Searched a bit while I was having this problem, and didn't find much on it (except for one very critical tidbit), so I thought I'd post on my recent fix. It was ridiculously simple.

When I bought my coupe a few months ago, I would occassionally get a REAR BULB FAILURE message when using the left turn signal and stepping on the brake. Both actions had to be in progress to get the message, and the turn signal "clicking" would double in speed as an audible indicator.

I assumed I had a burned out bulb, and went to Pep Boys to purchase a complete set of aftermarket bulbs for the rear, assuming that most of the bulbs back there were old and about to go.

I replaced the left rear turn signal and brake bulbs. The REAR BULB FAILURE message didn't go away. It appeared every time I used the left signal and stepped on the brake. An inspection showed that the bulbs were actually working, but the car thought they weren't.

It got pretty annoying.

Finally, I noticed a comment (by H20 Boy, I believe) in another Jag model forum that aftermarket bulbs have a slightly different resistance than Jag OEM bulbs, and this difference can throw a failure message.

Next day I went down to my local dealer, a practice I try hard to avoid, bit my lip and ordered a full set of OEM bulbs for the rear. Replaced the whole rear set, and the REAR BULB FAILURE message is GONE. Hasn't appeared in about two weeks.

Lesson learned: only OEM Jag bulbs for the rear. At least in my car.

Thanks to all of you who make this forum what it is.

 

[quote=The Coupe;396684]Searched a bit while I was having this problem, and didn't find much on it (except for one very critical tidbit), so I thought I'd post on my recent fix. It was ridiculously simple.

When I bought my coupe a few months ago, I would occassionally get a REAR BULB FAILURE message when using the left turn signal and stepping on the brake. Both actions had to be in progress to get the message, and the turn signal "clicking" would double in speed as an audible indicator.

I assumed I had a burned out bulb, and went to Pep Boys to purchase a complete set of aftermarket bulbs for the rear, assuming that most of the bulbs back there were old and about to go.

I replaced the left rear turn signal and brake bulbs. The REAR BULB FAILURE message didn't go away. It appeared every time I used the left signal and stepped on the brake. An inspection showed that the bulbs were actually working, but the car thought they weren't.

It got pretty annoying.

Finally, I noticed a comment (by H20 Boy, I believe) in another Jag model forum that aftermarket bulbs have a slightly different resistance than Jag OEM bulbs, and this difference can throw a failure message.

Next day I went down to my local dealer, a practice I try hard to avoid, bit my lip and ordered a full set of OEM bulbs for the rear. Replaced the whole rear set, and the REAR BULB FAILURE message is GONE. Hasn't appeared in about two weeks.

Lesson learned: only OEM Jag bulbs for the rear. At least in my car.

Thanks to all of you who make this forum what it is.[/quote]

I say, thank you for taking part and taking the time to post this up, it may not seem like much but I'll bet it helps a member or two and thats the whole point.

Thanks again

 

Glad to hear it was solved, alot of great info here on the forum.

 

Hey, someone is reading my posts...lol, I am glad you found a very simple solution to your rather interesting problem. Now, get out of the way of that incoming hurricane!

 

I have been fighting the same issue...so thanks for this post. But. I was going to replace ALL my bulbs with LED bulbs. Now, after reading this... maybe I shouldn't??? Has anyone replaced the rear lights with LED bulbs?

 

mike, I did my turns, rear fog, and brake lamp bulbs with LEDs. My 'tail' light (the one that just illuminates when the lights are turned on) was left alone, no benefit from the LED 'instant' on. That one is a dual filament bulb using only the dim one...strange choice.

My detailed thread is in the exterior section, just search for threads with my screen name as the author. you'll find it.

 

Didn't read all of the thread but just wanted to say:

I lost one bulb and started to get the turn indicator "double time" click. I didn't check it for like 2 months and the increased resistance ended up melting the jumper on the wiring harness.

Somewhere on this forum is a thread about adding a ground wire to the rear light assembly. I strongly recommend you try it so you don't have to replace the entire harness, and two whole taillights like I did.

 

I bet the electrical engineers at jag didn't consider you as a possible owner, did they? lesson learned, albeit the hard way...even bulb failures, if left unattended, may cause greater damage. (very scary thought!)

 

When driving at night, I got the warning message for a rear light bulb. I had someone watch from behind the car as I tried the turn signals and brakes lights. They saw that the left rear inside stop light was not working.

I checked online to find several equivalent bulb numbers, then went to a local O'Reilly Auto Partsand bought the lowest cost equivalent bulbs(7528). Removed and replaced the bad stop bulb, turned on the headlights, and the warning message disappeared.

Looking closely at the bad stop bulb, I could see the filament wire that broke loose.

Jaguar did an excellent design on the rear lights, because I could change out the bulb without any tools!

Still no messages while driving at night

 

99.9 per cent of the time, a BAD ground is the culprit !!!!!

Many threads on how to ground the rear lights...


Good luck

 

could you tell me what brand of bulb jag uses for tail lights. i burned 2 rear light modules. re-grounding done but i want to get oem bulbs. thanks

 

My understanding is that you need to get the bulbs that are specifically manufactured for Jaguar. That typically means buying them from the dealer. My local dealer charges anywhere between $ 3 - 5 per bulb.

 

got sylvania 7506 at o'reillys when I had the same problem.

 

thanks regarding the sllvania tip. someone has to make bulbs for jag.

get this-i looked at my assemblies and someone had put 1187s in where the R5 tail lights were supposed to be. no wonder i burned 2 modules! thanks to the forum re grounding the modules and getting proper bulbs.