Brake lights

[Carmine]

Hi everyone. Some times my brake lights work, sometimes they don't. Like now, the passenger side isn't working but the driver side is. I'm fairly confident that if I wiggle the sockets, they will work for a while. I tried to clean the contact points of where the socket meets the body, but this still occurs. Is there a product or substance that can be used to promote a good contact?? Guess this would be a socket grounding issue. Many thanks, Carmine.

 

[bobs409]

Very common problem on these cars. I added ground wires to my 66 Chevelle.

Let's see how others battle this nuisance.

 

[Jim Sullivan]

I have had a few issues with bad connections on my tail lights. I have one socket that the metal insert starts to come out of the socket housing, I remove the bulb and press it back in put the bulb back in and it's good for a while until it vibrates loose again. One day I'll replace the socket.

Make sure the ground tabs on the socket are good and clean and the socket snaps tightly into the light housing for a good ground.

 

[blkblk63ss]

My son's 64 is that way,,, not working wiggle the bulb socket to taillight housing and they work till they eventually quit again,those are original. On my 63 I have replaced the whole car wiring from American auto wire ant the socket's are very tight in the tail light's ,actually hard to snap in but they stay working. Old socket's just wear out ...... You can get a new deck lid harness and the rear wiring harness that goes to front kick panel. Or you can buy new socket's and solder into your existing harness .personally I would get new harness ,then all wiring and connector's are new.

 

[skipxt4]

The new sockets, that are sold today, are terrible. They work for awhile, then the same thing happens. They slide out of the plastic housing. Then, spreading the tabs, only corrects the problem, till they break off. Save your money, and look for originals. What I did with a couple off mine. I put a dab of Brown Permatex, in the housing, and slid the metal socket, back in. So far, so good.

 

[bobs409]

While were on this subject, I seem to have trouble with headlights as well. Some come on dim or don't come on at all until you wiggle the plug on the back, probably from lack of use I've tried cleaning the terminals on some but usually doesn't last.

I hardly ever use my head lights but would love to find a good fix for this too.

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Bob, I've had a few headlights in the past that have had the soldered connectors on headlight come loose. Had to replace the bulbs(maybe could have re-soldered them, but the bulbs are cheap).

I have also had wore out connectors in the plugs. Sometimes they can be squeezed a little to tighten them after there pulled out of the plastic connector.

 

[roger gunter]

90 % of all elect. problems are the GROUNDS

you can bend the tabs on the tail light sockets out and make a good tight connection
just don't bend them to far and break them
you can take a piece of wire and solder it to the tabs and then put an eyelet on the other end and screw it to the body

 

[bobs409]

They feel like they go on tight though.

 

[nana1962409]

I had the same tailing hit problem on my 62 Impala. I rewired the whole car with an American auto wire kit and still had the same issue. What I ended up finding was that I didn't have a good ground between the light housing and the body. Cleaned an area between the housing and body and the problem was solved. This might not be the issue in your case but it fixed mine.

 

[blkblk63ss]

The new sockets, that are sold today, are terrible. They work for awhile, then the same thing happens. They slide out of the plastic housing. Then, spreading the tabs, only corrects the problem, till they break off. Save your money, and look for originals. What I did with a couple off mine. I put a dab of Brown Permatex, in the housing, and slid the metal socket, back in. So far, so good.

Well pleased with mine they look exactly as original.American auto wire duplicates connector's wire and socket's.

 

[skipxt4]

Yes, their wire harnesses, look like originals. Even their wire ends look quality, unlike what the resto places are selling.I bought 6 tailight housings from Resto World. Very disappointed. Bought a few, from OPG. Same Junk.

 

[Carmine]

I've bought some sockets from vendors and they look cheap and don't seem to stay in position very long. With me, it's definitely a grounding problem. Have to figure out the best approach possible, Carmine.

 

[Carmine]

Well pleased with mine they look exactly as original.American auto wire duplicates connector's wire and socket's.

Do you know if you can buy just sockets from AAW ? Thanks, Carmine.

 

[Carmine]

I just emailed AAW and I'm awaiting an answer. Just saw at Summit that they sell an AAW steel single wire socket part#500157 for $7.20. Suppose to fit a 1 1/8inch hole. Would I need a single wire?? Thanks, Carmine.

 

[roger gunter]

single wire would be the hot side
ground would be through the socket connection to the body
just have to make sure you have a good ground at the body
the socket would have to be really tight into the socket hole to make a good ground

notice how many times the word ground come up

 

[bobs409]

I just emailed AAW and I'm awaiting an answer. Just saw at Summit that they sell an AAW steel single wire socket part#500157 for $7.20. Suppose to fit a 1 1/8inch hole. Would I need a single wire?? Thanks, Carmine.

Single wire for a back up light, double wire for brake/park lights.

 

[blkblk63ss]

Carmine,,,,, you need 4 double wire socket's .....AAW #18995 @ $12.00 each,for brake and tail light's. You need 2 AAW #35900 single wire socket's for the back up light's,@$12.00 each. Of course you know you will have to solder those in , which is not hard to do. These are AAW part number's . Make sure you specify 1962 Impala, of three supply place's summit is cheaper. If you google AAW and these part number 's it will take you to their website.

 

[bobs409]

Damn, that's a lot of money. Personally, I would try to clean and adjust the originals first. If you can get them to fit in tight with a clean connection they will probably work fine.

 

[blkblk63ss]

Damn, that's a lot of money. Personally, I would try to clean and adjust the originals first. If you can get them to fit in tight with a clean connection they will probably work fine.

As long as the metal part is secure to plastic ,yes if done properly you could get them to work if the ground lug's are not weak you could try and bend them out a little to tighten.