Parking Light Problem

[Blitz1770]

My passenger side parking light / turn signal has never worked correctly since buying my car. At first I thought it was the bulb. So I unscrewed the lens, and by just wiggling the bulb slightly it would light up. After driving only a couple miles, it would go out again, and I would have to repeat the process to get it working again.

Since I rarely drive at night, it haven't worried about it. But I recently decided to fix it. After unscrewing and pulling out the entire parking light assembly, I found that it was damaged and partially crushed:

I assumed that had to be the cause of the problem, so I ordered a pair of new parking lights. Install was pretty simple; it only took a couple minutes to hook up. But afterwards, it wouldn't light up at all. I tried swapping it with the other new light, and it also wouldn't work. I then swapped the old one back in, and it also no longer works. I don't have much experience working on electrical systems, but as the old parking light was still functional before replacement, I would assume that indicates there's no problem with the wiring between the switch, the firewall bulkhead, and the parking light. What could I possibly have changed to keep both the new and old parking lights from working?

 

[Shorthorse]

Your original socket was obviously damaged but if the harness is original you might have compromised the connection simply by the act of plugging and unplugging the connector. Get a voltmeter or a test light, turn the lights on and look for voltage on the connector pins from the harness side. Also, always make sure the housing is well grounded. If both elements fail it's usually that especially if you have a whole new unit.

 

[Blitz1770]

After some more investigation, I finally solved the problem. I turns out someone previously spliced in a new pigtail connector about five inches down from the parking lamp socket. While disconnecting the connector from the original damaged parking light, I must have pulled the splice loose underneath the electrical tape. It's fixed now and I have two working parking lights.

 

['68 Charger]

Don't you just love previous owners BS wiring hack jobs.

 

[Richard Cranium]

How'd you like to figure this mess out?