Rear tail light setup

[looney]

Hey doods,

Just curious about the setup of your tail lights on the US Elise.

I know as standard the brake light only iluminates one half of the outer ring, and the normal running light, the other half of that ring, as such leaving the inner red ring actually unused.

Mine has been adjusted so that at least the entire outer ring glows red with running lights, and the brake, again only does half of that ring.

How is the US one setup?

Has anyone modified it to make all four red segments light up? if so how?

Cheers

[NtflBlueLiz]

I have posted about that. I want to modify mine to light with the weaker filament up all four complete circles when the running lights are on. light up all four complete circles or at least the complete outer circle when the brake is used. use the amber inner for turning ( unused in the fed car ) and the reverse using the rears. To do that I need to buy 2 sockets for the lamps for the ambers and 2 additional 4 additional 2 philament sockets for the complete inner rounds. If I can get those P/Ns than its a matter of doing some re-wiring.

[SEBM]

hmm, never thought about doing this but I think it would look pretty good, if anybody does it let us know how it goes and post pics

-Seb

[ChrisStarrUSA]

I would gladly pay for a kit to set it up as descibed above.

[Arno]

Originally Posted by looney

Has anyone modified it to make all four red segments light up? if so how?

Yes.. I went the expensive, but most 'factory', route.

I bought 2 outer light units (A117M0011F) which include the wire pigtails and the bulb holders.

The wire pigtails and bulb holders are NOT available separately from Lotus.

Then I removed the inner units (which in Euro/UK and probably Assie Elises) are only used for reverse lights and rear foglights) and, using a Dremel, I opened up the closed-off opening for the second bulb holder. (aluminium, small cutter and some sanding works fine)

Now the bulb holders from the units I just bought fitted in the inner light unit and I re-fitted them.

My car (2001 S2) still has the wiring and connectors fully wired for the inner lights, so I just plugged the pigtail connectors into the car's wiring harness and hey presto!

Full 'circles' on with the normal lights, brake light illuminates the outer half of the outside units and the foglights illuminate the inner half of the inner units.

Indicator and reverse lights (amber and white) stil work as usual.

This was the original design for the S2 rear lights, but type-approval rules meant that Lotus was forced to stop using the 'circles' of the inner units.

It seems that some Mercedes types use the same bulb holders for their inidcators or parking/city lights. So you may find some ig you remove the existing pigtail and take it to a few car dismantlers to see if they have something similar..

Bye, Arno.

[xxxotic]

Places like Pep Boys sometimes have bulb holders in the generic Help parts section. I got a 3 prong headlight one for a H4 bulb after mine melted from using a 90/130 watt headlight bulb on my other car.

Did anyone ever find out what the mystery wire is that is hidden under our trunks rear carpet and foam panel? Is it wiring for an Exige-like brake light, or a leftover wire for the European rear fog lights? I'm thinking maybe I could wire it into a lightswitch that I can put into the trunk. No more searching for hidden objects that have rolled around and that you cant see and have forgotten about. Hint: Always remember to check to make sure you have taken ice cream and chocolate Easter Bunnies out of your trunk- Don't ask

[Buz]

It is coming up on 2 years later! Has anyone figured out what the extra pigtail on the brake light harness is for?

[ZAMMY1]

didn't i hear that the taillight assemblies come from toyota?
they would almost be certainly cheaper there.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Buz

It is coming up on 2 years later! Has anyone figured out what the extra pigtail on the brake light harness is for?

Yes, that was figured out over two years ago. It's for a rear fog light (bright red tail light) that's required in Europe. It's not used in the US, and there's no switch for it on the dash.

Originally Posted by ZASMMY1

didn't i hear that the taillight assemblies come from toyota? they would almost be certainly cheaper there.

Nope, not even close at all.

[Wimbledon]

Do you know of any way to wire up the rear foglight(s?)? Coming from my Audi A4, I miss the rear foglight function. Obviously I know an Elise is not a car for conveniences, but if the wiring is ready I would be interested in enabling it and harnessing it to a switch.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Wimbledon

Do you know of any way to wire up the rear foglight(s?)? Coming from my Audi A4, I miss the rear foglight function. Obviously I know an Elise is not a car for conveniences, but if the wiring is ready I would be interested in enabling it and harnessing it to a switch.

I have no idea. On the Euro spec cars, the light switch control box includes the function of the fog light. Our cars do not have that function. I believe that the Euro cars have an extra switch beneath the headlight switch for the fog light. On our cars, that's where the pre-wired driving light switch goes. I have no idea if the wiring is there or not. In either case, the wiring diagram for the Euro spec car shows the connection going to the "box" that controls the rest of the lights.

Sorry...

[catapult]

Originally Posted by Buz

It is coming up on 2 years later! Has anyone figured out what the extra pigtail on the brake light harness is for?

For a trailer?