One of the things I'm chasing down on my '99 XK8 is the Rear Bulb Out nag message. When I bought the car I had a handful of bulbs that were indeed dead. I replaced the ones that were dead with brand new ones (in pairs of course!) and I still get the message.

I've searched the forums and read a ton of pages on what could cause this. My question is this:

What does the bulb I highlighted in the picture do? No matter what I never see these lights illuminated on either side. Wondering if that's my problem there... See pic for reference.

 

Did you use Euro spec bulbs? there is a difference in the resistance and hence the bulb-out sensing.

Not sure looking at the picture, but, is that your rear fog lamp?

I don't see the "additional" ground wire that needs to be added. Is it just not in the picture?

 

I just went into autozone and looked everything up via the sylvania light chart. Nothing was noted as eurospec though. Where can I buy those?

As for the ground wire - it looks as though a stray blue wire comes off he harness and down into the carpet. Both harnesses have this. I haven't traced them back but m assuming these are he ground wires.

 

You need to trace them back, or refer to a wiring diagram.

If you ground a wire that is not meant to be grounded, that is generally bad news.

In most situations, Jaguar uses the traditional black for grounds if black has not already been used up as a colour for that device.

 

OregonJag is right- fog light

 

I'm going to check the ground tomorrow.

And thanks for the attached PDF! Exactly what I was looking for!

 

MRomanik - again, thanks for the PDF. Do you have something that corresponds to this PDF which shows the type of bulbs that are proper for our tail lights? I ask because I'm finding inconsistencies between different bulb vendors. Also, I found 2 different types of light bulbs installed in my housing. Both lit and functioned but they were different types.

According to Sylvania this is what our cars call for:

Back up light Part Number:7506
License plate Part Number:2825
Parking light Part Number:2825
Rear turn signal Part Number:7507
Stop light Part Number:7506
Tail light Part Number:5007

At the moment I have a collection of various bulbs installed from various vendors (OEM, Sylvania, GE, etc...). I'm considering yanking them all out and buying all new bulbs, start from scratch.

 

This is the chart from the Vehicle Care booklet. I use Sylvanias in my 97.

 

OK, last question - what do we use for the Fog Light (A) in our cluster?

See attached

 

The numbers in yellow note the Sylvania part numbers from their website.

 

I think you would need a 7506 for the rear fog lights. Your Sylvania chart is showing a halogen bulb but I think that would be for the front fog lights

 

Thanks again. Really appreciate it!

 

Just came back from Autozone and picked up new bulbs for the entire collection of sockets back there. Changed each one and tested them accordingly. They all light up perfectly as they should. However, I'm still getting the Rear Bulb Out message. :-( My third brake light is working fine as do the license plate and rear side bumper lights.

At this point I know my bulbs are now NOT the cause of this as it is something deeper. On both lamp clusters I have this blue wire that the P.O. spliced into the harness. It's cut into the second to last wire which I believe is red. The blue wire runs under the trim panel and to god knows where. I haven't had time to see where this goes or what it actually achieves (if anything).

Any ideas at this point are VERY welcome! Thanks again guys.

 

It appears that the wire in the connector shown is for the Tail Light.

It would be connected to terminal 6 in the Right Side connector and Terminal 2 in the Left Side connector.

There are separate feed wires for the Left and Right Side units each going to a different Lamp-Out connection on the Lamp Control Module.

I think that one of the Tail Lamps was out (with a good bulb in both) and someone wired a Blue Wire from the Left Side to the Right Side, to make both lights work.

The wire going to the Lamp Control Module (The normal feed wire for that side) is open circuit and that is detected by the module as a bad bulb.

The Blue wire can be removed to indicate which (Normal) feed circuit is open.

It could be a open circuit wire or a bad Lamp Control Module.

 

that makes total sense. So if I unwrap the blue wire from one harness and the light goes out, we found our culprit!

I'll try that and revert back. Thanks for the input.

 

I need to replace both bulbs but can't get the old ones out. Tried pressing, twisting , pulling. Are they bayonet base or screw-in or ??? How the heck do I remove them?

Sam

 

Bayonet...press bulb in and twist. Spray some lubricating contact claner on it (from Radio Shack) if it is siezed. (In a pinch WD-40 can be used).

 

I got them out. Tight quarters and hard to get a grip on them but I gently grabbed them with pliers and pulled.

 

just push/pull -- not bayonet. Look like they're #194 bulbs.

Thanks.