Jim NotreDame IN Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I was changing the tail lights in my 90 coupe and was curious about the bulbs being used? There are 10 #1157 style bulbs, but it only appears that two of them are wired as a double filament / double function bulb... is this correct or do i have a wiring issue? do the 1156 bulbs fit in these applications or do the mounting tangs on the bulbs not interchange? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 The rear lamps are all 2057s and you should have 6 of 'em utilizing the double filaments 3 for each turn signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 NOTE: My experience has been that the 2057LL (Long Life) bulbs do not fit as well as the standard 2057 bulbs. They are harder to get in and out of the holder (if not impossible) due to the glass part of th bulb being slightly larger at the bottom before it enters the metal than the standard 2057 bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwebb Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 The current production 2057LL bulbs made by Sylvania do NOT fit, the glass on the Sylvania bulb flares too much above the metal base to fit the Reatta socket. PHYLIPS 2057 bulbs (stocked by K-Mart), DO fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steveskyhawk Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 They all fit if you put a small bevel on the socket with a sheetrock or similar knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim NotreDame IN Posted February 25, 2008 Author Share Posted February 25, 2008 which three bulbs on each side? i moved my confirmed working bulb to all ten positions, and did not get dual function on the inside six, just the outside two on each side. was there a difference in years? i have a 90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadster90 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I just replaced all of the bulbs with 2057LL s...took a "talon" shaped tile knife, and just skimmed or shaved off a tiny bit of plastic at the top of the sockets and the LL bulbs fit fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_REATAMANZ Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 grrr you guys are a two months late-- I had the same problem and tried and tried with the long life ones. I took the bulbs back to auto zone thinking wrong bulbs or defective and got the low lifers- Thanks know have the solution it was not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Jim mentioned he had 1157s in there. I believe they used the 2057s in all sockets even though some of those positions did not require a dual filement bulb. I was recently changing some bulbs in my '39 Buick street rod and there were 1157s in those sockets but from parting out many Reattas I only had 2057 bulbs which I put in the '39 and they seem to work fine. My question is what is the difference between an 1157 and a 2057. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobwhite Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jim</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My question is what is the difference between an 1157 and a 2057. </div></div>The difference between the two is minor.115727/8.3 watts32/3 candlepower205727/6.7 watts32/2 candlepowerOtherwise they are the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booreatta Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 DUH Jim the difference between 2057 and 1157 is 900 LOL Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Here's a link to a previous post.Oh, I get it now... ND... en-dee... in-dee... Indy...Indianapolis... IN.!Damn, I'm so sslllooowwwww sometines.(I did get it. right???) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim NotreDame IN Posted February 26, 2008 Author Share Posted February 26, 2008 notre dame indiana actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Well.... I guess you can tell that I never went there. Drove by it a couple of times. Nothing rubbed off on me though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim NotreDame IN Posted March 1, 2008 Author Share Posted March 1, 2008 so the 1157's are actually a little brighter at idle? thats good to know. or they are higher wattage rather, candle power too. brighter is a vague word. do you know the conversion to MCD? (i believe that this is micro-candela-power). thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_JohnW Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 The rear lamps are all 2057s and you should have 6 of 'em utilizing the double filaments 3 for each turn signal.I count 14 total rear bulbs. All bulbs are lit with light on, Counting from left to right, bulbs 2 & 4 flash when using left turn signal and illuminate when hitting the brake. Bulbs 11 & 13 flash when using right turn signal and illuminate when hitting the brake.So I guess I need to change some defective bulbs. With 14 total bulbs, how many of each kind is required? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennyw Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 One of the better engineered items on a Reatta. Not for us, but for Buick. Think 14 bulbs. Chances are one of them is going to fail in the warranty period. Buick would have to pay the dealership for taking out the whole light assembly. Not a real biggie for us but costly for Buick. So they used a heavy duty version of the 1157 bulb. My thoughts are:> they used this bulb for all 14 because there is no heavy duty single filament bulb. Also no way to put the wrong bulb in the wrong socket when all are the same. Remembering my Gm assembly line experience, Most wiring harnesses came with the bulbs already installed. Gm outsourced this part to a low cost provider. Probably made in Mexico as ours were. Think of a box approx. 4ftx4ftx4ft. Had to be moved with a fork lift. In my 28 years I was on both ends. Taking them out and attaching the harness to the front radiator support of the cars and later bringing them to the line with a fork lift for the mini-vans, astro and GMC................ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Welcome to the wonderful world of Reattas........ GM or the supplier of the tailight harness decided it was probably easier and cheaper to make all the sockets and bulbs the same.Lets assume the tailight harness maker told GM/Buick that they could cost reduce the cable by using the same socket and bulb.......the saving is in inventory and balancing parts.The neat thing is if you have a stop/turn bulb burnt out, you can pull one from the middle and switch them........the three bulbs in the middle are only on with the driving/parking lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kennyw Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Barney:> was going to say that about switching the bulbs around as I am cheap. Usually the suggestion is to change all bulbs while you have the unit out. I only change the one that is bad. Or on the Reatta, just switch them as you said. Still think it was buick engineering that made the harness the way it is. Usually every penny is watched in material cost. The difference in actual cost of the two bulbs probably was just penny's. Gm made it up in not paying a dealer to change burnt out bulbs............ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Usually a different color of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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