Taillight / Brake Light replacements

4

4wardmotion

Member
:
'08 CX-9 Sport AWD
My wife took my 9 to work today and as she drove away, I noticed that a portion of the rear taillight was not working. I believe it was the left (driver's side) taillight - the portion that is mounted to the lift gate.

According to the owners manual, the bulbs cannot be replaced - the entire unit has to be replaced.....wt..?

Has anyone else run into this? Is there any way around having to replace the entire unit?? If I have to purchase this directly from Mazda, I know I'll likely be shocked by the price. (boom08)
 
My 2007 owners manual has the following instructions with pictures showing removal of the cover over the bulbs...Taillights (Liftgate side), Reverse lights
1. Remove the cover.
2. Turn the socket and bulb assembly
counterclockwise and remove it.
3. Disconnect the bulb from the socket.
Reverse light
Taillight
4. Install the new bulb in the reverse order
of removal.

Hope this helps!
 
Awesome - I hope you're right! I'll check that as soon as the wife gets home.

Hmmm.....I wonder how difficult it is to remove the liftgate cover to access the taillight area....? Although I did just find something that shows small access panels to some of the lights. Damn, I wish the car was here. I'm now wondering if there is a light 'bulb' or a series of LEDs that make up the taillight. If it's just a bulb, I should be good to go.

Thanks for your help and quick reply!
 
Last edited:
Only the quarter mounted one is LED. That unit has to be replaced and it is not cheap. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know.
 
I stopped at AutoZone this afternoon and picked up a package of 2825 bulbs. When the wife got home, I checked the taillights and verified the issue. The light on the tailgate was out. Access to the bulb is easy with a pop-out access panel on the inside tailgate cover. Pulled out the old, installed the new and was back in business in about 90 seconds.
Thankfully it was just the bulb. This was the 3rd or 4th (non-headlight) bulb I've replaced on this vehicle.....more than any other car I've owned. At least they've been cheap and easy to access....at least, so far.

kornholio - are you asking about the LED unit because you need one, or you're just curious?
 
You see. Once you start to replace a bad bulb with AutoZone bulbs, these cheap bulbs go out fairly quickly.
You get what you pay for.
I have replaced about 10 bulbs on my old BMW with AutoZone bulbs. They went out so quickly that I have
many stocked in my garage at the time ....

Next time, try to get one from the dealer. It might be more expensive, but it is likely that it will last longer.
 
My drivers side tail light on the quarter panel works fine, it just has like a stress crack on the plastic. I tried to see if i can get a replacement housing cheap and was told that the leds are part of the assembly. At 450 dollars i will wait until the lights don't work anymore to change it out.
 
Thanks for the info, but what i was talking about was the outer one that is mounted to the quarter panel. That is the lid mounted one. Those are a little bit cheaper than the dealer. The outer ones are very expensive because they have the led's and circuit board inside.
 
ceric said:
You see. Once you start to replace a bad bulb with AutoZone bulbs, these cheap bulbs go out fairly quickly.
You get what you pay for.
I have replaced about 10 bulbs on my old BMW with AutoZone bulbs. They went out so quickly that I have
many stocked in my garage at the time ....

Next time, try to get one from the dealer. It might be more expensive, but it is likely that it will last longer.
Click to expand...

Although I bought them at AutoZone, these were Sylvania Long Life bulbs.
And I have yet to replace any of the bulbs that I've replaced the first time....so far, I've only replaced the OEM bulbs, so I'm not so sure I agree with your assumption that the OEM bulbs are better.
 
I saw the ebay ones and that is a very good price. Unfortunately i am still waiting for this other person on ebay to ship me my sciphone. He hasn't answered my latest email. Also this person only has 28 feedbacks just like the person i am dealing with now. I will hold off until i see if my other item gets shipped or i have to file a complaint with ebay and paypal.
 
You ordered the assembly that was listed on ebay? How much did you pay for it. Did you get the pair or just one side? Let me know if it fits like the original oem ones.
 
I got the taillight LED's today, they work well. Installed no problem, hopefully I never have to change them again!
 
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