While I was trying to fix poor contacts of bulbs and sockets in the rear, the single wire that runs to the license plate light came in contact with a (ground) wire that was bolted to metal. The tail and side marker lights, which had worked fine until then with the exception of one or two loose sockets/bulbs, stopped working altogether, but turn signal and brake lights and head lights still work fine. Does anybody have an idea what might have happened here? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Bought my 1968 350 HO in 2004 on Ebay for $11,000.
While I was trying to fix poor contacts of bulbs and sockets in the rear, the single wire that runs to the license plate light came in contact with a (ground) wire that was bolted to metal. The tail and side marker lights, which had worked fine until then with the exception of one or two loose sockets/bulbs, stopped working altogether, but turn signal and brake lights and head lights still work fine. Does anybody have an idea what might have happened here? Any help is greatly appreciated.
There are two wire filaments inside a 1156 bulb You probably fried one of them. Ie. your now faulty lights are only half working. Replace your bulbs.
Well, yes, it turned out that the fuse was burnt, thanks Bob! And yes, I replaced all sockets and bulbs, thanks Gus! Now both brake/signal and tails work again!!
I can only advise everyone to NEVER buy any of the white colored plastic sockets, as they are shoddy and just fall out. The black plastic ones (on Firebirdcentral.com PART NUMBER: LIG-704: http://www.firebirdcentral.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=LIG-704) have a great tight fit, and also the bulbs fit in tight.
Now waiting for new back-up-light sockets and bulbs to arrive, then testing those. I hope it's not related to any switch in my column shifter. That would exceed my beginner's expertise.
I also bought some LED bulbs to have brighter lights. Do you guys know if I can simply swap out the incandescent 1157 bulbs with the LEDs, or does that require any electrical adjustment upfront in the car?
Bought my 1968 350 HO in 2004 on Ebay for $11,000.
LED bulbs should work fine. There are two things to be aware of:
1. LED bulbs have polarity. For the tail light sockets this shouldn't be an issue as they are grounded to the housing/chassis and the bulb polarity is fixed based on the socket.
2. When using LED bulbs connected to the dimmer switch, not all LED bulbs are created equal. Some dim ok, and some basically go from on to off (aka no dimming). Basically a diode has a threshold voltage it needs to cross before it starts conducting (and lighting the bulb). If that threshold voltage is too high, there's not much room for the dimmer to operate. back to topic #1, the 194 bulbs in the instrument panel are socketed and the socket is not keyed. So if you use a LED there, you need to get the orientation/polarity right or the bulb won't work.
