MeLtEd 3Rd brake light replacement

[Electrajim]

So I dug into my third brake light, aka high mounted stop light, and noticed that the reflector assy. is melted around the bayonet based bulb, effectively capturing the bulb in eternity.

I hear that this is a frequent event in all bulb based GM cars, and that there is a replacement reflector/bulb base available, possibly in the HELP line of replacemnt parts.

How have you handled this guys, short of dealer part replacement?

Thanks,
ElectraJim

[Keller]

I've had this same thing happen, but not so severely. And not in a TR, but in my '86 V6 Regal. Shortly after I bought it, I realized that the white light I saw in the rear window when stopping at night was due to the center brake light having a hole melted in the top of it. I just grabbed another housing from a junkyard and swapped it out. Of course that was 10+ years ago, and it was easier to find these cars in the yards.

I would suggest that the easiest, and cheapest, thing to do is exactly that. It would not have to be a Buick or Grand National one of course. In fact, I think the only thing that makes the housing 'fit' the G-body is the rubber part that touches the window and the pedestal, both of which can be changed out with another grey housing and internals. In a real pinch, another color one could be painted to match. Hopefully it would not come to that.

As far as "why did it happen", I would make sure the switch under the dash that activates the light is not adjusted to leave that light on all the time. That would cause it to overheat, and get the housing melty-melty. When I saw a picture of my T at the track with only the center light on, I knew I needed to dive under the dash and do some adjusting. They can get messed up. It could just be age or the reflector getting messed up, too.

As far as the HELP line of products: A quick look at the catalog didn't show such a product. Only a tail light socket. But give it a try at http://www.dormanproducts.com/

[Electrajim]

My goal is to replace the reflector with a new one, and replace the bulb with a LED style (carefully selected) to end any melt-down issues.

Fortunately, I didn't have any melt-thru in the top like you had, Scott. My grey housing has a little square metal shield, directly above the bulb, averting such melt-thru.

I'm curious if you had one in place, or not.

I would guess that any salavage yard find would be in the same shape as mine.

ElectraJim

[Keller]

Fortunately, I didn't have any melt-thru in the top like you had, Scott. My grey housing has a little square metal shield, directly above the bulb, averting such melt-thru.
My metal piece had popped loose. That's why I had the melt-through problem on the V6 car.

The LED bulb sounds like and excellent idea! And I think a writeup of this (and all your bulb work) would be something everyone would be interested in.

As a side note: I was in a local parts store yesterday and saw an "LED bulb fixer kit" that was to correct fast blinking from use of LED signal bulbs that didn't give the correct load to the flasher circuits. The 'kit' was two high wattage (think what is on your 86-87 TR cooling fan for its slow speed setting) resistors, and a bunch of push-on wire clip connectors. The package gave a stern warning to keep the kit components away from plastic, because they could get hot and melt things. :ugh: Not the correct solution. Jim has put in the time and done the research to find the _right_ way to do it.

[Electrajim]

My metal piece had popped loose. That's why I had the melt-through problem on the V6 car.

The LED bulb sounds like and excellent idea! And I think a writeup of this (and all your bulb work) would be something everyone would be interested in.

As a side note: I was in a local parts store yesterday and saw an "LED bulb fixer kit" that was to correct fast blinking from use of LED signal bulbs that didn't give the correct load to the flasher circuits. The 'kit' was two high wattage (think what is on your 86-87 TR cooling fan for its slow speed setting) resistors, and a bunch of push-on wire clip connectors. The package gave a stern warning to keep the kit components away from plastic, because they could get hot and melt things. :ugh: Not the correct solution. Jim has put in the time and done the research to find the _right_ way to do it.

I'll consider a small writeup, but I don't claim to be an expert, nor do I have the finances to do much of an A-B test on LED bulbs.
The LED fixer kit is a high watt load resistor designed to simulate a conventional bulb in a turn signal/stop system. Some late model cars will turn on a tell-tale light if you sub a regular bulb for a LED. The system thinks that you have a burnt out bulb, and that's the way it will warn you.
The "fixer" will also put a closer to normal load on a signal flasher, that depends on normal bulb current loads to flash. An electronic turn signal flasher can remedy this too.

Keep in mind, LED bulbs are not really brighter than a regular bulb, they just look different.

ElectraJim