2012 Kia Soul - brake light bulbs keep burning out!

8318 Views 12 Replies 5 Participants Last post by manfreity, Jun 13, 2020

.9907/

Discussion Starter · Nov 25, 2019

On my 2012 Kia Soul (72K miles), I've had to replace driver and passenger side brake/tail light bulb at least three times in the last ~12 months. And they don't burn out at the same time. Driver's side at one time, then a month or so later, it's the passenger side. The mid (high up) light never has a problem. Anyone ever seen this problem? Everything else electrical works fine on the car.

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manfreity

· #2 · Nov 25, 2019

someone else on here recently posted similar issues.
a weak ground will increase current shortening bulb life.
a hot wire shorting to ground can kill a bulb.

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.9907/

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 25, 2019

manfreity said:
someone else on here recently posted similar issues.
a weak ground will increase current shortening bulb life.
a hot wire shorting to ground can kill a bulb.

Thanks........that kind of problem could be anywhere. Probably easiest to keep changing bulbs!

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manfreity

· #4 · Nov 25, 2019

anywhere yes, unfortunately.
might read this thread to get an idea of what he went through and found.

Blown brake light bulbs

Hello, I am new to this forum, I have a 2014 Soul with the 1.6, I have had a ongoing issue with blowing brake light bulbs(not a certain side), I have taken it to Kia, they always replace the bulbs and say they can't duplicate the issue and send me on my way. Has anyone experienced such an issue...

www.kiasoulforums.com

maybe check online like Amazon for a case price on bulbs? ") I got a 10 pack for my pickup, but it uses that same bulb in 8 different locations, only $4.99usd.

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.9907/

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 26, 2019

manfreity said:
anywhere yes, unfortunately.
might read this thread to get an idea of what he went through and found.

Blown brake light bulbs

Hello, I am new to this forum, I have a 2014 Soul with the 1.6, I have had a ongoing issue with blowing brake light bulbs(not a certain side), I have taken it to Kia, they always replace the bulbs and say they can't duplicate the issue and send me on my way. Has anyone experienced such an issue...

www.kiasoulforums.com

maybe check online like Amazon for a case price on bulbs? ") I got a 10 pack for my pickup, but it uses that same bulb in 8 different locations, only $4.99usd.

Would replacing them with LED equivalent bulbs be better? Can LED bulbs handle a weak ground or other issue better than incandescent??

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manfreity

· #6 · Nov 26, 2019

I'm not sure.
I know incandescent filaments were designed to be so thin they got hot to the point of glowing and thus produced light. A normal burn out was, in essence, the current flow pulled molecules over until the strand broke. Purely mechanical in design, operation, and failure.
I've not had the occasion to experiment with LED's in a non-standard environment.

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SoNic67

· #7 · Nov 28, 2019

flavioguy said:
Can LED bulbs handle a weak ground or other issue better than incandescent??

Installing LED on brake lights will cause the Traction Control to stop working and illuminate the bulb on the dash.

It's not the weak ground, it's the bulbs. Get them from somewhere else. Replace them both.

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.9907/

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 28, 2019

SoNic67 said:
Installing LED on brake lights will cause the Traction Control to stop working and illuminate the bulb on the dash.

It's not the weak ground, it's the bulbs. Get them from somewhere else. Replace them both.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just buy extra bulbs and keep them in the car. Fortunately, they are easy to change. I've tried different sources BTW, but they still burn out.

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SoNic67

· #9 · Nov 30, 2019

Are your bulbs LL (Long Life) variant? What's their actual code/number? They should be 2357LL.

Check the actual bulb holders to look for burned marks (or discolored color).
Intermittent or aching contact might lead to burning bulbs - the bulbs are most vulnerable when the filament is cold and voltage applied to them. Brake light do this on/off dance very often, followed by the turn signal bulbs.

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SoNic67

· #10 · Dec 2, 2019 (Edited)

Man, this is contagious! My wife just texted me that one of the brake lights is out in her Soul. Those are two year old bulbs in there, I put them myself!
LE: I found out that the 2357's brakefilament (high) is rated only 400 hours at 12.8V in this bulb:

Bulb Specifications

It's brighter, 40 cd versus 32 cd the equivalent bulb that lasts 3 times longer.
No wonder it doesn't last!
I have took a picture from the store, of a SilverStar bulbs package. 200 hours!
I put it back and grabbed a 2357 LL one

See less See more

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DrDarylJames

· #11 · Jun 13, 2020

consider LED bulbs. They're cheap on Amazon.

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gr8pumpkin

· #12 · Jun 13, 2020

I recently had the drivers side burn out. This cause the ecs light to come on and caused the passenger side to stop working. I changed the bad one and everything went back to normal, I changed the passenger side at the same time since I had 2 bulbs.

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manfreity

· #13 · Jun 13, 2020

DrDarylJames said:
consider LED bulbs. They're cheap on Amazon.

The wrong kind, ie knockoff, doesn't draw enough wattage for the BCM to verify and will at least disable cruise control, sometimes also set a Service Warning on the dash.

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