rear lights playing up

[richard1705]

1 brake light works .1 is on all the time looks like bcz its alot brighter .also bulb gets very hot quickly not sure if its related . if its related .
I changed the bulb on that side bcz it was blown and gone white .
Any suggestions plz
Thz

[sujitroy]

regular bulbs or led. are the wires to the bulb holders correct. have they been swapped. also. is the switch by the pedal working ok.

[trunt]

?It’s almost impossible for a rear light to be on all of the time. Maybe you mean that with the sidelights on one side is bright like a brake light all the time? If so then absolutely check your connections at the bulb holders as Sujit suggests.

Terry

[richard1705]

regular bulbs .I was messing around with the 2 wires might have mixed them up.
the brake light switch .probably OK bcz 1 of them works correct .
will play with them tomorrow again.
thx surjit

[richard1705]

thats right trunt its bright like brake light on

[trunt]

Then you probably have the sidelight wire connected to the brake filament side ..swap the two

[richard1705]

thats fine.but now no brake light on that side

[trunt]

Do you have tail lights both sides now? Have you tried the reverse lights? I think on the left side brake light wire there is a double connector that feeds the brake light power to the right side.. is that ok?

[richard1705]

if I put wires back to how they should be I have no lights on the right except revers and indicator ok.
I see what you mean about double connector the red one I will take it apart later .might well be that.as I remember moving it and lights flicked on.
cheers

[trunt]

Ok. Yes check the double connectors, also make sure that the bulb holder for the stop and tail light is grounded properly, it relies on the securing clips for a ground and can be flakey. Wiggle it around a bit with the lights on.. see if it comes on

[jbuckl]

The earths are indeed flakey.
Renewing the holders doesn’t usually help though they are a flakey pressing & struggle to make a reliable contact.

[DJT]

The earths are indeed flakey.
Renewing the holders doesn’t usually help though they are a flakey pressing & struggle to make a reliable contact.

It is easy to solder an earth wire to the bulb holders.

[Woody3466]

Dave, I also have temperamental indicators and you mentioned soldering an earth. As I am an idiot I need detailed help! do I just need to get some earth cable, solder one end to the bulb holder and one end to frame of the lights, using a blade connector so it can be undone when replacing bulbs etc?

[sujitroy]

on both my mk1 Stags there is a ground points riveted to the metal light cluster. I did away with the rivets and screwed them in with a self taping screw. I also solderd the ground of each bulb holder those springy holding clamps to the copper bot in the holder.