hi guys,

i'm in a predicament and need your help. i can tell that when i press my brakes, one of the brake lights is out (nearside). however i am unsure which bulb it is that needs replacing, as i am usually in the car alone. i have tried allsorts to secure the brake pedal down, but nothing i have in my car seems to work. i want to pop in and get a replacement bulb on the way home, but not sure which one to get.

can anyone shed any light on this for me please (and sorry for the pun!)

cheers

It's the top bulb in the strip. - 21w single contact.

Edited 29 January, 200917 yr by viewer
missed word

hi viewer,

is that the one with 2 filaments in? cos i'm sure mine is a double contact. i've looked on the halfords website and when i put my car in (it is on an 03 plate - fabia 1.2 12v) it offers parts for 00 - 03 and 03 - 06, and both show different parts for the brake light. one is a single contact one is a double contact.

guess i'm just gonna have to take it apart (in the dark, i presume) and have a look.

anyway viewer, thanks for your advice.

hi viewer,

is that the one with 2 filaments in? cos i'm sure mine is a double contact. i've looked on the halfords website and when i put my car in (it is on an 03 plate - fabia 1.2 12v) it offers parts for 00 - 03 and 03 - 06, and both show different parts for the brake light. one is a single contact one is a double contact.

guess i'm just gonna have to take it apart (in the dark, i presume) and have a look.

anyway viewer, thanks for your advice.

Hello,

Simply ask someone to stand behind while you hit the footbrake, while ignition switched on, and tell you where and which light lit up. Then change opposite light bulb on offending side.

giandougl. 29/01/2009

Mine went the other day but halfords had the wrong bulb in the little book, it said to use the double filament bulb, but it's a single so just get the other one, thats whats in the other side on mine....

mines a 2004 vRS

Hi,

No it's not a double filament bulb (as usual on most cars). There is a double fliament bulb at the bottom, but it deals with the tail light and the foglight. HTH

hi guys

thanks everyone for your replies. yes, the brake bulb that went was a single filament and has now been duly replaced. unfortunately, i couldn't get anyone to stand behind me to tell me which bulb it was.

now this poses another quick question. as mentioned above, the bottom bulb is a double filament bulb and controls the tail light and the fog light. now although i have the same double filament bulb on both sides of the car, i only have 1 foglight working (drivers side). is this correct, or should both act as foglights?

kind regards for any answers..........

hi guys

now this poses another quick question. as mentioned above, the bottom bulb is a double filament bulb and controls the tail light and the fog light. now although i have the same double filament bulb on both sides of the car, i only have 1 foglight working (drivers side). is this correct, or should both act as foglights?

kind regards for any answers..........

Yes this is correct. All VAG cars just have one fog lamp bulb, and it's on the drivers side.

hi guys,

i'm in a predicament and need your help. i can tell that when i press my brakes, one of the brake lights is out (nearside). however i am unsure which bulb it is that needs replacing, as i am usually in the car alone. i have tried allsorts to secure the brake pedal down, but nothing i have in my car seems to work. i want to pop in and get a replacement bulb on the way home, but not sure which one to get.

can anyone shed any light on this for me please (and sorry for the pun!)

cheers

Think question was "how can I tell which one ,when there's only me in car "

tip on brake lights - park up with rear end near something - glass is best -look in mirror -press brakes and see which one is/isn't lit .

Any use ?

Rule no 1 on getting correct bulb - never trust Halfords

Rule no 2 -if Halfords staff say "this is correct bulb" - refer to rule 1

:thumbup:

I've always changed the bulb in pairs...

IIRC the opposite bulb to the one that is blown will be running under a load, therefore will blow sooner than later!

If I'm wrong feel free to correct me!

I've always changed the bulb in pairs...

IIRC the opposite bulb to the one that is blown will be running under a load, therefore will blow sooner than later!

If I'm wrong feel free to correct me!

Can't quite see the reasoning:confused: . Certainly true for house 12v downlighters ,where supply may depend on operation etc of transformer due to load etc , but voltage is (or should be ) regulated within limits on car and regulation circuitry will(should ) compensate for varying loads .Thats my take as an electronics eng.Auto electricals feel free to correct ,but in over 40 years of car ownership ,I've only had to change a pail of lamps once - when my dips failed together on Furby .In truth you sometimes find that one side will fail more than the other -that's when I'd be looking a lot closer at the condition of the solder contactson the rear of the lamp to see if the solder was disturbed due to a poor contact .

I've always changed the bulb in pairs...

IIRC the opposite bulb to the one that is blown will be running under a load, therefore will blow sooner than later!

If I'm wrong feel free to correct me!

Not a bad idea but not really necessary. One blown bulb does not put an extra load on other bulbs in the circuit. However, bulbs do age.

thanks once again for all your imput.

not exactly sure how my original question on figuring out a blown bulb turned into a discussion on 12v downlighters in peoples houses, but there you go.

once again, cheers for everybody's help.

How about fitting a 2nd. fog bulb? a bit of wire , scotch lok and spade terminal. The bulb holder is already there just needs livening up. I believe Fabias lights are the same arrangement across the VAG range.

Mine went the other day but halfords had the wrong bulb in the little book, it said to use the double filament bulb, but it's a single so just get the other one, thats whats in the other side on mine.... mines a 2004 vRS

Yes, ditto that for the 9N Polo as well! I noticed that but was put off as I was sure they were single filament 21W - with the symmetric "lugs".

Not a bad idea but not really necessary. One blown bulb does not put an extra load on other bulbs in the circuit. However, bulbs do age.

Does that mean that someone's making a case for us to buy these new fast response bulbs - I did consider that, as like you suggest, when one has gone due to it getting old, the other one will probably follow close behind! Come to think of it maybe its me that is making a case for trying these fast reponse Halfords bulbs.