Brake Lights Domino-ing

[AHJGTA]

Hi

I have 96 LS400.

About 2 months ago the dashboard warning light came to show that one of the rear lights had fused. I checked all of the lights but they all seemed ok. The about a month later the driver's side outside upper light went out. The bulb is of type 7443.

I deliberated for about a month (on whether or not to get LEDs) and finally just got the replacement. Made by GE and costs about $10 for a pair at Canadian Tire.

I replaced it and drove back enjoying the "no warning light" sensation. Parked and and was about to turn off the car and saw the warning light back on. This time its the 3rd / rear deck. There are 2 921s there. The right (passenger) side was off. Looked like an explosion inside with all the carbon on the glass. I replaced this one and the other 921 in the rear deck blew.

WHAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN ?????

Any ideas would be appreciated. I do recall a note previously when a member had resoldered a circuit board. Same problem you think?

Thanks

p.s Decided not to get leds when I heard that the wattage is lower than specs and it can affect the sensor.

[SKperformance]

You may have installed the previous bulb wrong causing a short.

[VMF]

LED might make that warning light constant, like they did in my case. the way the cirquit that is responsible for the light works is it checks the resistance of all the bulbs and then compaers it to a known value. if they dont match the light comes on. LEDs have smaller resistance thus the light be always be on.

[AHJGTA]

Thanks for the comments.

>>>>>"You may have installed the previous bulb wrong causing a short."

All the bulbs I installed are lighting up so current has to be going through.

Attaching a picture of the bulbs. The clear one is the latest replacement on the rear deck / 3rd brake light.

[SKperformance]

Are the bulbs the same wattage ie 3w 5w or 8 watts ?

[AHJGTA]

>>>>>>>>>= Are the bulbs the same wattage ie 3w 5w or 8 watts ?

That's a good question. The original 7443 shows the wattage at 5W but the replacement 7443s and 921s don't. Maybe worthwhile to buy from Lexus. They would probably be charging the same money.

Another oddity: The manual says there are no 7443s in the back lights - all 921s.

[AHJGTA]

Having more money than brains I got another pair of 921 bulbs and stuck one of them into the 3rd light. It worked and nothing else blew. Drove about 150 km today and everything is still ok. Hopefully this is the end of the story.