tail light repair?

[The Captain]

Get out the drill a 3/16 bit and put a hole in the housing right next to the socket get a small headed screw that will make contact with the socket. Did this on 2 73 Chryslers. You could probably get it done in time for beer a for lunch.

 

[Jeff]

I do like beer, so maybe I will give that a try. It seems like it would wiggle loose pretty quickly though.

 

[The Captain]

Just thread a small screw in snug it. The repair lasted for years till I sold the cars. I tried soldering and different stuff but this worked and I did not have remove the tail lights.

 

[Big_John]

The screw sounds like a better idea if you are having problems soldering.

The way to solder it would be to tin the area first. Clean, flux, heat, apply solder to the area and wipe with a rag. Then you can solder the wire.

I like the screw idea though.....

 

[Fury440]

If it's plated, ie chrome or nickle, lead solder won't stick. You need a hotter torch and silver solder. However the heat may destroy the socket.

 

[vdk2010]

You can't solder Potmetal unless you have special solder like "super alloy 1". I removed the old sockets and replaced them with new ones.

I used Dorman 85806 for the single Wire socket and Dorman 85803 for the two wire Socket.

 

[bluefury361]

You can't solder Potmetal unless you have special solder


If your housing is pot metal be very careful applying heat to it. It will reach a point where it will disappear, (melt), right before your eyes.
Drill the old socket out and file fit new sockets as Julian suggested.

 

[vdk2010]

Will is right, I tried to solder pot metal and even with the special solder, i ruined the test piece.

I tried to drill the old socket out first but had more success by just bending in the inner lip with a pair of pliers.

 

[Jeff]

You can't solder Potmetal unless you have special solder like "super alloy 1". I removed the old sockets and replaced them with new ones.

I used Dorman 85806 for the single Wire socket and Dorman 85803 for the two wire Socket.

I'm going with these sockets. Thanks for the tip. I managed to get the old sockets out without damaging the housing. On the two wire sockets, does each of the two wires have to be correctly matched to each of the two corresponding wires in the harness? IE, is there a brake light wire and a headlight wire on the socket, or just two wires that make two different filaments light up in the bulb? Thx.

 

[65sporty]

I'm going with these sockets. Thanks for the tip. I managed to get the old sockets out without damaging the housing. On the two wire sockets, does each of the two wires have to be correctly matched to each of the two corresponding wires in the harness? IE, is there a brake light wire and a headlight wire on the socket, or just two wires that make two different filaments light up in the bulb? Thx.

Yes, one wire will be for the brake filament and the other for the running light filament. The brake is brighter.

 

[vdk2010]

I'm going with these sockets. Thanks for the tip. I managed to get the old sockets out without damaging the housing. On the two wire sockets, does each of the two wires have to be correctly matched to each of the two corresponding wires in the harness? IE, is there a brake light wire and a headlight wire on the socket, or just two wires that make two different filaments light up in the bulb? Thx.

The filaments arte different. Don't mix them up. Check the FSM for the correct wiring!

 

[Jeff]

Thx. Yes, from FSM I think dark green is brake and black is running light. The problem is the socket, which does not appear to indicate which wire is for brake, etc. I will just do trial and error to get it right.

 

[65sporty]

Use a test light on the car to see which is the running light and which is the brake/turn signal. Put a bulb in your new socket, ground it and put power on one wire at a time to see which is brake and running light.

 

[Jeff]

I installed the new sockets and decided to test the grounding before permanently connecting the wires. I put the housing in the trunk and attached a jumper from a good ground to the housing. Then I turned on the lights and put it in reverse and touched the appropriate wires to see if lights came on. The running and brake lights worked fine from the start. When I connected the wire for the reverse light, the light did not come on and the end of the wire immediately got red hot. I then improved the grounding of that socket and now the light comes on and the wire does not heat up. Is it normal for a wire to heat up like that when the ground is weak? I thought a weak ground would just make the light not work or light up weakly. Thx.

 

[Davea Lux]

I installed the new sockets and decided to test the grounding before permanently connecting the wires. I put the housing in the trunk and attached a jumper from a good ground to the housing. Then I turned on the lights and put it in reverse and touched the appropriate wires to see if lights came on. The running and brake lights worked fine from the start. When I connected the wire for the reverse light, the light did not come on and the end of the wire immediately got red hot. I then improved the grounding of that socket and now the light comes on and the wire does not heat up. Is it normal for a wire to heat up like that when the ground is weak? I thought a weak ground would just make the light not work or light up weakly. Thx.

It wont heat up because of a weak ground. Sounds like a short inside the socket.

Dave

 

[Jeff]

The end of the spring kept poking past the floating, flat part of the socket. I bent the end of the spring inward to stop that. I bet I bent it in too far and it touched the contact in the middle. Dumbshit move. I'll check it tonight. These sockets are pretty chintzy. One of the four two-wire sockets I bought won't even accept a bulb.
Edit: that is exactly what happened. Glad I asked!

 

[Jeff]

All done (with one side). They work great and look pretty good. I used Mopar wheel paint to freshen up the reflector side. I thought the bumps in the car right reflector were paint bubbles, but they are flaws in the casting.

 

[vdk2010]

The end of the spring kept poking past the floating, flat part of the socket. I bent the end of the spring inward to stop that. I bet I bent it in too far and it touched the contact in the middle. Dumbshit move. I'll check it tonight. These sockets are pretty chintzy. One of the four two-wire sockets I bought won't even accept a bulb.
Edit: that is exactly what happened. Glad I asked!

Good to know! I will check stat on my sockets as well!