[slothers]

2001 9-3 Convertible

Hi Everyone,
My first time posting, but I've been reading posts for a years.

I have the Brake Light Failure Message on my SID, but when I look at all the lights, they seems to be working fine.
My process:
-I can't tell, but the "third" brake light on the spoiler might have a bulb that is dull? On the far left of the 5 or 6 bulbs.

-I opened the trunk and took out the clips to get better access and when I took out the bulbs of the other brake lights, I noticed that there seemed to be a little corrosion (some white gray stuff) on some of the contacts and the bulbs themselves. However, they all lit up.

-I noticed that my right hand side "fog" light bulb was missing. So, I replaced that bulb with a dual filament Sylvania LL 7528. Although the other fog light had a single filament bulb in it. (Incidentally, I just assumed that the fog light only lit up on one side when I have seen it in the past).

My Plan:

-After reading some other posts about the Brake Light Failure Message, I understand that the SID is very sensitive and even if the bulb hasn't failed completely, it may still fail the SID check.

-I will buy new bulbs, and go through and sandpaper the contacts to get some of the corrosion off and reinstall all new Sylvania bulbs to see if I can get rid of that error.

My Questions:

-After looking through owners manual, I am having trouble matching up which bulbs to get, and which bulbs have one or two filaments. For instance in the manual, (see photo) I believe the #9 bulb is for my "third" brake light on the spoiler on my convertible. But how do I cross reference that to get one at autozone?

-Does it matter which bulbs have 1 or 2 filaments?

-Is there a better place to order all of these bulbs together online? Rather than autozone.

-This is my count of bulbs so far... 2 brake light bulbs, 2 white rear backup bulbs, 2 amber turn signal buls, 2 fog lamp bulbs, and 5 or six of the smaller bulbs that make up the spoiler "third" brake light. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance if anyone can offer advice it would be appreciated. And I will definitely follow up if with your help we can fix it.

thanks again.

 

[EdT]

-I opened the trunk and took out the clips to get better access and when I took out the bulbs of the other brake lights, I noticed that there seemed to be a little corrosion (some white gray stuff) on some of the contacts and the bulbs themselves. However, they all lit up.

Corrosion won't help!

I noticed that my right hand side "fog" light bulb was missing. So, I replaced that bulb with a dual filament Sylvania LL 7528. Although the other fog light had a single filament bulb in it. (Incidentally, I just assumed that the fog light only lit up on one side when I have seen it in the past).

I don't know if the 9-3 had two fog lights from the factory, or one. A lot of carmakers supply only one rear fog bulb/socket, so it's not confused with brake lights. But Saab put two on the 900, so maybe 9-3 as well.

It should be a single filament bulb. You see where the wattages are given in your manual; if there's only one wattage, it's single-filament; if two wattages, those are for each filament.

(Although the front-turn-signal backup lights on the 900 take dual-filament bulbs but only use the bright filament. I have never figured that one out.)

-I will buy new bulbs, and go through and sandpaper the contacts to get some of the corrosion off and reinstall all new Sylvania bulbs to see if I can get rid of that error.

My Questions:

-After looking through owners manual, I am having trouble matching up which bulbs to get, and which bulbs have one or two filaments. For instance in the manual, (see photo) I believe the #9 bulb is for my "third" brake light on the spoiler on my convertible. But how do I cross reference that to get one at autozone?

A good store will have the proper listings.

A large number of Sylvania bulbs are made in China. I would look at GE Nighthawk bulbs (generally made by Osram in Hungary); buy any that apply. Nickel base (shiny silver) bulbs might corrode less than brass-base bulbs.

You may have fun with the rear turn signals. They're euro-style P21Y. North American 1156NA bulbs won't actually fit. They are more of a specialty item. The pins on the P21Y are actually clocked around the side of the bulb base, at something like three o'clock and seven o'clock, instead of 3 and 9 (exactly opposite each other).

However, while my 900 calls for 1156NA bulbs (the opposite of the 9-3!), I came across some good-quality clear-out PY21 bulbs. I filed off one of the pins, and they have worked fine for over two years now. If you can't get PY21 bulbs you may have to do this for 1156NA, which should be commonly available.

("NA" means "Natural Amber"; "Y" means "Yellow".)

-Does it matter which bulbs have 1 or 2 filaments?

Yes, it matters if the bulb has two filaments or one. The mounting is different. Take a look at the little pins on either side of the bulb; the single-filament pins will be the same height on the bulb base, while on a two-filament bulb one of the pins will be a little higher than the other. Trying to insert one kind of bulb into another's base can make things jam or break.

-Is there a better place to order all of these bulbs together online? Rather than autozone.

If I was in the US, I would order from candlepower.com. Their website is somewhat confusing, but they have good products and prices.

-This is my count of bulbs so far... 2 brake light bulbs, 2 white rear backup bulbs, 2 amber turn signal bulbs, 2 fog lamp bulbs, and 5 or six of the smaller bulbs that make up the spoiler "third" brake light. Is that correct?

Sounds right. 900 taillights had an additional small single-filament taillight beside the tail/brake light, but it seems that the 9-3 doesn't have this bulb.

The tail/brake light is dual filament, the rest are single-filaments. The backup bulbs and the fog lamp bulbs are identical. Nighthawk 1156 will work. Tail/brake could be a 1157 I'm pretty sure, another Nighthawk.

Is the centre brake light on a 9-3 LED? I don't see a listing for those bulbs. If they are indeed bulbs, e.g. W5W (euro) or 194 (SAE), then Sylvania actually has an excellent upgrade choice, something like 3875, which is a repackaged made-in-Japan Stanley bulb at an excellent price....at least at Canadian Tire! Sorry, I can't find the bulb number offhand, but it's in the 3000s, looks like any other of those small bulbs, and is 5W.

I have fancy Honda-dealer-only bulbs that are a bit brighter than 1156/1157 or P21W bulbs. They're expensive, but they last a long time. I haven't seen any blackening of the bulb in two years' use.

 

[jakejm79]

Sounds right. 900 taillights had an additional small single-filament taillight beside the tail/brake light, but it seems that the 9-3 doesn't have this bulb.

The 9-3 uses a second dual filament 1157 (or something similar) in the spot where the 900 has that small single filament bulb, but like the front turn signals only one filament is ever used.

AFAIK all 9-3s came with only only the rear driver's side fog light, in early models you could just add a second, in later models the bulb holder on the passenger side was different with no opening for the bulb.

 

[Jeremy R.]

The front turn signals use both filaments. The dim one is used for the parking lights, and the brighter one is used for the turn signal. It's the side-assist backup light that has a dual filament bulb, but only uses one filament.

Slothers, your car has regular incandescent bulbs for the 3rd brake light (4 of them). The convertible used the same 3rd brake light that the NG900 did. It never got upgraded to an LED like the hatchback. The Sylvania 2825 is a W5W, and they're not made in China. Most of their European bulbs are still made somewhere in Europe. It's the standard line of US-style bulbs, like the 1156 and 1157 that are made in China. GE makes most of their bulbs in Hungary now, even their regular line in the yellow and black packages.

 

[earthworm]

7528 is the newer brake lite bulb.
The lite monitor is too sensitive , the least corrosion or filament age can upset it.
I'd renew all the bulbs....or just use the old method.
The problem is probably in the "high mounted" bulbs.
clean away all the corrosion , maybe reuse the old bulbs...I think the newer design (LEDs) is far better.....IMO..
What we need is a brass or copper (soft metal) wire brush that is designed to quickly clean bulb sockets..something like an electric tooth-brush , but straight rather than 90 degrees.

 

[slothers]

ordered some bulbs from amazon

wow, thanks guys.
I've just ordered a bunch of bulbs from amazon.

the NighthawksGE P21/5WNH/BP2
for the brake lights

and the Sylvania 2825 for the high mounted "third" brake light.

...and a can of electrical contact cleaner.

So, I'll give these bulbs a shot first this weekend and see where it gets me. I'll follow up...

thanks everyone for the help so far.

 

[EdT]

wow, thanks guys.
I've just ordered a bunch of bulbs from amazon.

the NighthawksGE P21/5WNH/BP2
for the brake lights

thanks everyone for the help so far.

Some of us are as picky about the bulbs that go in the car as they are about fluids. Don't want to pollute our precious bodily fluids, etc.

The nice thing about bulbs is that the better-quality ones are brighter and last longer. It always is a good thing to be seen, in this world of texting/driving idiots. :roll:

 

[EdT]

The 9-3 uses a second dual filament 1157 (or something similar) in the spot where the 900 has that small single filament bulb, but like the front turn signals only one filament is ever used.

AFAIK all 9-3s came with only only the rear driver's side fog light, in early models you could just add a second, in later models the bulb holder on the passenger side was different with no opening for the bulb.

I wonder how many of the "1001 improvements" we can find in just these minor changes in taillight configuration.

The front turn signals use both filaments. The dim one is used for the parking lights, and the brighter one is used for the turn signal. It's the side-assist backup light that has a dual filament bulb, but only uses one filament.

I have been using 2357NA bulbs in the front turn signals for a couple of years. The wattage is basically the same as 1157NA on both filaments, but the bright is considerably brighter (40 candela vs. 32cd). This isn't magic; the rated life of the 2357 bright filament is only 1/3 of that for the 1157. But mine have lasted for two years of use, and I signal even if it's 3AM on a dark rural road with no cars anywhere within sight. I wouldn't use a 2357 for a brake light, because it probably would burn out quickly.

2357NA is kind of a deprecated bulb, but I've found clearouts of made-in-USA GE 2357NA bulbs, which is what I'm using. I suspect the Chinese haven't bothered to knock off a 2357NA.

Slothers, your car has regular incandescent bulbs for the 3rd brake light (4 of them). The convertible used the same 3rd brake light that the NG900 did. It never got upgraded to an LED like the hatchback. The Sylvania 2825 is a W5W, and they're not made in China.

7528 is the newer brake lite bulb.

In place of all the specified W5W bulbs I'm using Sylvania Longlife 3652 bulbs. They're $5 for a two-pack at Canadian Tire which is competitve with made-in-China 194 bulbs (at least at Canadian retail prices). The 3652 are made in Japan, I strongly suspect by Stanley. It's specified at 70 lumens, versus 50 for W5W, both rated at 13.5V. So these bulbs are brighter than W5W, which in turn are brighter than generic 194. The rated life is 700 hours, which is good, though the W5W are 1800 hours. I've got the 3652 bulbs in the city lights, side signal repeaters, centre rear brake light, and front interior lights.

 

[slothers]

FIXED- corrosion of third brake was issue

Hey everybody,

thanks for the help on changing these bulbs.

It looks like of the four small bulbs on the third brake light, two of them were pretty heavily corroded.

The picture included is kinda tough to see, sorry, but there was a lot of green corrosion on the metal housing of the bulbs.

I sandpapered the metal, squirted it with electronic cleaner. I also put some dialectric grease on the metal as well to help protect this for the future.

I don't get the Brake Light Failure error anymore. And it was all pretty satisfying.

thanks all.

 

[kgs499]

Mine does this on occasion

Actually my car gave me this error on the few coldest days of the winter this year. (Texas - coldest means 24 - 28)

But I'd swear it correlated directly with how cold it was. It only ever shot me the error in the morning or late at night when the temperature had dropped. One day I guess I could get around to cleaning the connections a bit.

 

[EdT]

Hey everybody,

thanks for the help on changing these bulbs.

It looks like of the four small bulbs on the third brake light, two of them were pretty heavily corroded.

The picture included is kinda tough to see, sorry, but there was a lot of green corrosion on the metal housing of the bulbs.

I sandpapered the metal, squirted it with electronic cleaner. I also put some dialectric grease on the metal as well to help protect this for the future.

I don't get the Brake Light Failure error anymore. And it was all pretty satisfying.

thanks all.

I like to prop the brake pedal down with, say, a windshield brush, and admire the bright brake lights from the back. ;ol;

 

['97 Saab SE Turbo]

I just changed my brake light bulbs and found out that the handle to one of my floor jacks works great too. I just hold it in place between the brake pedal and the drivers seat and use the control to move the seat slowly forward... Ron

 

[WireGuy1950]

Not to hijack this thread, but...

I've noticed that the right front clear corner light on my ng900 does not come on and the left front clear corner light only come on in reverse.

What's that about?

 

[Jeremy R.]

Not to hijack this thread, but...

I've noticed that the right front clear corner light on my ng900 does not come on and the left front clear corner light only come on in reverse.

What's that about?

Each corner light has two bulbs. There's a two-filament orange bulb in the front that doubles as the parking light and the turn signal. On the side, there's a clear bulb that comes on in reverse. Saab calls it a side-assist backup light. You probably just have the blinker burned out on one side and the backup light burned out on the other. The blinker is an amber 1157, and the backup bulb is an 1156, although I've seen some backup bulbs that are a clear 1157 with only one filament used.