Motoring Discussion > Taillights -bulbs Miscellaneous
Thread Author: BobbyG Replies: 24
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 00:39 
 Taillights -bulbs - BobbyG
How many tail light bulbs do you have! I have had various cars with 2 on each side, Altea, Peugeot 309, Polo saloon to name a few, but I seem to remember in the past seeing cars with 3 bulbs in each light cluster?

Would it have been a Mark 2 Granada? Volvo 760?ave bee
Last edited by: BobbyG on Tue 25 Mar 14 at 00:39
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 01:45 
 Taillights -bulbs - VxFan
>> How many tail light bulbs do you have!

2 each side. The upper ones are also brake lights. If an upper tail/brake light fails then the lower tail light takes over the role of the tail/brake light instead.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 25 Mar 14 at 01:45
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 07:58 
 Taillights -bulbs - Zero
I have one bulb each side, for brake and tail light. IF any one of the dual filaments breaks, it automatically goes into dark mode.
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 08:09 
 Taillights -bulbs - jc2
On most cars with two-bulb tail lights,one is tail light only.
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 10:41 
 Taillights -bulbs - Cliff Pope
>> but I seem
>> to remember in the past seeing cars with 3 bulbs in each light cluster?
>>
>> Would it have been a Mark 2 Granada? Volvo 760?ave bee
>>

What do you mean by a cluster?
My Volvo 240 has Fog, Indicator, Dual Stop/side, Reversing. ie 4 bulbs.
Same each side
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 17:58 
 Taillights -bulbs - Harleyman
Volvo 340 had two 21/5 bulbs each side.
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New Tue 25 Mar 14 18:17 
 Taillights -bulbs - Dave_
My Mk3 Mondeo had circular tail lights each containing 2x 4w bulbs and 1x 21w/ 4w bulb for the sections that doubled as brake lights. Ford and Halfords were the only places that sold replacements, the pins were slightly offset so that neither 5w nor 21w/5w bulbs could be used.

I once worked on a 52 plate Vectra which had 2x single filament 21w bulbs in each red section; when both working the ECU lit them dimly as tail lights and brightened the top one under braking. If the top bulb failed the brakelight function was transferred to the bottom one. EDIT: as VxFan says above :)

Not sure about bulbs on the Mercedes, the rear clusters seem to be all-LED. Older Mercs (and new-shape Sprinter vans) certainly have the substitute brakelight functionality like the Vectra.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Tue 25 Mar 14 at 18:20
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New Wed 26 Mar 14 20:58 
 Taillights -bulbs - Dave_
On further investigation the Merc's reverse lights are H1 halogens, as was the case on the Mk3 Mondeo. The front cornering lights are also H1, the headlights are D1S xenons but every other light source on the car is LED.

What spare bulbs would I need for driving in France??
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New Wed 26 Mar 14 21:58 
 Taillights -bulbs - Runfer D'Hills

>> What spare bulbs would I need for driving in France??

Dunno, but I have kept the same unopened pack of generic Halfords spare bulbs in the car for decades for the purpose of waving at Gendarmes if required. ( which it never has been to be fair ) Can't imagine many of them would be any use for the Merc but it shows willing I suppose.
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New Wed 26 Mar 14 22:41 
 Taillights -bulbs - PeterS
>>
>> What spare bulbs would I need for driving in France??
>>

I think the set up on mine is similar to yours, though the cornering light function is either carried out by the adaptive xenons or the LED DRLs. Despite that I do what Humph' does - take the same box of bulbs and fused I've moved from car to car since 1990. Though precisely none of them are any use :-)
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 13:52 
 Taillights -bulbs - Shiny
Our Passat B5.5 had four each side. 21/5W.
One or two of these also became brake lights @ 21W.
If the brake light failed, you vould just swap it for one of the other two that didn't need the 21w filament.
We have two LED arrays on the Audi A8 now but a few did blow and I replaced them 5mm straw hat red LEDs from aliexpress.com
Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Sun 30 Mar 14 at 13:53
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 15:45 
 Taillights -bulbs - spamcan61
>> My Mk3 Mondeo had circular tail lights each containing 2x 4w bulbs and 1x 21w/
>> 4w bulb for the sections that doubled as brake lights. Ford and Halfords were the
>> only places that sold replacements, the pins were slightly offset so that neither 5w nor
>> 21w/5w bulbs could be used.
>>
I've often wondered why I see so many Mondeo Mk3s with 'pac man' tail lights instead of 'polo mint', presumably folk have tried fitting bog standard 5W bulbs and given up!
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 16:38 
 Taillights -bulbs - Old Navy
>> I've often wondered why I see so many Mondeo Mk3s with 'pac man' tail lights
>> instead of 'polo mint', presumably folk have tried fitting bog standard 5W bulbs and given
>> up!
>>

Many cars use these offset pin bulbs, I believe it is so that the 5W / 21W bits can't be fitted the wrong way around.
Last edited by: Uncle Albert on Sun 30 Mar 14 at 16:41
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 17:02 
 Taillights -bulbs - Zero
>> >> I've often wondered why I see so many Mondeo Mk3s with 'pac man' tail
>> lights
>> >> instead of 'polo mint', presumably folk have tried fitting bog standard 5W bulbs and
>> given
>> >> up!
>> >>
>>
>> Many cars use these offset pin bulbs, I believe it is so that the 5W
>> / 21W bits can't be fitted the wrong way around.

But there are two different types of offset pin bulbs, you can force fit one into the other - they don't work of course.
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 17:27 
 Taillights -bulbs - Old Navy
>> But there are two different types of offset pin bulbs, you can force fit one
>> into the other - they don't work of course.
>>

Indeed there are, but one of them is a 21W amber indicator bulb. Not easily confused with a 5/21W clear stop tail bulb.

It does stop people putting the bulbs in the wrong location in the cluster.
Last edited by: Uncle Albert on Sun 30 Mar 14 at 17:31
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 18:19 
 Taillights -bulbs - spamcan61
The Mondeo apparently had 4/21W bulbs though which are mechanically incompatible with 'normal' 5/21W jobbies.
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 18:44 
 Taillights -bulbs - Old Navy
I did not know that, I owned a focus for five years, It only needed one rear indicator bulb and one headlight bulb. Both were standard fit and changed as a pair, my logic being if one has gone the other one won't be far behind it.

I was browsing around Halfords while Mrs UA was in a nearby girly shop and noticed that there were a lot of new bulb fittings and sizes that I had not seen before. These were very obviously different. I did not look in detail as my car takes standard or traditional bulbs with long established fittings.
Last edited by: Uncle Albert on Sun 30 Mar 14 at 18:46
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 20:33 
 Taillights -bulbs - spamcan61
A 4/21W does seem utterly pointless in a world of 5/21W, surely they weren't expecting that much extra profit from application specific bulbs!
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 10:00 
 Taillights -bulbs - Fursty Ferret
>> A 4/21W does seem utterly pointless in a world of 5/21W, surely they weren't expecting
>> that much extra profit from application specific bulbs!
>>

"I notice Sir has a tail light and indicator bulb failed. We do stock replacements, but they only come in packs of two..."
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New Sun 30 Mar 14 22:00 
 Taillights -bulbs - ToMoCo
6 Bulbs in each side on my Toyota - 3 taillights, indicator, Brake and Reverse.
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 12:14 
 Taillights -bulbs - Old Navy
You have been ripped off, no fog lights? :-)
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 12:16 
 Taillights -bulbs - ToMoCo
>> You have been ripped off, no fog lights? :-)
>>

Correct - It's an import.

I swapped one of the reverse bulbs to a fog light.
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 12:19 
 Taillights -bulbs - Old Navy
If its a Toyota at least it is not a Bongo. :-)
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 13:04 
 Taillights -bulbs - ToMoCo
Ha...The Mazda Bongo Friendee - almost as good as the Suzuki Every Joy Pop Turbo!!
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New Mon 31 Mar 14 13:40 
 Taillights -bulbs - Gromit
Don't forget the Toyota Estima Passion Wagon, or the Toyota Corolla Super Windy...
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