Whenever I follow my wife in her 2005 XJ8L, I notice that the driver's (left) side running lights and brake lights are just a bit dimmer than the other side. Not enough to be dangerous or anything, but it just sort of irritates me that this fiine car has that visible little flaw. It's almost like the left light module is getting less voltage than the right. Is anyone aware of a way to adjust the brightness of the rear lights?

Thanks.

 

This has been discussed to no solution here:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=49225

 

that's very odd, looked at the other thread too. I bet you could add some resistor(s) to the 'brighter' lamp and bring it down a bit in output not the most logical solution, but it'll even the playing field. That would also drive me nuts too!

 

My concern would be that the dimmer side is the one in error. Dimming the brighter side might put your safety in jeopardy!

 

It's really not that much dimmer. Just enough to be irritating. Someday when I have some time on my hands, I might experiment with a variable resistor and see what happens.

 

Well here is how I fixed this, my right one was brighter and what I did is , I removed the rear side markers and voila now the left one is as bright as the right one.

 

So, this makes me wonder if the side markers may have had different wattage bulbs in them and that somehow affected the voltage at the rear light module???? Hmmm.

Thanks.

 

My thoughts exactly! Maybe one was replaced with the wrong lamp. This would be an interesting experiment. You know how sensitive Jags are on the electrical front!!

 

that makes total sense...wrong bulb, more resistance...= dimmer Good find jagmaster!

 

It's in their blood!

 

Awe I feel like a kid that has done something good!

 

I am curious to see if this has worked!

 

Now, if I can just get the car long enough to try it. My wife seems to always be ripping around somewhere, and she only wants to be seen behind her Leaper.

Don't have the manual with me. Are these 2825 bulbs? I'll try to pick some up on the way home.

Thanks,

 

OK, guys. Got the bulbs and access to the car. One small question: How the heck do you change the side marker bulbs? To do it from underneath, you need a hand about the size of a 2-year-old on a real skinny arm with about 4 elbows. Do you need to remove the wheel well cover (and maybe the rear wheel to do that?)??? Or is it accessible from the outside? Other threads say you push the light assembly up, then out. Mine were not moving and I was a little reluctant to get too forceful pushing and prying on the lense. Has anyone done this??

Any advice appreciated -

 

Lol , you just gotta pop it using a screw driver, make sure u dont scratch the paint though

 

OK, if you say so. I'll try to pry 'em out. More to come.

 

OK, if you say so. I'll try to pry 'em out. More to come.

Hmm? Looks like when I try to post and my computer freezes and I don't think it went and I try a second time, both attempts finally show up. Wonder if Lucas made my computer??

 

Well, folks, it didn't work. I replaced both side marker lights with brand new bulbs, with no change in the relative brightness of the tail and brake lights. I also checked the resistance of the bulbs I removed, and they were 3.3 and 3.2 ohms, so they must have been the same bulb, too.

To quote my daughter's doctor, after he spent and hour and a half poking around inside her heart looking for a neurological "short circuit" to explain her irregular heartbeat, and found nothing: "Well, at least now we know what it's NOT." (Not to worry, she's doing fine now.)

Back to the drawing board.

 

it has to be something simple...surely. Maybe try a temporary 'ground' for that bulb you're replacing, not using the harness to achieve it. After that, do the same for the LED lamp assembly, see if it makes a difference.

 

my car doesn't even have side markers,, and i have the same weird issue,,