I checked my parking lights with the switch half out and they worked as you said. Now I have to figure out how to keep those two little contacts touching the bulb. Is there supposed to be a spring of some type to maintain tension against the bulbs? I was thinking of using the springs from a pen. I was going to slide the wire through the spring from the outside and hope it works.
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Re: Parking lights II
Many sockets use a spring loaded contact base to maintain interference fit electrical contact with the lamp. Over time, these spring(s) CAN fatigue resulting in poor/sloppy contact. There are three alternatives:
(1) Replace the socket with a fresh new one (sometimes easier said than done as some sockets are press-fit into the lamp housing).
(2) Clean up and stretch the original springs. But, this depends on the specifics of the particular socket... In some, the electrode(s) install in a phenolic insulator board at the bottom of the socket and by pushing the lead wires from the back of the socket, the wires, springs and phenolic board will move up/out of the socket far enough to grasp and manipulate the springs. But, on other style sockets, the base is captive and can't be manipulated.
(3) Take the lamp out of the socket and very carefully add solder to the base terminal to make it longer and better push against the fatigued spring(s). The caveat here lies in your soldering skills.... If you apply too much heat for too long during the soldering process, you can wind up damaging the contact integrity to the lamp's filament.... -
Re: Parking lights II
I haven't read the entire thread, but if you're talking about C2 parking lamps, I recently dealt with this problem myself. As Jack Humphrey suggests, the springs can become weak; in my case, it was worse--the spring was apparently rusted and not moving freely within the socket. I found that spraying WD40 (liberally) into the socket and then pushing down and releasing quickly on the phenolic wafer on which the lamp contacts sit, over time had the spring reacting with more and more rebound, until eventually good, reliable contact was made with the bulb. Unfortunately, I fear this is a process that will have to be repeated, since the sockets are exposed to moisture and the springs will corrode again and "stick" in the socket.
Someone I recall seeing, was offering a form of parking lamp socket rebuild kits, but I have no idea how well they work or how hard they are to install.
Good luck!
GrantComment
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