Tail lights

[gotrice]

My tail lights are rubbish. I have pulled everything out and given it all a good clean and made sure that it all is good to go and replaced all the lamps/bulbs and still I have problems with it. The right indicator has a mind of its own and I am constantly having people tell me "Hey mate your parkers dont work", or "Your left brake light is broke". One a week I drag my lady out to check that everything works and sure enough something is not right every time, but jiggle the bulb and it comes good.
What has everyone else done? Have people replaced the whole lot? If so from where? I would love to get a whole LED setup but havent really done enough research to even get that far.
Any help would be great.

[karmen]

i'll send u a neat clean repl set for $75 incl bulbs he he
no cracks
came off a 80 diesel

[FACT HUNTer]

Follow the earth or negative wires to where they connect to the body and make sure the female connector is tight on it's male counterpart.
If it's slack,squeeze the female connector with pliers to make it a tight fit again.

We all get a bit slack with age.

[Jarred]

just tap the light to make it come back on.

also works for headlights.

if not change occours. wait till tomorrow.

[paulie71]

tail light assembly in old Mk1's are notorious for:
A. rubber seals perishing in the Australian heat & sun
B. metal brackets start to corrode because of A.
C. rear hatch seal leaking and allowing water to cascade into cargo area and ultimately the tail light assemblies.

If you can replace hatch seal then get to cleaning up the lights as follows:

If the lenses are OK (not going opaque or losing their colour):
1. rip them out, clean them up real well and try to replace rubber seal with a new rubber strip (Clark Rubber might be the go) and add some silicone based lubricant to the rubber before you reassemble.

2. for the wiring, clean up the metal holder and connectors, replace an dodgy connectors with new ones (crimp set will do) and reassemble.

lots of fun for all.