Im not sure if this is the right section to put this in but both of my rear parking lights will not work. i have replaced the bulbs and nothing. what is weird is when i pulled the socket out the bulb was shattered and stuck in the socket pretty good. so i look at the socket and it has two wires going into it. the turn signal bulb socket has three wires. all i can find at local auto parts stores is 3 wire sockets. would there be a way to splice the wires for this to work on a two wire socket?

oh ya.....i am now a 4th gen trans am owner

 

Sounds like water is getting to it

 

ya does sound like that. do you know anything about using a 3 wire socket in lieu of the 2 wire?

 

You need the proper socket. The three wire is for a different type of bulb.

Just look at this catalog, figure out which socket you need. http://delphi.com/pdf/contact/brochu...balCatalog.pdf

Section 6.1 has all the sockets. If your problem is just that the metal contacts are corroded, you can take apart the socket and crimp on some new wire ends. Mouser electronics sells most of these parts.

 

I looked for the proper socket. everywhere i look i can not find the proper one. all the posts i have seen in this forum all point to the direction of a parking lamp socket as 85881 by dorman. this is a three wire socket. mine is two. im not sure if the wiring is messed up in mine or something but i really need help. can anyone point me to a part number?

 

Did you look in the catalog posted above? They are all two wire sockets and the exact match.

 

ya i did look at the catalog. i saw three wire sockets. it has 3057 wedge type bulb. anyways a little update. i really suck with electrical stuff. i cut the wires from the socket. looked in the socket and it looked kinda bad but not horribly corroded. i took the 2 wires that plug into the socket and just touched them to the light. i got nothing from that. it is both sides.

 

Ok never mind guys i was being a complete moron. The lights wouldnt turn on because I didn't have my car in reverse doh

 

Did you really expect the white lights to come on otherwise?

For future reference: Rear Parking lights are not the same thing as your reversing lights:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting

 

no i was just being stupid. my tail lights are blacked out so there is no white light unless you put the car in reverse. i am well aware of what parking lights are but i just really wasnt paying attention. thanks for the help. i do have another issue if you could help me. i replaced all the bulbs. the front turn signal bulbs will stay on when the car is turned on....the parking lights are on...but when you turn the headlights on the one on the passenger side will stay solid but the driver side will go out. the signals function as they should.

 

Weird.

This is the DRL/turn signal filament.

This is the parking light filament.

This is the parking light filament again.


So, you can turn the headlight switch to parking and then all yellow lights are on - and then when you turn one more click for the headlights, the driver's side yellow goes off? How does the marker lights on the fenders act when you are in parking and then headlight mode?

Just for kicks - (this should have no impact on a T/A) what happens if you turn on your high beams?

Do the turn signals operate properly with the headlights on and off? (I assume they do.)

 

An odd thing about Firebirds... the front lights stay in DRL mode (bright filament) when you select P on the headlight switch. The only time the dim (parking light) filament is used is when the headlights are on.

It would appear you either have a burned out filament in your left front lamp or you mistakenly used a 3056 single filament bulb instead of a 3057 dual filament bulb.

 

Markers are fine. No impact when i turn on brights. The turn signals act fine either way. I could have mistakenly used the wrong bulb. i will check in the morning and give an update. thanks.

 

yep a 3056