Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
If Lucas was the prince of darkness,Chrysler was king of bad grounds or shorts in bulb sockets. Dim lit bulbs,or other bulbs lighting up when they should not,is common when the housings are corroded from 30 or 40 plus years of exposure to the elements,moisture,etc.. There will be a time when the tailights or front turn signals or if equipped,cornering lamps act up,pop fuses, or just quit--even after installing fresh bulbs. Power going to socket..Yes,but why no light--or very dim??
Typical of the times,the majority of the sockets are pressed or stamped into the housings which doubled as a source for grounding the lights in them. The housings are made of potmetal,white metal or aluminum.When badly corroded,they are poor for grounding bulbs which can do funky wierd things to the lighting system. The housings are either hard to find in good used condition or simply not available in used or repop. Some car owners go on a trek to find complete taillight assemblies just to remedy a bad socket.That can be a long arduous and expensive journey depending on the car. Most cases the replacement housings are no better than what you already have.
I am going to share step by step a proven repair I have done in the past where you do not have to locate a complete housing. It is a cheap fix that requires a few tools,and some labour to modify the housing to replace that rotten bad old socket in your existing housing. You can buy a cheap replacement twist in style plastic light socket anywhere. When finished,this will save you a lot of headaches chasing down lighting problems,and not have to comb the earth for unobtainable light housings. I have butchered a couple examples in the pics for clarity. Tools: -Cutting disc on die grinder - Dremel tool with various cutting discs and grinding stones. - hammer - chisel or old flathead screwdriver Parts; -Replacement bulb socket -wire end connector
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
Here is the right front turn/park housing from my 68 that kept popping fuses.The corrosion may not look bad,but was enough to cause a bad ground and feedback into the brake lights.. No kidding it happened. Other culprits of bad sockets are old dried up lense gaskets allowing moisture into the housing,or broken/stone chipped lenses..
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
Ok,no turning back from here. Place the housing in a vise and with the cutting wheel slice off the socket from the housing. Cut almost to the bottom of the socket but away from the actual housing. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Sep 17 2010, 09:19PM ]</span>
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
With the hammer,chisel or old flathead screwdriver break up the remains of the old socket and remove.
Once that is done,do not be surprised to see the hole may be badly corroded or out of shape which may be the culprit. Remember corrosion creates resistance which creates bad ground connections Notice how thin the housing is where the socket used to be.... <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Sep 17 2010, 10:13PM ]</span>
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
Using various size stones with the dremel the hole on the housing has to be notched for the new socket. Also the center of the new socket is bigger and the housing hole needs to match up with it. ALWAYS TEST FIT OFTEN TAKING OUT SMALL QUANITIES. It is smart to check often since the housings can be junk if the holes are too big.
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
It should pop in the housing,twist and lock in ready for a bulb.. This is a big bonus since most housings require removal from the car,(front turn signals,and cornering lamps pre-1974 to mention a couple) or removal of the lense to replace the bulb. In some applications,a foam gasket or cork can be used to keep moisture out. With the twistlock,that is no longer necessary in most applications.. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Sep 17 2010, 10:20PM ]</span>
Joined: Sun Feb 26 2006, 08:46PM
Location: Kingston,Ontario
Posts: 5622
Cut and splice the new socket wires into the car's wiring. One other thing is the new socket will have an extra wire for the ground. This will bypass the poor ground of the housing. Simply add a wire end,and some extra length wire and ground it to anything accessable-typically the car body,or nearby bumper bracket--something with meat on it. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Fri Sep 17 2010, 10:05PM ]</span>
