1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Check your tail lights!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by brick, Oct 17, 2009.

  1. brick

    brick Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2006
    1,083
    78
    0
    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Just a friendly reminder that this is the time of year when light bulbs tend to fail, and we...for whatever reason...don't have "bulb out" indicator for the tail lights. I found a dead one this morning so I replaced them both.

    I really wish we had an indicator for dead lights. My first car had one and it was built in 1985.
     
    PhoneManBill and Sandy like this.
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,589
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Tell me about it, my first car was an 85' Maxima and it had indicators for burnt out bulbs front and rear as well as an indicator to let you know when your washer fluid was almost empty.
     
  3. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2008
    2,224
    139
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I didn't realize exterior lights failed on Japanese vehicles. :p Seriously, I've had so few fail over the past 19 years that it is something that prompts me to say, "Honey, take a look at this! A brake light failed." It's nothing like the domestics that seemed to churn through them rapidly (why is that???)

    I just don't see many burned out bulbs on Japanese vehicles, but see them everywhere on domestics, including DRL's that have failed.
     
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,038
    10,012
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    My recently-departed Honda was not quite so good. Over its 23 years, I did replace more than half of its exterior bulbs. Once. :D And the front side marker lamps twice. Those markers never actually burned out, just became too dim as the filaments evaporated and darkened the glass.

    My one lifetime boo-boo, rear-ending an SUV, was in hindsight, not 100% my fault. His brake lights (only 2, very inadequate compared to the 5 on my car) had all failed. Almost pulled that one in my new Prius last month too, when a car stopped in the middle of the street, for no good reason, without any brake lights (BA works very well, almost getting me rear-ended). And at a stoplight today, I noticed that EVERY vehicle in front of me had at least one dead brake lamp.
     
  5. djasonw

    djasonw Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2004
    949
    115
    0
    Location:
    Coconut Creek, FL
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I had a 1984 Nissan 200SX and it even had audible warnings like fuel level is low, parking brake is on, right door is open and some others I forget. It also had a low washer fluid level indicator and bulbs out indicators. I wonder why they don't have this in the Prius?
     
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,038
    10,012
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    My cheap 1984 Ford P.O.S. had these too. But they have been absent from all 4 household vehicles since.
     
  7. AussieOwner

    AussieOwner Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    1,091
    67
    0
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    None of my cars have any of these warnings - maybe it is on domestic US cars to warn the dumb-s%ts that they need to occassionally check their lights. That is what most of us do elsewhere in the world - a quick walk around does not take long :)
     
  8. Speedsta

    Speedsta Mr. Bulb

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2009
    17
    3
    0
    Location:
    CH: Wettswil (ZH)
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Im happy that it doesnt have these indicators, so I was able to change everything to LED without mounting any resistors ;)
     
  9. priusincc

    priusincc Member

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2007
    332
    16
    0
    Location:
    NV
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I'll have to agree with the others, you just don't have problems with burned out bulbs on Japanese vehicles, and I see many on domestics. Even so, I periodically check mine by the reflections on the front garage wall and rear garage door before I open it.
    Toyota probably doesn't have indicators, due to a cost savings.

    I did have a '72 Chevy that went thru a lot of bulbs. It turned out that the voltage regulator was off and the voltage was close to 16VDC. It was OK after reducung the voltage.
     
  10. nyty-nyt

    nyty-nyt Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2007
    139
    13
    3
    Location:
    Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Bulb failure with the approach of winter.
    Isn't this why convenience stores have windows starting at about bumper level, so we can back into the parking spot and look back to see if our brake lights are lighting up?
    How convenient.
     
    PhoneManBill likes this.
  11. DeRose

    DeRose New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2009
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A


    A cop followed me home the other night to tell me my tail lights are out. I want to check the fuse, but can't find a diagram that labels the fuses. I don't want to pull out random fuses from the several locations to check. Can you help me with this?
     
  12. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    10,664
    567
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I had light out indicators on my 1990 Camry. I replaced about 8 tail light globes over 6 months then all was good. I suspect we had a dud batch of globes where I used to work.

    If you really want to see a cheap arse car have a look at the latest Holden Omega, what a POS. Compared to the previous model it is bare bones. Front inside grab handles, gone. Noise suppression of engine bay noises, gone. Glovebox light, gone. Reading lights, gone. I only spent 2 shifts in this poverty pack and I want my old car back, noisy bucket of puss.

    I check my light by using the reflections in windows. Yesterday I thought my right front park light was out but there was a pole blocking my view. (when he moved I could see the light was working :D)
     
  13. brick

    brick Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2006
    1,083
    78
    0
    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Page 431.

    Have you checked the bulbs? The dead one I found didn't actually look burned out. The filament had broken in a location that wasn't readily visible and in fact the bulb would flicker if agitated. (Then I agitated it too much and it completely broke.)
     
  14. prius07

    prius07 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Vancouver
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    First time posting....

    I had some people last night on my way home flash me (and swear at me ) to turn on my lights, my headlights were on but turns out my tail lights were out. I just bought 2 bulbs and put them in and the tail lights work again

    QUESTION
    When should the LED Lights on the back of a Prius be on? I noticed that the tail light (the 5 W bulb type ) is working now that it was replaced but I don't think my LED lights are working?
     
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,198
    6,461
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The LED lights serve as your brake lights, so they should come on when the brake pedal is depressed.
     
  16. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    19,605
    8,036
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    um, if you read from the posts written over the past 4 years or so, you'll all discover that MANY folks had issues w/ the HID's ... and they're expensive. Ours have lasted for 90Kmiles but several Gen II owners actually got the dealer to pay for 'em a while back, as quite a high number had failures. We're still crossing our fingers. Maybe folks aren't counting those as 'lights' ?? I do.

    .
     
  17. Ichiro

    Ichiro Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    335
    13
    0
    Location:
    SF
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Oy, are you insulting the intelligence of Americans? :help:
     
  18. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    944
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I just looked....my lights are still there!!!
     
  19. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2008
    2,224
    139
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    That's different though. HID's are new tech and only on a few vehicles. When it comes to standard bulbs the domestics just can't seem to get it right. I was recently following a domestic SUV where only the high mounted brakelight was still functioning.
     
  20. ostrich

    ostrich New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2005
    43
    0
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    My dad always taught me that the lights on the dash were driven from the same fuse as the tail lights, so if the tail lights were out you would have a visual cue. Of course, that doesn't help if the bulb is out instead of the fuse being out...

    Is that still the case on a modern car like my prius?