Rusting light sockets
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,367
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From: Woodstock, GA
Rusting light sockets So as we all know our front parking / turn signal lamp lenses leak - and with the nature of the socket being vertical, water get's in and kills the lamp and eventually the socket. I've replaced several in the life of this car.
Today I blew out all of the moisture, replaced the lamps and sealed it with silicone .
Has anyone ever tried that? Im curious to see how long these lamps will last like this.
Today I blew out all of the moisture, replaced the lamps and sealed it with silicone .
Has anyone ever tried that? Im curious to see how long these lamps will last like this.
Some members have seen general quality issues with the aftermarket replacements. If you are going to keep the car a while, you may ****** up some OEM lenses, while we still can.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2011
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Likes: 144
From: Woodstock, GA
It's more the fact, I think, that the lenses are set in the bumper which takes a beating from road debris. I've lost a few, but they have all cracked; from stones, birds, squirrels, etc.
Some members have seen general quality issues with the aftermarket replacements. If you are going to keep the car a while, you may ****** up some OEM lenses, while we still can.
Some members have seen general quality issues with the aftermarket replacements. If you are going to keep the car a while, you may ****** up some OEM lenses, while we still can.
When I changed a bulb a few months back , my sockets were rusted. My lenses are in great shape and car has always been garage kept ,driven in rain maybe 4 times in its life with 46,470 miles on car.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Woodstock, GA
Fortunately the rotten sockets can be had new at the parts store for around 10 bucks. I've changed them out a few times. It also allowed me to extend the wiring out so that I can pull them completely out from the front and not have to deal with the lamp swap from the hatch below.
Fortunately the rotten sockets can be had new at the parts store for around 10 bucks. I've changed them out a few times. It also allowed me to extend the wiring out so that I can pull them completely out from the front and not have to deal with the lamp swap from the hatch below.
The hairline cracks on the face are structural and sprays/clearcoats will just crack through. Tapes work but look like junk. At the point the face of the lens is cracked, then they need to be replaced.
Are you talking about leaks where the socket screws into the back of the lens? There is a rubber grommet back there to make the seal. New grommets can be had for a few cents. If those have gotten bad and rotten, why not just replace them with a new rubber seal?
Are you talking about leaks where the socket screws into the back of the lens? There is a rubber grommet back there to make the seal. New grommets can be had for a few cents. If those have gotten bad and rotten, why not just replace them with a new rubber seal?
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Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,367
Likes: 144
From: Woodstock, GA
I always replace the rubber gasket when I change out the socket. There is still moisture that rusts out the socket from somewhere. If the lamb was inserted horizontally at the back, that problem would most likely not exist.
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That's the problem to figure out. I'd think that if you took the lens out and did some testing in a sink, you could find it.
I recall that some other T/A owners have had issues with the backs of the lenses cracking from heat, etc. Maybe that's happened here? I'd normally suggest to switch to a Formula bumper (including the Formula lenses), but I suppose that's not practical for you.
I recall that some other T/A owners have had issues with the backs of the lenses cracking from heat, etc. Maybe that's happened here? I'd normally suggest to switch to a Formula bumper (including the Formula lenses), but I suppose that's not practical for you.
Its the socket, not the lense seal. I did a test (note you can only do this with LED Bulbs as they do not get hot.) I taped some plastic shielding over the bulb and socket area so the entire socket is covered by plastic... Run through heavy rain, not a drip got into my lenses... Take the plastic out and I will have puddles of water accumulated in the lense. This is even with new sockets and rubber grommets.
So as we all know our front parking / turn signal lamp lenses leak - and with the nature of the socket being vertical, water get's in and kills the lamp and eventually the socket. I've replaced several in the life of this car.
Today I blew out all of the moisture, replaced the lamps and sealed it with silicone .
Has anyone ever tried that? Im curious to see how long these lamps will last like this.
Today I blew out all of the moisture, replaced the lamps and sealed it with silicone .
Has anyone ever tried that? Im curious to see how long these lamps will last like this.
.
The factory sockets and lenses don't do this when the car is new. So my first pondering would be if this is due to bad seals in aftermarket sockets? (We've seen this in other aftermarket equipment with bad/improperly sized wire seals.)
The socket has the larger grommet, which seals the socket body to the lens housing and then individual wire seals, which seal the wires to the socket body cavities. All are replaceable, although the wire seals would probably require a special crimper and new terminals (they are crimped to the terminal, also) or a proper Delphi socket would need to be installed.
The socket has the larger grommet, which seals the socket body to the lens housing and then individual wire seals, which seal the wires to the socket body cavities. All are replaceable, although the wire seals would probably require a special crimper and new terminals (they are crimped to the terminal, also) or a proper Delphi socket would need to be installed.
The factory sockets and lenses don't do this when the car is new. So my first pondering would be if this is due to bad seals in aftermarket sockets? (We've seen this in other aftermarket equipment with bad/improperly sized wire seals.)
The socket has the larger grommet, which seals the socket body to the lens housing and then individual wire seals, which seal the wires to the socket body cavities. All are replaceable, although the wire seals would probably require a special crimper and new terminals (they are crimped to the terminal, also) or a proper Delphi socket would need to be installed.
The socket has the larger grommet, which seals the socket body to the lens housing and then individual wire seals, which seal the wires to the socket body cavities. All are replaceable, although the wire seals would probably require a special crimper and new terminals (they are crimped to the terminal, also) or a proper Delphi socket would need to be installed.
I would say much more likely to occur with aftermarket housings but my factory housings on my 97 RS did this too. Sometimes I wonder if its because over time the heat from the bulb in some way warps the assembly, they get pretty hot in that confined space - the same thing lead to cracking of the lenses on my Firebird which I was forced to use LED bulbs to resolve.