From what I remember reading somewhere on this board, you have to unscrew the stoplight housing from in the trunk. The screws are kind of hidden and are hard to get to.

 

The high mount stop light is a LED array. It is mounted to the rear deck panel. Remove that and you have access to the screws that hold it to the panel.

The rear tail light bulb replacement requires you to remove the lens from the car to get access to the sockets.

 

Originally posted by cclngthr@Jul 9 2007, 12:49 PM
The high mount stop light is a LED array. It is mounted to the rear deck panel. Remove that and you have access to the screws that hold it to the panel.

The rear tail light bulb replacement requires you to remove the lens from the car to get access to the sockets.

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In the NF Sonata it's not an LED array, it uses filament bulbs. I think it's the same bulb as the back-up lights. It says for sure in the manual.

 

Same bulb



You are correct it is the same bulb.

 

Dear cowboy,

Can't find your nuts! Whoa, time to get off that horse. Seriously though:

Owner's manual is useless.

Checked the latest Chilton's manual for the Sonata, and also no help

You are right....hmaservice.com is no help on the physical removal of the third brake light fixture.

It says:

HIGH MOUNTED STOP LAMP
Disconnect the negative(-) battery terminal.
Open the trunk lid and then disconnect the connector of high mounted stop lamp.
Remove the package tray (Refer to the Body group-package tray).
Replace the bulb(A) from the package tray.


Unfortunately, no pictures of someone actually removing the 'package tray'.

Guess you have to hunt for those nuts.

Byron

 

Package tray is the panel behind the seats.... Its not incredibly hard to remove, but its a complete pain in the butt.

I believe Dennis the menace is writing up a how-to, but Im not sure if he is done.
Hopefully he will chime in with details.

 

The service manual often gives advice that's slanted toward the guys that maintain Hyundais for a living, day in and day out; once you've removed one <fill in the blank> the next one's quicker. Their advice is also slanted toward getting the job done in the least time. That don't help you to get your bulb (it IS abulb, not an LED) replaced, though.

Someone said there's a piece of foam tape covering an opening; if you remove it you can get to the bulb. I'll crawl in the trunk and take some pics this morning.

BTW, you DO NOT have to remove the tail lamp assembly to replace most of the bulbs; I think the innermost bulbs are the only ones requiring the assembly to be removed. Most are covered by a typical square panel you unhitch by unscrewing a plastic knob.

 

I wrestled with it(if you ever did this job, then you might know what I mean by wrestle) more than one hour to take the bulb out, but, then gave up. I unscrewed two nuts, but, still it seems to be stuck and I couldn't take that out.

I did same job for my previous Camry 07. It was easy job, just replacing bulb. I do not understand, why Sonata makes this so difficult and why we even need to unscrew two hidden nuts to just replace high-mounted stop light.

I dropped my car at Hyundai dealer this morning for this stop light and some noise from steering wheel, which when I turn steering wheel, it makes some noise. It need to be rubbed or greased a little bit.

 

I think you have to remove the parcel tray.

The picture below
[attachmentid=4338] was taken from inside the trunk, looking up. You can see a square and a round hole. The round hole had foam tape on the other side, which I removed, but you can't get at the bulb from there.

I have small to medium hands, and the square hole isn't big enough to get at the bulb. I can feel something in there that I think is a plug, but I can only touch it.

I don't remember if the high-mounted stop housing has a "floor" or whether it's open at the bottom. If it's open a woman MIGHT be able to get their hand in there to pull the bulb but once pulled I don't know if it could be rassled out and replaced. The wife's hands are the same size as mine, and neither of us could feel anything but the "wire thing;" nothing like the 921 bulb below.

[attachmentid=4339]

Obviously, not a very good design. The DIY that Dogstar refers to is coming along; I need to take 1 or 2 more pictures and I'll have Madder hose it. I mean, host it. :grin: Sometimes typos are best left in. :beer:

 

Be careful reaching in there. The edges of these holes can be very sharp and have burrs too

 

Today I got my car back from Hyundai dealer. They replaced high mounted stop light and one of tail stop light(actually, I replaced it before dropping my car to dealer. I don't know what happen, why they did it again).

And it is covered by warranty and I paid nothing. But, they broke a black plastic part which is holding white plug for stop light. Originally, the black plastic part was sticking to something with nut.

I guess they tried to unscrew it and screwed up and broke it. I found it after I got home and didn't want to go dealer again just to argue about it. Actually, it seems that part is not doing much.

And for noise from steering wheel, they said they replaced some spring. After driving for few minutes, I heard noise is still there and went back to ask. Oh my got, what they said is each plastic part are expanded because of hot weather and when each plastic part move around, it make noise. it's not mechanical problem.

I asked disassemble and rub and assemble again. They said because it's not a mechanical problem, that is not covered by warranty and I need to pay. However, I doubt even if they do it, it will be really fixed? my answer is 'no'
That noise is not too noisy, but, it's annoying enough. I don't know what to do.

By today's experience, I would not recommend Hyundai to my friends.

 

:innocent: You say, you would not recommend Hyundai to your friends because of a Third brake problem. Wow what about the rest of the car, is it OK. Sounds like a dealership problem.

 

Originally posted by Dennis the Mennis@Jul 10 2007, 10:50 AM

The picture below
[attachmentid=4338]

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Did you take the subwoofer out or not finish install yet or other? I see the hole and the grill covering but where is the sub???

 

The hole and grille are to let the bass notes into the cabin. The sub is an Infinity Bass Link that lives on the floor of the trunk with the door speakers' amp.

 

Originally posted by cowboy@Jul 11 2007, 10:55 PM
Today I got my car back from Hyundai dealer. They replaced high mounted stop light and one of tail stop light(actually, I replaced it before dropping my car to dealer. I don't know what happen, why they did it again).

And it is covered by warranty and I paid nothing. But, they broke a black plastic part which is holding white plug for stop light. Originally, the black plastic part was sticking to something with nut.

I guess they tried to unscrew it and screwed up and broke it. I found it after I got home and didn't want to go dealer again just to argue about it. Actually, it seems that part is not doing much.

And for noise from steering wheel, they said they replaced some spring. After driving for few minutes, I heard noise is still there and went back to ask. Oh my got, what they said is each plastic part are expanded because of hot weather and when each plastic part move around, it make noise. it's not mechanical problem.

I asked disassemble and rub and assemble again. They said because it's not a mechanical problem, that is not covered by warranty and I need to pay. However, I doubt even if they do it, it will be really fixed? my answer is 'no'
That noise is not too noisy, but, it's annoying enough. I don't know what to do.

By today's experience, I would not recommend Hyundai to my friends.

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lol for that?
i had an 89 grand prix se when the sun hit the windshield at the right spot i couldnt see out it some kind of defect i was told what ? do you think im going to replace that? not going to happen, well needless to say somehow a rock somehow flew up
and hit my windshield a week later. good thing i had glass insurance :whistling:

 

Well, if I make myself clear again;

-My car has noise from front right area around tire.
-My car has noise from steering wheel. It's very annoying.
-Broke part and never mentioned to driver...(really, funny)

However, Hyundai dealership said,'Your are is in perfect condition' and some of silly explanation which does not make sense at all. It's very frustrating.

Whatever happened, they just say 'Your are is in perfect condition'

I know this is not a Hyundai problem, it is a specific dealer problem, however, the quality management of dealer is still Hyundai's responsibility. Hyundai should check the quality of dealer and kick them out if not qualified for better customer's satisfaction and for the reputation of Hyundai.

Has anyone experienced acceptable Hyundai service, by the way? I am really curious.

 

Good dealer service...

Well, if I make myself clear again;

customer's satisfaction and for the reputation of Hyundai.

Has anyone experienced acceptable Hyundai service, by the way? I am really curious.

Absolutely! I have had great service from my dealer. 13 years with my 2000 Accent and now with my 2009 Sonata. I have only had one situation that I had words over and it turned out the dealer was correct. I had installed a K&M oiled filter and my CEL light kept coming on. They explained it and I said B******T… turns out they were correct! I hated it but what can you say.

Other than that, great service and customer appreciation. I almost look forward to when I go see them. They love how my cars are taken care of so they treat them like I would. The parts department give me good prices on my purchases.

I treat them as I would like to be treated and it seems to have paid off in the long run.

 

Ive gotten great service on mechanical items, but the back-up on the cosmetic issues has been terrible.

 

don't go through the hassel.....covered under warrenty!

 

Not beliving Hyundai would make the replacement of a bulb as difficult as the manual shows I took a look at this myself.

How to replace a Sonata high mount rear bulb step 1
Locate the hole as have been refered to in previous posts.

[attachmentid=4401]
The round hole at the top of the picture.
Cut out the sticky thing covering it up.
Now your looking for a gold colored screw inside the hole and a silver screw inside the square hole just opposite.

[attachmentid=4402]
Remove these and your half way there.

Inside the car pry up and out with a screwdriver on the back side. as you begin to get this up you will see the silver clip in the middle.

[attachmentid=4403]
continue to pull upwards until it pops free. (Be careful not to pry up too forcefully or you may break off the plastic clips in the back)
[attachmentid=4404]

Once the back clip is free you must untwist the light connector from the housing and push it back inside the hole. once done the housing will lift out.

[attachmentid=4405]
And now, As the Hyundai manual says the installation is the reverse of removal.
(Note: Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon/Breathe Should enlisted before or during the removal and installation)
I hope this helps.
SWS :thumbsup:

 

Before I take on this challenge in the next coming days, what kind of bulb is it? Seems like the 912 is the one i keep seeing, but just want to clarify.

 

I figured before I made the post to the thread, It would get burried.

There are too many on this forum that want to ask how, why,what and not do anything to resolve their own problems or look for solutions with the Sonata. (Any and every make and model has problems I'm tired of seeing the posts. Give me real solutions and fixes otherwise this site is lame).

True, the warrenty is still in effect but what are the cry baby's going to do when it expires and they are still making payments? (OH MY MECHANIC IS CHARGING ME TOO MUCH)

Just a note to all:
I usually eat a bowl of nice rice and spoon a tablespoon into my Sonata before responding to this forum.
P.S.

If you big block are so still into it, Why are on a ricer/nicer forum?
(My guess is because your wife told you to. SAD... SAD...!!!)

 

They should have put LED's on the light
The EF2 Sonata had them!

 

Thank you, sonata with seoul! It looks like "the wire thing" we felt up there is the lamp's twist-out socket.

One thing I'm not clear on: which end of the housing did you pry up, front (near passenger seat back) or rear (near rear window?)

There are too many on this forum that want to ask how, why,what and not do anything to resolve their own problems or look for solutions with the Sonata.

Could also be it's easier to look for a microwave solution then complain when there is none than get your hands dirty, set stuck, try something else, lather, rinse, and finally figure it out.

 

Originally posted by Dennis the Mennis@Jul 15 2007, 05:24 AM
One thing I'm not clear on: which end of the housing did you pry up, front (near passenger seat back) or rear (near rear window?)

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The back seat.
Additionally a surgical clamp (Or what I used to call a roach clip ) aids in twisting
the socket connector for removal and installation.

 

People are lazy, there is no surprise there.

I try to figure things by myself, but sometimes I just dont want to risk breaking anything so I dont bother.

 

sonatoa with seoul,
thanks a lot for the helpful post.
i was in and out of there replacing my high mount brake light.
i have just joined this forum and already find it very helpful!
:thumbsup:

 

OK. The post so far looks accurate. However, no one mentioned that you need a flexible screwriver to reach the **** screw. Off to Lowes!

 

When reassembling, take a good pair of wire cutters and cut the tail off the bulb housing to shorten it. If you do this it goes back in easy.

Ray
06 Sonata