I have the bulb warning light and having checked front and rear parking lights on the drivers side are out. I've looked in the manual and it doesn't tell me which fuse these are!

The bulbs went out when I turned on my lights this morning.

Is there a seperate left and right fuse? and is it likely that both blew at the same time?

All other bulbs work fine.

Any ideas if this is most likely 2 bulbs or a fuse thanks?

Edited 19 October, 201114 yr by Web Ferret

I have the bulb warning light and having checked front and rear parking lights on the drivers side are out. I've looked in the manual and it doesn't tell me which fuse these are!

The bulbs went out when I turned on my lights this morning.

Is there a seperate left and right fuse? and is it likely that both blew at the same time?

All other bulbs work fine.

Any ideas if this is most likely 2 bulbs or a fuse thanks?

I'm a bit confused. The warning tells you a bulb has failed- not a fuse . Check that the indicator stalk is in the mid position first- you may be observing the parking lights on one side.

Edited 19 October, 201114 yr by gregoir

I'm a bit confused. The warning tells you a bulb has failed- not a fuse . Check that the indicator stalk is in the mid position first- you may be observing the parking lights on one side.

Thanks for the reponse. I'll try and make more sense.

Symptom: 2 bulbs out, front and rear offside parking lights and bulb warning on dash lit with engine running and light control at 1st position (what we old folk call side lights).

Rear light cluster has what looks like 4 lit bulbs on nearside and only 3 on offside

Front offside parking light out, front nearside parking light lit.

All other interior and exterior lights as normal.

On my last car there were seperate fuses for left and right - I found this out after replacing both bulbs!

So is it that two bulbs have blown and I need to get cold tonight and my fingers scraped? I've seen the excellent photo guide on here of how to wrestle the front headlight out.

AFAIK the indicator is for failed bulbs only. The handbook does identify the individual fuses IIRC.

Replacing a rear bulb may be the easiest diagnostic tool i.e. if the new bulb does not light up than a blown fuse is likely.

AFAIK the indicator is for failed bulbs only. The handbook does identify the individual fuses IIRC.

Replacing a rear bulb may be the easiest diagnostic tool i.e. if the new bulb does not light up than a blown fuse is likely.

Thanks again gregoir.

My manual simply lists

Right lighting system 30A

Left lightting system 30A

So I assume that all the left and right lights are off this not just the parking lights.

I'll pick a W3W and a W5W and change the rear first as suggested.

I did think about going LED but having read the discussion on here I'll stick with the hot wires.

Just be careful when buying a new bulb for the rear, they aren't 5W, they are 4W.

As you mention there are four bulbs in total, the top and bottom two are dual filament and double up as brake/tail and fog/tail. These are both P21/4W.

There are another two single filament 4W bulbs.

Another word of warning, it is rumored that on later Octavia's the twin filament bulbs have been replaced with single filament bulbs and the car's CANBUS system simply regulates the power depending on the required function.

Also don't believe the guide in Halfords, its completely wrong!

Just be careful when buying a new bulb for the rear, they aren't 5W, they are 4W.

As you mention there are four bulbs in total, the top and bottom two are dual filament and double up as brake/tail and fog/tail. These are both P21/4W.

There are another two single filament 4W bulbs.

Another word of warning, it is rumored that on later Octavia's the twin filament bulbs have been replaced with single filament bulbs and the car's CANBUS system simply regulates the power depending on the required function.

Also don't believe the guide in Halfords, its completely wrong!

Thanks for the warning my manual says W5W front and W3W rear!

Changing bulbs used to be so easy.

If rears are easy to get at which I think they are then start by taking the one that works & try it in ther other side, that will confirm if its bulbs or not

Changing bulbs used to be so easy.

Skodas are better than some.

On my Wifes Abarth to change some of the front bulbs they are accessed by removing a small panel in the wheel arch liner, fantastic except the Abarth has larger dia wheels than the std 500 so you cant access it without removing the wheel, the car comes without a jack & even if you had one the skirts they have added cover the jacking points so you need a trolley jack but make sure its a low one. The car is so low that when we have tyres changed you have to drive it up onto blocks of wood so the Garages trolly jack will go under it. Wonderful !!!! I refused to take it to the garage, it took 2.5 hours & severly blooded knuckles to change the kin bulb, not helped by the manual saying turn clockwise to remove when it should have been anticlockwise !

W3W will work as long as we are talking about the two outer bulbs.

I actually put W5W in mine as I couldn't find any W3W's.

They work just fine (no error messages) and do not appear any brighter.

There are threads on here of people replacing the twin filamant P21/4W with P21/5W and then getting bulb out warnings.

I wonder if the two outer tail lights are actually monitored?

Depending on which rear bulb has blown will affect how difficult it is to replace.

The brake/tail, indicator, reverse and fog/tail bulbs are all on the central/main bulb holder which is easily accessed and removed.

However the two little outer tail lights are tough to reach, especially the upper one. They simply push fit into the cluster. Trying to get your fingers around it to be able to pull it out is tough! Another more time consuming alternative is to undo the four securing nuts which attach the cluster to the car. This then allows the removal of the cluster which then allows you to get to the outer two bulbs much more easily.

These pictures are from my estate, but I also have a hatch and the set-up is identical...

So that makes a total of 8 filaments as tail-lights!!!

A least an Octy won't turn into a bike in the dark easily then!

A visit to B&C car parts Kirkstall Leeds.

A little chat about W5W and W3W and comparing the handbook to the shop computer and I bought

1 of B501 @ 75p - The 5W5 wedge

1 of B504 @ 99p - The W3W wedge (don't sell many of these he remarked as he opened a new Ring box of 10)

The failed rear bulb was the lower one, using needle nose pliers to get it out I eventually replaced it - 5mins

The headlight came out easy enough, had to use a screw driver to move the connector. Took it into the garage for surgery, again out came the needle nose pliers and with a few miss attempts I got the bulb out. Back in was first time. Had a bit of a fight to get the headlamp back in flush but its all good now. - 10 mins

All lights working as expected now so thanks for all advice and photos.

Below are my failed bulbs

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Edited 19 October, 201114 yr by Web Ferret

Result!

Can you tell if the failed rear bulb was in fact a W3W?

The markings might be hard to read though as its looking pretty black!

Perhaps the smaller bulb makes its 3W output as bright as the bigger 4W bulbs above and below?

Result!

Can you tell if the failed rear bulb was in fact a W3W?

The markings might be hard to read though as its looking pretty black!

Perhaps the smaller bulb makes its 3W output as bright as the bigger 4W bulbs above and below?

The black one came out of the front! The bulb on the right is the failed rear which is indeed a W3W. You should be able to see the markings in this photo.

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In which case I stand corrected. W3W must be the correct bulb.

The twin filament bulbs are definately P21/4W though.

Glad you got it sorted, strange how both the front and rear blew together!