Hi all, I have a issue with all the rear lights which seems common as every wa6 I have seen on the road, they all have LED issues in some way, I have removed and replaced the inner lights as they are simple but the outer lights are dealer only according to the manual. Has anyone found the elusive 3rd nut as I have looked everywhere and don't want to strip the insides out if possible.

There is no instructions anywhere and even ford are pretty clueless. 2 of the nuts are easy but the lower one is hidden. Any help from someone who has changed their disco flashing smax leds would great.

800 for a full set of lights, robbery 🙂

 

 

There’s only two nuts as you open the tailgate the rear fixing is a pin built in the lamp which pushes in to a captive clip in the quarter panel 

 

41 minutes ago, Gaz0000000 said:

There’s only two nuts as you open the tailgate the rear fixing is a pin built in the lamp which pushes in to a captive clip in the quarter panel 

 

Omg are you serious? So the two bolts you remove then the lower third is in the clip? I can see clip I think I took a pic of it, do you have to press it in or anything? Thanks for the reply.

I’ve circled it , it’s like a threaded bolt which just pushes in to the clip , you will have leaver it out gently 

21 hours ago, Gaz0000000 said:

I’ve circled it , it’s like a threaded bolt which just pushes in to the clip , you will have leaver it out gently 

Thanks but that's the wrong car mate, 2010 to 2015 wa6, I just tried everything but there is without doubt a 3rd nut somewhere, I have stripped it and can't find the lower of the three nuts

Try this 

 

Thanks but wrong car again lol, the 2010 to 2015 has non removable rear lights as the bulbs should never need to be replaced, there is 3 x 10mm nuts connected to 3 captive threads, the pre 2010 have 2 10 mm which have plastic hand nuts and can be removed easy to replace bulbs.

If you have anything on the the 2010+ LED you will be a star as there is nothing on the internet anywhere, one guy asked ford who also didn't have a clue. Someone said you have to strip all the rear plastic but I can't see why as you can access every part without removing. Thanks for the replies.

 

Looking at your pic this one seems to show 3, do you know how to get at the one I've circled?

There’s only one picture from 2010 onward unfortunately you have to remove the trim which is coloured yellow as per ford instructions 

 

Just now, Gaz0000000 said:

There’s only one picture from 2010 onward unfortunately you have to remove the trim which is coloured yellow as per ford instructions 

 

Thanks gaz, do you know how to remove the trim, the image shows it moves forward towards the front of the car is this correct?

 

Thanks for all your help and what software are you using?, I have the ford odb software.

21 hours ago, Gaz0000000 said:

There’s only one picture from 2010 onward unfortunately you have to remove the trim which is coloured yellow as per ford instructions 

 

Hi Gaz,

 

Your help was invaluable, for anyone else tackling this in the future the advice from gaz will help, some pointers going forward, you don't need to remove the side panel plastics, I will link a video on how I did it but you save hours just by pulling out the trim, the third hidden nut is behind the 3 little plastic tabs as shown in the picture above, just use sticky tape on your socket to get it out so it doesn't drop.

You will need a small socket set with extension bars of varies lengths, a  10mm socket but you need a deep reach socket as the studs are long.

And a flat blade screwdriver, I recommend a plastic pry tool too as this saves scratching anything.

 

Good luck 🙂

 

I'm a bit late for the party but let me share my experience with removing rear right LED light on S-Max 2014.

 

I managed to remove the light without stripping any of the plastic trims in the back. You can work just by removing the big (lower), and small (upper) plastic doors.

The first two nuts (10mm) are visible and easily removable, the third one, also 10mm, is hidden behind the panel. I've marked it on the image #4. You can not see it, but you can feel it with your fingers. There's a rectangular recess in the panel, just enough to insert the 10mm small ratchet extension and loosen the nut. After that you can undo it with your fingers. Don't forget to press the plastic retainer just above the wire connector when removing the whole light assembly from the car.

 

 

I saw also a flashing LED on my 2011 S-Max (facelift). Flashing disappeard when I drove for 2 hours, so I think the cause of flashing LED's is a weakend battery.

This is manual instruction repair Ford S-Max rear tailgate LED lamp:

https://takoto.pl/en/ford-s-max-rear-tailgate-led-lamp