Brake light

[primetime]

Guys, My passenger side back brake light has been acting wierd..I get the indicator on my dash saying its burnt out, and when i check it is indeed out. I mess with it a little, take the bulb out no sign of the bulb being bad, check the gizmo that holds the bulb everything appeared to be fine although it was very hot. I'm assuming its supposed to be hot since I had my lights on (it was night) so the bulb had been in use. So I put it back in, and figure to get a bulb at the auto store later on. When i get back in my car I throughly check the brake light again, by itself, with the headlights on and everything. It works fine. I'm not sure what the problem is...But i dont want to be checking my damn brake light every time i want to drive somewhere. Any ideas?

[Boston X5 4.4]

Originally Posted by primetime

Guys, My passenger side back brake light has been acting wierd..I get the indicator on my dash saying its burnt out, and when i check it is indeed out. I mess with it a little, take the bulb out no sign of the bulb being bad, check the gizmo that holds the bulb everything appeared to be fine although it was very hot. I'm assuming its supposed to be hot since I had my lights on (it was night) so the bulb had been in use. So I put it back in, and figure to get a bulb at the auto store later on. When i get back in my car I throughly check the brake light again, by itself, with the headlights on and everything. It works fine. I'm not sure what the problem is...But i dont want to be checking my damn brake light every time i want to drive somewhere. Any ideas?

probably corrosion leading to bad connection in the bulb housing- common problem. A little sanding and all should be fine.

[Kamel Jockey]

I had the same problem with mine once, it was due to condensation in the housing that started to corrode the contacts that physically touch the bulb when its inserted. After using a little sand paper to sand the contacts clean the issue was resolved.

[primetime]

Nice..Thanks guys..so you mean sand the metal prongs inside the gizmo that actually holds the bulb right?

[Kamel Jockey]

Originally Posted by primetime

Nice..Thanks guys..so you mean sand the metal prongs inside the gizmo that actually holds the bulb right?

Exactly

[primetime]

Thanks Kamel!!

[dkl]

Use the "search" button and you'll find plenty of threads about this common issue.

[Quicksilver]

Just type in tail light and whamo.............

Originally Posted by dkl

Use the "search" button and you'll find plenty of threads about this common issue.

[jdigiova]

I had the same problem but it was the front turn signal. I took out the headlight assy. to change the bulb but found the bulb to be ok.

On further inspection, I noticed one of the metal leads that runs down the side of the bulb connector had sunk into the plastic holder probably due to heat. That meant that a positive connection could not be made. A new bulb solved the probelm.

[primetime]

I'm gonna try the sandpaper method..I think that should do it..