2006 RX brake light bulbs

[m4rkw]

Hello

I can’t get my brake light bulbs out, the socket does not seem to want to turn in either direction and I’m a bit nervous to use too much force without knowing which way it’s supposed to turn. Do they always turn counter-clockwise to come out?

Thanks,
Mark

[royoftherovers]

They do on my Merc, but I`ve never had to change one on the Lexus Mark

[Herbie]

Yes, they do. They'll have been in there a long time so will no doubt need a bit of encouragement.

[m4rkw]

I can’t get them out, tried really hard. All the other bulbs came out easy. Both sides are stuck!

[Herbie]

Have you tried gripping the connector with pliers to give more leverage, then twisting anticlockwise?

Or a squirt of WD40 and wait about half an hour before trying?

[royoftherovers]

Just now, Herbie said:

Have you tried gripping the connector with pliers to give more leverage?

 

I hesitated to suggest this Herbie for fear of cracking the plastic holder.

Spray with WD40?

Wear a damp leather glove ?

Finally, Pray, go to bed and get up early and try again !

[Herbie]

Needs must John. Presumably the existing bulb is now deceased and has to be got out one way or another.

Colateral damage just sometimes does happen. Just this very afternoon I've been putting together one of these DIY oscilloscope kits and snapped one of the perspex case pieces as I tightened a screw just a fraction too far 

[m4rkw]

The bulbs still work, I’m just going on a couple of very long road trips across europe soon so wanted to change all the bulbs for peace of mind, these two are being very stubborn though.

Attached a photo - why does it look like there’s a wire under the connector? it seems like when i try to turn it it’s tugging against the wire

[m4rkw]

it’s booked in to get the brakes looked at on monday so i might just be cheeky and ask the garage to do it 

[Stefan213]

A good ideea to change them, i left UK 3 weeks ago and in Austia i had just 1 parking light working on the back... from 4 existing

[Delphius1]

19 hours ago, m4rkw said:

Hello

I can’t get my brake light bulbs out, the socket does not seem to want to turn in either direction and I’m a bit nervous to use too much force without knowing which way it’s supposed to turn. Do they always turn counter-clockwise to come out?

Thanks,
Mark

Hi,

I take it you mean the tail light bulbs. The brake lights are LED and don't normally need changing until the LEDs burn out. I know, I had to buy a new brake light LED module at over £60!

The tail light bulb holders turn counter clockwise about 45 degrees on a bayonet type fitting to release. Small hands are an advantage.

Edited to add: The brake lamp connector is just wired, the module isn't removable without removing the whole light unit so don't mess with the connector unless the brake lights have gone. Just swap the tail light bulbs if you need to.

 

 

[m4rkw]

You’re right that the centre brake light is LED but the brake lights on the sides (of mine anyway) are filament bulbs. Got them changed at Halfords today, he was as confused as I was initially but removed the light cluster to figure it out - turns out they were just very stiff so no danger of breaking something by turning too hard. Managed to do the other side without removing the light cluster.

He didn’t seem to care about using gloves to handle the bulbs though, luckily I managed to convince him to put some on that I had in the car before he touched the new bulbs. That’s Halfords for you though 😛  at least it’s sorted now, the rest I can change myself.