Need to replace one of my bulbs.
Vehicle Care manual: 5-18, bulb chart: High Mount Stop Light 12V 5W, type: Capless Long Life

I知 thinking of replacing all 5 as long as I have the assembly taken apart.

What about replacing with LEDs?

And where (in the USA) is a good place to buy bulbs/LEDs @ reasonable cost?

Thanks!

 

I got mine from my local Jag dealer, they were fairly cheap. As for converting to LED, I thought about it also (and I still am). But since I am not positive on this (I'm no LED expert) I believe their needs to be some sort of voltage regulator for the LED's? I know you have to add them for headlights.
I can highly recommend you get an inline connector when removing the 3rd light. The wire isn't long enough to work on it without cussing a whole lot. So I cut mine, soldered in the 2 pin connector and was happy I did so when putting it back in because one of the other bulbs died after I just put it in. So your aspect to replace them all is encouraged.

 

There was a post with pictures some while ago (but I am damned if I can find it), of someone replacing the 5 bulbs for LED.
Straight forward replacement, and no warning problems as the Third brake light is not part of the rear light control.
Just don't break the plastics in the process...

EDIT: Google did the job. No wonder, it was on the UK Forum:
http://www.jaguarforum.com/showthread.php?t=89256

 

I used 5 of these:



These are unidirectional, two didn't work after installation and needed to be turned around in the socket. The hardest part of replacing these is dealing with opening up the brake light to access the sockets. The two plastic tabs that hold the back cover on both broke, so I had to use super glue to fasten the cover back on. Hopefully the LEDs will last long enough that I never have to take the cover back off.

 

I searched Gaudin Jaguar web site & was unable to find the bulb. I wanted it for reference.
I called O坦eilly Auto parts to ask if 12V 5W high mount 3rd brake light bulb was enough information to specify type of bulb & if they carried it.
Short answer, no. He looked up my car, 2000 Jaguar XJ8 & said his reference showed 13.5V, 25-6 Watt. (yes, a dash between 25 & 6)
I have no idea what that means & he could not explain. That bulb comes 2 to a pack so it is not a 25 pack of 6 W bulbs.
I stopped @ Walmart where I had successfully purchased replacement headlight bulbs years ago & found:
Sylvania #168LL Long Life 14V, 4.9W two packs for $3.73 each (matching their online price) I purchased 3 packs so I have the 5 I need & one spare.
Sylvania 168 Long-Life Miniature Bulb, Twin Pack - Walmart.com

I think this is the correct type of bulb & will fit especially since it looks similar to the Amazon LEDs that Samilcar linked.

I知 not sure if 14V instead of the Jaguar recommended 12V is OK or if 4.9W vs, recommended 5W makes a difference.

Ohm痴 law: V=IR which I remember from decades ago in school. Didn稚 mention Watts so I searched & found:
Power Law: The Relationship of Voltage, Current, and Watts
Power (Watts) = Voltage (Volts) x Current (Amperes)
https://www.wisc-online.com/learn/ca...oltage-current

So, if Voltage increase from 12 to 14 that should mean that Watts increases. So, my 14V, 4.9W bulb s/b brighter vs. OEM 12V, 5W.

But, I am unsure if I am missing something here. I know my 12V car battery actually reads 12.6V when new & when driving can be slightly over 14V. (13.8-14.3V?)

Anyway, tomorrow or the next day I will disassemble the high brake light assembly & have a look at the bulbs to see if they look like the ones I just bought & check for any damage. 4 of my 5 bulbs work so hopefully the burned out one has not melted requiring drilling & modifications or replacement of the entire assembly.

 

I called Jaguar parts & they sell the replacement bulbs for $5.00 each, LOL. I knew b4 calling that their price would be several times a fair market price.

 

Be very careful in handling these tail lights: mine crumble in my hands. Never saw such crappy plastic in my life

 

That's what's keeping me from upgrading mine.

 

It's the heat. All those bulbs in a confined space with no air circulation.

LED's will lessen the effect.

My HK led's all over the car work fine.

 

I am in the midst of replacing the bulbs.

From Jaguar Vehicle Care Handbook 5-16:
"High Mounted Stop Light . Bulb Renewal
Depress the two spring clips (A) at the base of the lamp cover (B)
and withdraw the cover. Remove the lamp module from the
base by releasing the spring clips at each end (C).
Remove the red lens from the bulb holder (D).
Taking care not to touch the reflective surfaces, remove the
bulb (E) from the holder and fit a new one of the correct type,
see page 5-18.
Fit the red lens to the bulb holder, fit the lamp module to the
base and replace the cover."

I easily removed the outer cover & lamp module with no damage. But, cannot see an easy way to remove the red lens from bulb holder. It looks somewhat brittle & begging for me to crack or break off pieces.

Also, I had tested to verify that 1 of the 5 bulbs was not lighting up & today b4 I started to disassemble, I took photos & all 5 light bulbs are now lighting up! So must be an intermittent problem with the bulb which probably is about to burn out.

 

I remember this disassembly being difficult, even with the light detached from the window (mine had fallen off by itself).

 

Thanks Samilcar, My 2000 XJ8 is different than your 1998 Vanden Plas.
No lamp harness connector to remove. I also do not see the lamp carrier lower securing tangs.

I値l post photos when I finish.

 

Success! Using small screw driver GENTLY work way all around where red reflector abuts bulb holder.

When I took pix of brake light on to show 1 bulb off, all 5 old bulbs lit up! WTF?! Later, I took pix from front seat with (old) bulbs in holder pointed towards driver & again same 1 bulb was out. So, definitely one bulb was bad. New bulbs looked same as old ones & they all lit. Took picture of that b4 reassembling.

Was difficult to do the last step --replace “B” cover! Trick was to squeeze it a bit from top & bottom so it clicked into place. I actually used small mirror to see the bottom 2 clips which I had pushed in/up to release it.

Finally I took pics of brake lights on to compare to my earlier pics of lights on with old bulbs. Cannot see significant difference in brightness. Pic of old vs. New brake lights lit up will both show all 5 bulbs lit since it “decided” to work again as I mentioned. I will attach photos in the order I took them during this project.

Hope this helps others in the future.

 

The correct bulb is 2825 they are 5W 12v .. I posted a while back that Amazon had boxes of 10 for $10. Sylvania made in Germany.

The other bulbs are not as bright.

The light assembly gets very brittle -- sun and heat. Even when new removing the back to access the light rail was difficult -- replace all the bulbs.

Another problem is the tab attachment to the rear window -- The two tabs come off the glass. Be very careful when -- they are hard to reattach properly

 

Here is my Diagram to compare with the one posted by Samilcar:
From Jaguar Vehicle Care Handbook 5-16:

High Mounted Stop Light . Bulb Renewal

Depress the two spring clips (A) at the base of the lamp cover (B)
and withdraw the cover. Remove the lamp module from the
base by releasing the spring clips at each end (C).
Remove the red lens from the bulb holder (D).
Taking care not to touch the reflective surfaces, remove the
bulb (E) from the holder and fit a new one of the correct type,
see page 5-18.
Fit the red lens to the bulb holder, fit the lamp module to the
base and replace the cover.

yeldogt, I wish I had found your post specifying the exact bulbs, would have saved me time & concern. However I Googled & found #2825 bulb & see Amazon has & they are 13.5V, 5W
$15.93 for a 2 pack!

Also my replacement bulbs (4.9W, 14V) are NOT dimmer than my OEM bulbs.
They seem ~ the same. When I took photo of the w/o the red reflector & facing the wrong way towards me in the driver seat, the naked white bulbs seemed brighter. When I reassembled, I cannot tell a significant difference. But when I took the Pics from outside the car b4 the change, it was day & when I took the pics after finished replacing bulbs, it was night. That is why I included both photo of 3rd BL alone as well as wider shot including one driver side brake light.

Maybe it would have been better to replace with LEDs but, it took 16 years & 83+k miles for me to need to replace 1 of those 5 bulbs so, I doubt I will revisit this 3rd BL for quite some time.

Any electricians reading this care to comment on Ohm痴 law & the effect of a 14V vs. a 12V bulb with the same wattage? (I know my replacement bulbs have slightly less watts 4.9 vs. 5.0 but, I bet that 0.1 W difference is more than compensated for by the 2V difference.

 

Thinking about it more, it is possible that the reason the new bulbs seem brighter (w/o the red reflector) is that they are new.
If I compare brightness of 2 identical bulbs, one new & one near end of life, the new one will shine brighter.

Also, the pertinent spec may be the 4.9 W vs. 5.0 W. My new bulb having less watts may indeed be slightly less bright vs. a NEW 5.0 W bulb. The 14V vs. 12V may not impact brightness. I知 not sure.

I知 still curious as to theoretically comparing 2 bulbs with same wattage but, with different Volts.

 

The bulbs are Sylvania 2825.TP -- now $11.57 for 10 bulbs w/Prime

A 5W at 12v will be brighter vs the same W at 14v - at a given volt. A 5w is brighter vs a 4.9 -- but i"m sure this owl not be noticeable. The higher V bulbs are designed to last longer. It the same as installing a 130v bulb in a household fixture - many utility bulbs were 130v.

The Sylvania bulbs are made by Osram in Germany -- It's a common Euro bulb designed for long life.

One of my XJR's had a connection to remove the wire harness from the light bar another did not.

I had to get one from e-bay when the local car wash broke mine -- the case cracked.