bulb carrier cooking

M

Monkeydonkeyratmagic

Member
 Windsor
Morning all.

Happy traffic free Monday.

I replaced the rear leftmost tail lamps bulb carrier the other week as it was always flickering out. And it went off again last night.

Took the carrier out and it's brown inside and completely dead.

Any idea what can cause this? It's just this one all the others are perfectly fine. There is no water ingress whatsoever.
 
maybe the bulb wasn't held securely enough & its resulted in carbon tracking/burning of the holder?
Rob
 
Could also suggest it was a problem with a previous bulb? Possibly previous owner?

Number of times I've run across problems and its due to the car being a second hand vehicle. You've no real idea how the previous owner/s and garages actually took care of the vehicle. Sometimes bodging a fix just to sort out a problem superficially.
 
Something is causing excessive resistance. A loose, crusty or poor connection inside the the holder, incorrectly rated bulb (or cheap one) poor earth, degraded insulation in the holder or connector not sitting right will be the cause. If the holder is toasted its already most of the above so should be swapped out, preferably with a new bulb. :thumbsup:
 
What I might try is buying another rear light. I can get one for 35 Inc 4 carriers and try that out. It's £11 just for a carrier. Anyone know if the painted trim part on the e85 can be swapped out. Can't recall what colour mine actually has on the inside. Are they all silver? I really cannot be bothered with dicking about with connections
 
Monkeydonkeyratmagic said:
Ducklakeview said:
Just replace the carrier with a new one for £11? That's be my choice if there are no other problems.

Mike
Click to expand...

A new one has only been in for 2 weeks. It replaced an already fried one.
Click to expand...

And has that one started to go?

Mike
 
Looks like it from the opening post. Replaced and already fried again. I suspect a cable issue that is shorting, or perhaps if the same bulbs were used that that one is causing an issue.

I would test with a new bulb.
 
Ducklakeview said:
Monkeydonkeyratmagic said:
Ducklakeview said:
Just replace the carrier with a new one for £11? That's be my choice if there are no other problems.

Mike
Click to expand...

A new one has only been in for 2 weeks. It replaced an already fried one.
Click to expand...

And has that one started to go?

Mike
Click to expand...

It's gone completely. All browned up inside.

Could this happen from the bulb taking too high a wattage. I did just stick the same bulb in the new carrier as it was fine.

I guess an easy test would be to put that bulb into a different carrier socket and see if it takes that one out. If it does its the bulb.
 
You are better off changing the bulb TBH, or better still getting to grips with a cheap multi meter, there are lots of good how-to articles out there.
It will quickly tell you where the resistance is as you are restricting your search to one side of the common light circuit, basically the holder, connector/wires, bulb or earth. I'd be suspecting the bulb first in this case.
Worth a read https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a4246/4314662/
 
I'd try the new bulb as mentioned above. It might save you burining out another carrier!
 
OK so the bulb that killed both carriers does look slightly different to the others. So pulled another carrier and bulb from the other side and put it in that offending spot. Will give it a couple of weeks. It took that to kill the replacement so need an equal measure. If it pops this one then it's the light or wiring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom