All,

I am in the process of "making legal" my daughter's Brick.

The car failed inspection, when the brake lights would not light. The inspector noted that the 3rd light burns, but the corners were barely noticeable (if they burned at all). I also had the "bulb out" sensor light burning when the brakes were depressed & perhaps randomly at other times.
So I followed rec's from others here, cleaned the tailight circuit board, sanded the bulb holder plug terminals, and installed 2 new 1157 lamps.
A quick test showed the "bulb out" indicator went away, but the problem is still there.

What I noticed was both lower outside positions of the tailight covers were "melted" directly at the brakelight bulb. I will replace with new covers,
but I am pondering what caused this...wrong lamps possibly? Don't want a repeat with coves at $85 each...

With all cleaned up, and retested, the brakes are still are not noticeable when the headlights are on (i.e. taillights burning)....it sure looks to me that the lamps are both burning all the time...when the head/tail lights are switched off they seem to be correct brightness (1 filament lit).

Has anyone ever seen these lense covers melt? What was the rootcause? I can not get this car inspected to be street legal until I solve this mystery.

Thanks,

DET

SaabMeister + 1 Brick

I've seen it before. The likely cause is water getting into the old lamp housings- the corrosion and mess in there causes stuff to get warm. The bulbs do get really HOT under constant use- hours spent sitting in traffic on a hot summer day might, over time, warp the taillight housings.
Add a little water into the mix, and odd things can happen. You know you've had water in there when the brake light bulb is cracked, white, cloudy or yellowish (not amber). When fixing old lights, I dry them out inside, and if needed drill a tiny (1/16 or so) drain hole in the outer bottom corners to prevent reoccurring water problems.
New light assemblies will fix it though.
Make sure the sockets go back in the right places. The brake light sockets are not interchangeable from left to right. I think you should have a white one on the right.
I wouldn't worry too much about it- with new lights you'll have no worries for years. But for good measure, make sure the spare tire is secured with its strap- I'm convinced that left lights take a beating from movement of unsecured spare tires and tools.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 229K, 88 744GLE- 218K, 82 245T-181K Also responsible for the care and feeding of: 88 745GLE, 231K, 87 244DL, 239K, 88 245DL, 246K

Try flipping the brake light bulb holders[*] from the left to the
right side and vice versa. If the holders are put in on the opposite
sides, it causes the brake filaments to light up when the taillights
are supposed to be on, and the taillight filaments to light up when
you press the brakes. This results in bright taillights and brake
lights so dim as not to be visible when the taillights are on.
The brake filament being on continuously will probably melt the
reflectors as happened to you.


[*]-> by holders I mean the round things that the bulbs fit into,
not the light assemblies themselves.


Good luck,
-b.