If your vehicle’s tail light or brake light goes out, it’s essential that you repair it as soon as possible. Driving with an inoperative tail light is against the law, after all. Surprisingly, replacing a tail light bulb isn’t as difficult as you might expect, depending on your vehicle’s make and model. It’s entirely doable on your own. Looking to tackle this project yourself? We have some tips that might make it easier.
Remember that every vehicle is different and it’s best to consult your vehicle’s manual before you jump headlong into replacing its tail light. If the manual’s instructions show a tail light bulb that’s easy to access, you should have little trouble changing the faulty bulb yourself. Still, keep these tips in mind:
Preparing everything that you need beforehand will help you save a lot of time down the line. It’ll also keep you from scrambling for your tools in the middle of disassembly. Have the following items on hand:
You might be tempted to forgo the gloves, but your skin oils can damage the new tail light bulb and cause it to burn out prematurely. Wear nitrile gloves to prevent hot spots or damage to the tail light bulbs, unless you’re eager to repeat the whole procedure all over again sooner than expected.
Make sure to park your vehicle correctly before starting disassembly. Choose a flat, level surface and turn off the engine. Because you’ll be dealing with an electrical component, it’s also best to disconnect your vehicle’s battery to avoid electrical shorts. Also clean the tail light area as best you can to keep dirt from entering the tail light housing and all the electrical connections.
You’ll usually be able to reach the tail lights through the trunk or tailgate. For this step, consult your vehicle’s manual again. Some fabric or body panels might sit between you and the tail lights. You might also need to remove the outside tail light assembly to access the bulbs. That’s why it’s important to check the manual. If you disassemble the whole assembly only to find out that you didn’t need to, all your efforts will have been for nothing.
Remove all the necessary fasteners and keep them in a safe place for later. Take note of where each fastener type came from, or you might reinstall them wrong later on.
Whether you’ve removed the entire tail light assembly or have access to the bulbs from the trunk alone, you’ll see the tail light wires connected to the backs of the bulbs. If you see a wiring harness attached, disengage the connector before rotating the socket counterclockwise to release it from the assembly.
From there, you can grasp the old tail light bulb and pull it straight back to remove it from the socket. If there’s corrosion around the base, it might take some force. Some tail lights from older vehicles have round bases. You’ll need to push the bulb into the socket and rotate it counterclockwise to free it from the socket.
Since you’ve come all this way, you might as well check the tail light socket for damage. If there’s corrosion or other worrying signs of wear and tear, you might need to replace the socket as well to ensure your new bulbs work for as long as possible.
Slide the new bulb into place with a little bulb grease and reassemble everything as you found it. To align the bulb to the socket during tail light installation, try to follow the small nodes on the bulb that line up with the socket’s notches. When the bulb is secure, place the socket back into the assembly, again following the alignment notches, and rotate it clockwise to lock it in place.
Remember that the tail light assembly should sit flush against the vehicle’s body. Otherwise, water might enter the housing and cause more damage. Loosen the screws and adjust the assembly’s position as needed.
When everything’s back in place, test all your lights, including the brake lights, reverse lights, and turn signals. The connections or bulb placement might be wrong if any of the lights don’t illuminate.
If your vehicle has sensors integrated into its tail lights, replacing them is likely not a job for a beginner. You’ll need to check for new trouble codes to make sure the replacement didn’t mess with the sensors.
Now that you know how to fix your vehicle’s rear lights, here are some frequently asked questions that you might also be curious about:
Depending on your vehicle and how familiar you are with automotive DIY projects, it can take around 20 to 30 minutes to replace your vehicle’s tail light.
Tail lights, especially brake lights, are essential for communicating to other drivers on the road that you’re braking. Driving with broken tail lights is illegal and dangerous.
Replace your vehicle’s tail lights as soon as they go out. Dimness, slow response time, and flickering are early warning signs.
Replacing a tail light bulb is relatively simple, but the difficulty level largely depends on the vehicle’s make and model. Beginners should be able to change a bulb easily if removing the entire tail light assembly isn’t necessary. However, if your vehicle’s manual indicates that the tail light bulbs are difficult to reach, we recommend calling in the experts.
And there you have it! Those are our tips for how to replace a tail light bulb. Keep these tricks in mind if you’re eager to tackle this DIY-friendly project on your own.
Any information provided on this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation with a professional mechanic. The accuracy and timeliness of the information may change from the time of publication.