Technical rear light cluster repair

[koalar]

pretty self explanatory
this one was flashing double speed when using the brake

10mm socket is so much easier

press here to release the connector

above done forget to clean up the other half. Scrap with a screwdriver blade is normally enough

above, Line up these First.

 

[Martin Y]

I just repaired a similar fault (brake light was dim and made the indicator glow, and vice versa) but found using 800 grit wet & dry paper on the obviously overheated contacts didn't restore a good connection. So I added an extra wire to jump across the bad connection (with a spade connector in the middle so it can still be unplugged) and that worked well.

As I hope you can see, I used a "vampire" tap to join a new wire onto the black ground wire near the plug, and drilled a small hole next to the connector on the cluster so I could feed the wire through and solder it onto the ground strip. Spade connectors in the middle made assembly easier.

When the same thing happened on the other side a few years ago I tried to find a replacement lampholder but found I had to buy the entire light assembly, plus I needed a replacement connector too. Seemed terribly wasteful and expensive so I'm glad this cheap fix worked.

 

[garyfshutt]

pretty self explanatory
this one was flashing double speed when using the brake

10mm socket is so much easier
View attachment 402848

press here to release the connector

View attachment 402849View attachment 402850View attachment 402851View attachment 402852View attachment 402853View attachment 402854View attachment 402855View attachment 402856
above done forget to clean up the other half. Scrap with a screwdriver blade is normally enough
View attachment 402857
above, Line up these First.

Thank you for the info. Mine is actually doing the double speed flashing as well. So maybe this thread will do the trick. Cheers

 

[garyfshutt]

I just repaired a similar fault (brake light was dim and made the indicator glow, and vice versa) but found using 800 grit wet & dry paper on the obviously overheated contacts didn't restore a good connection. So I added an extra wire to jump across the bad connection (with a spade connector in the middle so it can still be unplugged) and that worked well.

View attachment 411775

As I hope you can see, I used a "vampire" tap to join a new wire onto the black ground wire near the plug, and drilled a small hole next to the connector on the cluster so I could feed the wire through and solder it onto the ground strip. Spade connectors in the middle made assembly easier.

When the same thing happened on the other side a few years ago I tried to find a replacement lampholder but found I had to buy the entire light assembly, plus I needed a replacement connector too. Seemed terribly wasteful and expensive so I'm glad this cheap fix worked.

Hi Martin Y. You got the same colour car as mine. Thanks for the info. Gary.