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Brake light not working.

Hi all,

(this is a repost of my message to uk.rec.cars.misc - totally forgot that this group existed!)

When I took my Ibiza into the garage the other week to get the rattling noise sorted, I also noticed that the left brake light wasn't working. I asked him to replace the bulb, which he did.

Just checked my lights today and the same light has stopped working again. I did notice a week ago that there seemed to be water getting on to the cables behind the bulbs somehow, but not actually on to the PCB with the bulbs in. The water was just dripping into the bottom of the boot.

I would assume that this repeated outage is something to do with that water, but the rear lights (i.e. the ones that come on with the front lights) works fine - its just the filament that doesn't light up when you put the brakes on. Surely if it was water damage, the bulb would just stop working altogether?

I've replaced the bulb and its working now, but I'm assuming that this is going to keep happening. Any ideas what is causing it, if it isn't the water?

Cheers, GazChap.

Reply to
gazchap
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Did you check the contacts when you replaced the bulb? If the contacts are burnt or corroded then a bulb can work initially but the poor connection then generates arcing which can further damage the contact on the new bulb - thus causing it to stop working. Take a look at the contacts and clean them up with a piece of emery cloth or fine wet 'n dry. You can also try bending the contacts so that they make firmer contact with the bulb.

Kev

Reply to
Uno Hoo!

The message from snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk contains these words:

Repeated bulb failures are often caused by loose connections. The rapid on-off doesn't do 'em any good at all. I'd check the jaws of the connectors to make sure they're biting the pins tightly.

I'd also check I'm not using elCheapo bulbs.

Reply to
Guy King

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