Rear Tail Light Bulbs

aly-g · July 20, 2014

Hi everybody , I was going to change the bulbs in my rear lights to LEDs but it seems this is not possible, I can change the indicator bulbs to LEDs but need to change the flasher unit which I don't know the location of so can anybody advise me please, are the rear bulbs sealed in the rear lamp and not replaceable by me ? Also can anybody advise where the flasher unit is located on my car , is250 sel MY2006...thanks in advance,

Allan

normski2 · July 21, 2014

You can change the rear bulbs to LED if you wish but the impact will be lost behind the red lens cover, i would think.

If you change the indicator you are right that you will need to change the flasher unit to make the bulb respond correctly. Exdee (Jami) has done a bit of research on this so hopefully he will see your post. Think there were flash units from USA.

Only bulbs I've done at the back is change the reversing bulbs to LED.

aly-g · July 21, 2014

thanks Normski, i got the flasher unit but cant seem to find the location of it ?

PhilipK · July 21, 2014

Only bulbs I've done at the back is change the reversing bulbs to LED.

Can I please ask (a) which LED bulbs did you use and ( B) are they much brighter than the standard bulbs?

normski2 · July 21, 2014

Certainly can. I need to go and dig out my info.........then I will PM you...OK?

Dead easy to replace. They are behind the liner on the underside of the boot lid. The fixings just pull out.

normski2 · July 21, 2014

PM sent

toffee_pie · July 21, 2014

does it not have LED already?

aly-g · July 21, 2014

Hi Eric, I did remove one of the lamps from the car and it does look like the tail light bulbs are sealed into the lens and are not replaceable so it stands to reason that are LEDs and not normal bulbs , so I'm just going to change the indicators to LEDs and reverse lamps , I have been reading the USA forums and someone mentioned the front bumper has to come off to get to the front indicators ! Hope not......

Allan

toffee_pie · July 21, 2014

Hi Allan,

I never looked at my lights, i think the 08 got LED lights at the back? i dont have my manual but it lists the replacement bulb types on it.

I am sick of DIY jobs on the car after my epic cabin filter job (fixed that latch as you know eventually) and then the sat nav replace, have not got the will power to do anything else. :p

I just enjoy the drive now., let me know if you need me to dig out my manual about bulbs

toffee_pie · July 21, 2014

front indicators, yep i saw that too somewhere lol

good luck :p

aly-g · July 21, 2014

Thanks Eric, taking off the front bumper is probably less stressful than taking your sat nav unit out and stripping it , is it all working ok now ? I need to take the cowling around the steering column off to get to the flasher unit for the indicators , you would think it would be located with the fuse box or would that make to much sense ?.....

Allan

toffee_pie · July 21, 2014

Yeah its bad enough, i took it off so many times now though.! I got my other sat nav up on eBay, did not expect 2 working ML units, all my original one needed was a new screen.

My Lexus is fine now, some pics from the weekend, the dark colour is impossible to clean, like all dark cars.

I got no idea about the flashers, there is alot of stuff in that car! you would want to double check everything and disconnect the Battery negative just in case...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sr3i9jf55u1usn/20140720_165144.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vpi2owdb3mvdavt/20140720_165156.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gv2e7ygosrmgk05/20140720_165136.jpg

normski2 · July 22, 2014

Hi Eric, I did remove one of the lamps from the car and it does look like the tail light bulbs are sealed into the lens and are not replaceable so it stands to reason that are LEDs and not normal bulbs , so I'm just going to change the indicators to LEDs and reverse lamps , I have been reading the USA forums and someone mentioned the front bumper has to come off to get to the front indicators ! Hope not......

Allan

I think some are already LED bulbs...well they seem to be on the facelift version (09 onwards). Number plate lights are. All I have done is the reversing bulbs...in order to get all my clear lights the same white and get rid of the yellow cast.

JamieG4454 · September 25, 2014

all second gen IS have LED tail lights, only the fog, indicator and reverse lights are halogen bulbs.

ive replaced the reverse with super bright led's and you can get additional resistors to counter-act the hyperflash that you would get with LED indicators... which I have and yet to install.

Spartan 01 · December 13, 2014

Hi Guys, I'm new to forum..but have literally just posted on another topic.

I wondered whether any of you knew how to go about getting the rear light clusters smoked?

Thanks!

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JamieG4454 · March 9, 2015

to smoke the rear lights, you can either spray them, but it will be hard to achieve an even finish. you can also wrap them, but plenty of heat is needed to shape it around the contours of the outer lights.

aly-g · September 16, 2015

Just to update this topic, I've replaced the rear lights with smoked LED lights...still have not found where the flasher unit is !!!! So I've now got all the rear lights LED...accept the indicators which are still normal bulbs......I've looked all over for the flasher unit, I crawled into the car with my head up by the pedal box ( lucky I'm only little ! ) but I still can't find the flasher unit .....anyone know where the flasher unit is p l e a s e, I'll keep my fingers crossed for the answer, once I find it I'm going to take the front bumper off and replace the headlights with LED DRL units and of course LED indicators all round.

Allan

aly-g · September 16, 2015

I don't know why these picture uploaded upside down sorry !

Allan

TigerFish · September 17, 2015

Look good :)

Are there no LED indicator bulbs available that have the necessary resistors built in to just be a direct swap? Saves locating the flasher unit then.

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aly-g · September 17, 2015

Thanks Rick, I like the look of these back lights too ,I've not seen another like it , so very happy with the result......I'll have to have a look around for LED bulbs with the resistors built in.....I must admit it's become a bit of a challenge to try and find th elusive flasher unit though .....

Allan

TigerFish · September 17, 2015

I've got aftermarket LED clusters on my GS and think they are great. Although I've still got halogen indicator bulbs in mine, as I couldn't actually find bulbs that have a light coverage/pattern I liked (I just used the chromed bulbs so there wasn't the orange bulb showing as a temporary measure). If you find some good orange LED bulbs, do let me know :)

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