Melting taillight

[66NICK98]

My passenger side taillight (red one) on my 66 appears to be melting from

the heat of the bulb. I'm almost 100% sure that I replaced all of the bulbs

at some point years back to make sure the correct ones were being used.

Can there be anything else to cause melting of the lens?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[JohnZ]

1157's are the correct bulbs - is that what you have?

 

[Tom Bryant]

I have seen this happen when there was a problem with the turn signal switch and both elements in the bulb were staying on constantly. It would appear like a brake light was sticking on. Have you noticed any problems like that?

 

[66NICK98]

Thanks Tom, John
I have not noticed the light remaining on but I will look into that.

Is there a specific problem that would cause the light to stay on?

Nick

 

[Tom Bryant]

I'm not sure what the specific problem would be if you find that a brake like is occasionally sticking on. I'd go in there and look for anything that looks like it has been shorting out or a bare wire ect. It could be a centering problem too.

 

[66BBdriver]

I had a brake light switch short out and the lights stayed on . This cost me a new set of lens.

 

[66NICK98]

Thanks everyone for your replies...the bulb is indeed a 1157 and seems to be centered

in the socket but the melting does in fact occur on one side and it is the only lens

that is melting. However, I did replace two lenses when I first got the car.

 

[magicv8]

I installed 1157 halogen bulbs with more light from the same watts. The bulb glass is much smaller and therefore farther from the plastic lens. I have no more lens problems as long as I remember to pull the brake lamp fuse when the car is on the wheel alignment rack with a spring rod on the brake pedal for an hour.

 

[66NICK98]

thanks magicv8. where did you get those bulbs from?

 

[magicv8]

The bulbs are made by Design Tech. You can order them here (for instance): http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs..._ID:2003601&productId=2003601&catalogId=10111