol 3 would answer this question.....I just have to find it on ebay. My right outboard brake bulb is out. The indicator I have of this is the amber warning icon on the dashboard showing a rear light problem. I removed the trunk carpet panel to replace the bulb but, surprise.......the bulbs aren't accessible/replaceable from inside the trunk. And there are no fasteners on the outside of the tail light assembly lens to allow lens removal for access to the bulbs. My question is simple, how the heck are any of the bulbs in the tail light assembly supposed to be replaced?


Thanks:

Nick

 

The bulbs are only accessible from inside the trunk once the large inner light assembly is removed. Look arouind the perimeter of the assembly for fasteners and remove them, allowing you to pull the whole assembly away from the inner trunk, exposing the bulbs.

 

Hmmm -- I took another look at the aft inside wall of the trunk; there is no "large inner light assembly" there. The panel behind which the rear light assemblies are located is expoxied and spot welded into position....all a factory installation. There are no fasteners around the perimeter. The only evidence of anything to which the light assemblies might(?) attach are four studs (per side) secured with nuts. These might release the entire light assemblies from the car.....I don't know. It appears to me LEXUS engineering did an incredibly bad job of design here. Replacing a burned out bulb appears to be a major operation that will likely entail cutting out sheet metal inside the trunk just to gain access!!

 

Oh yeah- it's all coming back to me now (I was thinking of my BMW).

The taillight lens comes off, once those 4 nuts/studs/ fasteners (whatever you want to call them) are removed. I assure you , no sheet metal need be cut. Because those 4 long threaded rods fit so tightly, it takes a bit of jiggling to slide the external lens out towards the rear of the car, but it eventually frees up. Sorry for the bum steer- I was relying upon my memory because I was too lazy to go outside and check.

 

Hi Perry - hey thanks for the update. Whew......I was getting worried there for awhile. Strictly speaking I'll be able to save myself anguish in the future when I get vol. 3 of the maintenance manuals. I'll pull those nuts off the studs this week and see whether I can get the tail light assembly to move back for access to the bulbs. Take care.....

 

Hey Nic,

I think there are only vol 1 & 2. I really think it is in Vol 2. Be careful when removing the lights so that you do not scratch the paint - take it slow and you might even want to use some masking tape and put it on the paint by the lights first. This is no big deal, just being extra careful - it's nothing compared to the fronts.

I think you need 1156 or 1157 bulbs depending on which one it is (i.e. brake vs turn signal).

Good luck!

 

Hey thanks for the idea Ryan. I will put down some tape first. As for the manuals.....although I own a 94 I bought Vols 1&2 of the 1995 SC400 maintenance manuals from ebay last year for a great price. I'd waited for a long time for a set of 94 manuals to go through and finally lost patience and bought the 95s. They're similar enough. And for the 95 manual series there is indeed a Vol. 3 which covers everything dealing with body, electrical, supplemental restraint and air conditioning.

Nick