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"bulb out" warning icon

My wife's RX300 has this icon on in the instrument panel - the little car with dashes coming from the rear lights. It comes on when you put the car in gear.

I looked it up, and it says simply "bulb out". Now I would think that it would be easy to look and see which bulb it is, but I have checked them all, including high and low beams, brakes, turn signals, running lights, backup lights, fog lights, and license plate lights. They are all working, both front and rear.

What am I overlooking? Is this just a fluke? It started one rainy night after going through some accumulated water on the highway. The fog lights were on at the time, if that is a clue.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Reply to
Stephen Clark
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I had this happen with my ES and was at a loss to figure out what light it was as well . It turned out I overlooked the rear brake light that was on the upper deck inside the car .

Reply to
Ice

Check the bulb in the "bulb out" display. Sometimes that burns out and then the little back up bulb in the "bulb out bulb out" display comes on . But they haven't figured out how to get it to display properly since it is just indicating a bulb out bulb out condition. Hence the common confusion.

Reply to
mcbrue

As Ice suggested, check the bulbs in the center high mounted stop lamp, and pay attention to the number of bulbs in the fixtures - some have more than one. If all of the bulbs are working, then check to see if any are dimmer than the others. If that is the case, clean the bulb socket and protect the socket with a dab of dielectric grease.

Reply to
Ray O

Where do you come up with this "back up bulb out-bulb out bulb" stuff???? I know you know we all know you're talking about things you think know you know about but we know you know you're making up, but seriously...

The tail light warning indicator is a simple ground circuit. The light only comes on when the ground is broken due to a bulb filament being broken in one of the TAIL LIGHTS (outer parking light/brake light combo bulbs, 3rd brakelight bulb at top of hatch, or inner parking lights).

Reply to
greg

Aha! I checked the brake lights w/o having the taillights on, and it's the left outside brake light that is out.

Any links to instructions?

Thanks for your responses!

Reply to
Stephen Clark

There should be instructions in your owner's manual. If you want to pay $10/day, you can get access at techinfo.toyota.com.

Reply to
Ray O

Open hatch. Remove the circular black cover(s) that hide the screws(s). Unscrew the screws. Tip the tail lamp assembly forward to reveal the bulb sockets.

Reply to
greg

I figured it out myself, simple procedure. The manual says "take it to your dealer". I replaced the bulb for $1.50, and made my own cappuccino. It's ridiculous to assume that Lexus owners can't change their own light bulbs!

Thanks to all who responded, and Happy Holidays!

Reply to
Stephen Clark

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