Whether for your personal safety, for roadworthiness testing or to avoid a fine, making sure your turn signal bulbs are always functional is very important. Indeed, bulbs are wearing parts that will inevitably burn out over time and therefore need to be replaced. You’re probably here because one of your rear turn signals is burnt out and you’re wondering how to change the bulb of a rear turn signal on you car, we’ve written this article to help you do it on your own without having to go to your mechanic. In a first step, we will look at the checking a burnt-out rear turn signal bulb on your car and in a second step, how to change the rear turn signal bulb on your car.
How do you know if the rear turn signal bulb on your car is burnt-out or needs to be changed?
When you drive your vehicle you don’t always have the possibility to check all the safety features of your vehicle. Indeed, you are often in a hurry and tend to get into your vehicle, make your journey and put it down immediately without taking the time to do an occasional check-up. It is therefore important to take the time to occasionally check the condition of your headlights and turn signals. It’s quite possible that you have a burnt-out rear turn signal on your car, but you didn’t notice it. Here are the two simple methods to check if a rear turn signal on your car is out of order or if you need to change it quickly:
- When you stop, turn on the ignition on your car, then alternately turn on your left and right rear turn signals and get out of the car to check that they are functional.
- By listening to the sound of your turn signals. Indeed, there is an audible indicator on each car that alerts you of a rear turn signal bulb burnt out on your vehicle, you will notice that the time between each “click” is much closer, this means that you will have to change the rear turn signal bulb or before. It’s up to you to check and verify which one is burnt out by a visual check as on the first technique shown above.
You may have another bulb to change, like the one of your low beam or your position lights on car, don’t hesitate to consult our articles to help you to realize this replacement.
Changing the rear turn signal bulb on my car
Now let’s go to the most important step of this article, namely, how to change the rear turn signal bulb on car? Please note that this procedure is quite simple, you will need to access, from the inside of your trunk, your headlight unit, open it and replace the burnt out rear turn signal bulb on your car. If it is a bulb on your front turn signal on your car, see our dedicated article. However, here are the detailed steps to follow in order to perform this act correctly:
-
- To access the tail light assembly, remove the carpeting or plastic cover to access the tail light assembly.
- Use a screwdriver or torx wrench (6-pointed star) to open the tail light assembly.
- Remove the rear indicator bulb from your burnt-out turn signal that you have previously identified by an external visual inspection, for this you will need to make a quarter turn in a counter-clockwise direction
- Change the rear turn signal bulb on your car. There are two types of bulbs, transparent bulbs when the cover is orange, or orange bulbs when the cover is transparent, choose the right model for your car
- Remount your rear turn signal bulb and close your tail light block, then, check your new turn signal bulb for proper operation
