Strange Lamp Failure Warning

I own a late 2010 458 and am currently facing a strange phenomenon with my car. Each and every time I depress the brake and the brake lights come on, this will be followed by a warning that there is a "lamp failure" in the rear LH tail light. The warning is in the nature of an audible warning and a pictorial warning in the dashboard display. The audible warning is particularly jarring and irritating.

The strange thing is - there is nothing wrong with the LH tail light. All the LED lights function perfectly.

I have brought the car to both the local agent and a specialist independent Ferrari mechanic and both were not able to explain this strange phenomenon. The only thing they can suggest is that there may be something wrong with some sensor in the lamp and that I will have to replace the entire lamp to deal with this problem.

Seeing as how the problem could lie only in some sensor, and that replacing the entire lamp which is otherwise working properly seems like a waste of good money, I am hoping that someone in this forum may be able to help me out. Or at least point me in the direction towards getting this problem of my car resolved. Many thanks!

 

I too have a late 2010 458. My dealer replaced the brake sensor a few months ago because it was sending 'inconsistent' signals to the brake lights and the the rear brakes. This may well be the place to start. The brake sensor with labor is about US$400.

 

Thanks for this. To be clear, is the brake sensor located in the lamp itself? Or elsewhere? Would you happen to have the part number for the brake sensor?

Very grateful for your help.

 

I am sorry I cannot be of help with the location of the sensor. I did not ask the technician. I tried to locate the invoice of the repair for the part number but with no success either. My suggestion is to bring the car to an authorized dealer and describe the situation to a technician and suggest to him if the brake sensor may be at fault.

 

It's ok. Thanks very much for this. I checked with my mechanic and he says that it is unlikely that the problem I am experiencing is due to a brake sensor. Looks like I have no choice but to buy a replacement light.

 

The error code might be generated by one of the front daytime LED
strips located in the headlight housing failing to re-illuminate after the
turn signal is activated.

Happened to me 2 or 3 times in nearly 5 years of ownership,
just a glitch I guess..

very best

 

Thanks very much for your input but I don't think this is the problem. The daytime LED strips are working fine.

This warning in the instrument cluster clearly indicates that the fault is with the Rear LH lamp. This warning only comes on when all the lights are turned on, i.e. automatically when it gets dark or if I switched on all the lights manually. And the warning (both audible and on the instrument cluster) comes on every time I step on the brakes. It's very irritating because a loud "beep beep" comes on every time about 1 second after I depress the brakes.

 

Got it; probably just a faulty wire or rear LH lamp, should be an easy fix,
keep us posted!

 

Well, please tell us what was done please CM ! (What's your name buddy ?)

 

Hi Mel, just call me Chien (pronounced "Chen"). And unfortunately, neither my independent Ferrari mechanic nor the local agent have been able to diagnose the problem. I will have to replace the entire LH rear lamp unit. And hope that works to resolve the problem!!

 

Hi Chen

I'm not an expert mechanic, but it may be worth trying a bit of old school diagnostics if possible?

Remove both rear lamp units from the car, I'm assuming the plugs on them will be identical.

The units although won't obvoiously fit!! Swap them over if the cable is long enough. Just leave them hanging and plug them in

Try the car and lights now and see if the problem has moved to the other side. If yes you can be confident in spending out on a new unit.

If no, then you know the problem is somewhere else

Hope this helps

Regards

Michael

 

I agree with Michael in this .... do some testing ...

It must be something NOT in the light its self because it only happens with lights ON !

 

+1

 

good idea.....if you take the tale lights out look at the connections in the lamp assembly for signs of oxidation or overheating.

 

My guess is that it's just a faulty unit.. keep us posted!

 

Hi Michael, thanks for the tip. I'll ask my mechanic to try this before I order the replacement part. I don't know if the lamps are the same because the RH and LH lamps have different part numbers but certainly there is no harm trying. I'll keep you guys posted.

Cheers!!

 

An excellent idea!

Not sure what the system thinks it is measuring but given it happens whenever the lights are active either from running lights to brake lights, I'd look at the ground connection first.

And if the cable connection to the lights provides a feedback pin for the circuit then it would be a prime candidate as well...

SV

 

Finally! An update.

My mechanic swopped the lights. And confirmed that the problem is with some sensor in the LH rear lights. The warning light and sound did not come out when the RH light was installed in place of the LH light.

Having established the problem, i ordered the LH rear light. Unfortunately, I was tempted by a cheaper "after market" light and having confirmed that it is "exactly the same", I ordered it. Unfortunately, it is quite different. Looks different and it is a lot brighter too. I was very upset and returned it. Luckily for me, the vendor was quite good about it and paid for my cost of shipping the item back as well.

Thereafter, I ordered an original LH rear light and, long story short, it's been fixed onto my car and everything's ok now.

Question is - what do i do with a perfectly alright (except for the sensor) 458 LH rear light? Seems such a waste to junk it when it's very likely that the only item that's defective is some internal sensor.

 

Hi Chen

Glad you got to the root cause and got it sorted, you must be pleased!

With regards to the old unit why not play around with it and try and turn it in to a piece of wall art or desk art? That way you get to keep it and have a reminder of your car handy....That's what I would do anyway........ I love upcycling stuff!

Regards

Michael

 

Love recycling stuff too!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Congrats ... have a go to find out WHAT in the light causes the error. ... may help others in future !

 

it helped me know buddy. thank you for sharing the experience.

 

I have exactly the same issue same light same beep beep ..thanks for posting this thread ..big short cut to solving my issue .. but God that beep beep every time I break is irritating.. thanks again

 

thanks a lot.. i have experienced the same and the mechanic didn't know the issue. it seems familiar issue with 458

i will order a rear left taillight to resolve the annoying beep issue.

 

I wonder if in the harness to the light you can bypass the sensor. Sounds like a pretty stupid feature to add to the car design in the first place. Just adding complexity and cost and in the end for the OP it didn’t even perform the one job it was supposed to do.