Problem with tail lights - help!
Discussion
My near side rear light cluster is somewhat dimmer than the offside rear cluster, I noticed the other day from a distance and thought all the bulbs had blown. On closer inspection, each bulb is only putting out about half the light of the equivalent bulb on the other side of the car.
I took the unit out and looked at the bulb holder piece, there appeared to be a small amount of corrosion on the negative terminal of the reverse light but other than that, there wasn't much else.
The car in question is a 2008 Pug 308. I fear that if I leave it, eventually they'll dim out so much the entire cluster will stop working.
Any ideas/thoughts on how to fix this? Cheers
I took the unit out and looked at the bulb holder piece, there appeared to be a small amount of corrosion on the negative terminal of the reverse light but other than that, there wasn't much else.
The car in question is a 2008 Pug 308. I fear that if I leave it, eventually they'll dim out so much the entire cluster will stop working.
Any ideas/thoughts on how to fix this? Cheers
If it's anything like my wife's 208 the whole rear cluster comes out when you want to change a bulb. Had your problem once and the cluster wasn't a perfect seal against the weather so all the contacts inside were corroded, tried cleaning them up didn't help that much and just bought a new cluster wasn't massively expensive either.
SnailTrail said:
I would test the voltage across the plug going into the back of the unit. If the voltage being supplied to the unit isn't lower than normal my first assumption would be an issue with the unit itself.
Just a suggestion!
I'd do this first too. As the problem affects the whole cluster check for proper earth connectiom to the cluster. If in doubt then make a proper wired earth connection between car body and cluster. Whole cluster itself may not be faulty.Just a suggestion!
Our faithful tidy old 206 has started developing similar probs.
Eta, check for full voltage between live and an earth at the cluster itself, then between live and bodywork earth. Should be same voltage reading.
Edited by quiraing on Friday 27th February 18:55
Well known issue in Pug circles, the earth isn't up to the job and burns out over time. Cleaning the connector up will only be a temporary fix at best.
You need to take the plug off the end of the cable and replace the connector pins and plug. You can get the bits from a dealer, should cost less than a tenner. Easy job if you're confident with electronics - they're just crimp connectors which you then run a bit of solder over. Shouldn't take a competent auto electrician more than an hour if you don't want to tackle it yourself
You need to take the plug off the end of the cable and replace the connector pins and plug. You can get the bits from a dealer, should cost less than a tenner. Easy job if you're confident with electronics - they're just crimp connectors which you then run a bit of solder over. Shouldn't take a competent auto electrician more than an hour if you don't want to tackle it yourself
Well known issue in Pug circles, the earth isn't up to the job and burns out over time. Cleaning the connector up will only be a temporary fix at best.
You need to take the plug off the end of the cable and replace the connector pins and plug. You can get the bits from a dealer, should cost less than a tenner. Easy job if you're confident with electronics - they're just crimp connectors which you then run a bit of solder over. Shouldn't take a competent auto electrician more than an hour if you don't want to tackle it yourself
You need to take the plug off the end of the cable and replace the connector pins and plug. You can get the bits from a dealer, should cost less than a tenner. Easy job if you're confident with electronics - they're just crimp connectors which you then run a bit of solder over. Shouldn't take a competent auto electrician more than an hour if you don't want to tackle it yourself
Mystery solved - kind of...
Took everything out and apart, cleaned everything up and had a good poke around. I connected up both left/right side bulb holders and switched the sidelights on, both sides were exactly the same brightness, thought "great, all fixed then". Put the main lens thing back on and noticed the left side was dimmer again. By power of deduction, it must be something to do with lens plastic, not electrics.
By peering through the textured lens, the problem became apparent. The reflectors in which the bulbs sit behind the lenses are chrome plated, to help reflect the light outwards. On my left cluster, the chrome plating has completely disintergrated, leaving just a smooth bare plastic "reflector". I've seen this before on a Pug 207, the chrome plating had disappeared to leave the bare plastic underneath.
Going to be a whole new cluster I think.
Took everything out and apart, cleaned everything up and had a good poke around. I connected up both left/right side bulb holders and switched the sidelights on, both sides were exactly the same brightness, thought "great, all fixed then". Put the main lens thing back on and noticed the left side was dimmer again. By power of deduction, it must be something to do with lens plastic, not electrics.
By peering through the textured lens, the problem became apparent. The reflectors in which the bulbs sit behind the lenses are chrome plated, to help reflect the light outwards. On my left cluster, the chrome plating has completely disintergrated, leaving just a smooth bare plastic "reflector". I've seen this before on a Pug 207, the chrome plating had disappeared to leave the bare plastic underneath.
Going to be a whole new cluster I think.
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