Irish Mini Owners Club

My rear tail light doesn't work. It could be a fuse problem/circut problem or it could be that the lights need replacing. I have a new set of rear passenger lights and I wanted to know how much work is involved in fitting them i.e. do I need to take out the petrol tank? Any advise is welcome.

Yes you have to remove the petrol tank to remove and refit the rear lights.
It is fairly rare for the light unit itself to give problems, its usually the bulbs or the connections.
Check the plastic black connection at the light, you should be able to reach it between the tank and the light body. If you have a circuit tester, see if you have power there.

Are all the lights at the back not working stop/tail/indicator/boot light ?

If you need to replace the entire light unit, don't be put off by the thoughts of taking out the petrol tank. It's not as daunting as you may think. It won't have to come completely out either.

Thanks TMG & earthwormjay!

TMG - It's only the tail light that doesn't work. All others are in fine working order. Tried to replace the bulb, but it didn't work. I'll check the circut before embarking on dislodging the tank!

Is it just on the tail light, not on the breaking light?

Have you tried another replacement bulb, it could be a bulb fault (on the new bulb).

Its only on the tail light. Break lights and indicator lights work perfectly fine.
I took the bulb out (tail light) and tried a new bulb but it didn't work. I didn't try a second new bulb. This I will also try.

It's either the bulb, or dirt corrosion in the bulb holder.
Power to the bulb comes through the red wire with the green trace, but this also feeds the tail light on the other side also. If it were a power feed problem both lights wouldn't work.