Melting taillight lenses

I recently noticed some deformation in the shape of my teardrop taillight lenses. I've realized the plastic is actually being melted in the area right above the brake light bulbs. I removed the lenses and found no. 1156 bulbs in the brake light side, and they do look too big for that tiny space in the small end of the teardrop. I replaced them with the smaller no.97 bulbs and am getting new lenses. Has anybody else encountered this problem, what bulbs do you have for the brake lights?

Do you suppose the socket is wired correctly, meaning the + & - wires to correct terminal? If reversed it may cause a problem, dunno.

Doesn't look like anybody has ever monkeyed with the wiring there, and the functioning was okay, those bulbs just looked too big for the space, too close to the plastic. My theory is; when I first got the car I noticed the brake lights didn't work, I fixed that by cleaning the switch contacts, I believe the previous owner may have tried to fix it by replacing the bulbs which wasn't the problem.

I've seen this on other speedsters. It seems the bulbs get hot enough to start melting the plastic tail light lenses. I would imagine fiddling with the position of the lense and trying to reposition it a little to give more room between the bulb and the lense might help.

Just use a lower wattage bulb this will fix your problem.

until someone runs up the back of you because they didn't see your dim brake lights... !

See what "Dr. Clock" says, he would be the expert.

Hey no one ever said use a low wattage bulb. Just use what is suppose to be in there. 7-11 watts is fine.

This subject has been a pet peeve of mine ever since our wine tour run of 10/03. I noticed some guys cars had the brake lights wired to the out-board segments of the taillight.(IM's) Some the inner. We went back and forth on an earlier thread as to which is correct. I polled Henry, JPS and Carey Hines on the subject at Carlisle. IM's with euro lenses show amber brake/tail lights. When I asked Henry, he said he does his this way because of the pontential melting problem mentioned above. Hard to believe as the brakes lights on the inner segment will do this as they are on momentarily but I guess they get hot enough to make them get soft and deform. You can redo your lights for turn signals on the inner segment and brake/tail on the outer segments to fix the problem. I'm gonna keep mine as is and keep an eye on them.

BD

Automotive bulbs look identical but they have small differences
i.e. wattage... bulb glass size ...and of course pin base configuration.


Wrong bulb size / wattage / lenses are upside down ?

Alan M

Greg,

I had this happen with my license plate light. The bulbs were single element, but very large. I switched to bulbs half the size. The originals had almost damaged the clear lenses and were to large for the space. I left the backup bulb the same, as it is on for short times, of course there is the possibility all my forward gears could go out one night and I would have to back home and hope the light didn't melt. Just Kiddidng, but I believe it might be a common problem. Sorry I don't have the numbers, but 12v, single element.

Raymond

I have had this problem as well. It seems as though the lights that come with the original set are fine but replacements are usually the problem. My Canadian Tire replacement lights burnt through in a month. I have been told this is from a 6V set up being forced to change to 12V application. On the other hand when my IM changed lights to Euro the brake is in the inside which almost touches the lens with a double filiment bulb. Henry makes a "heat shield" out of aluminum and then silicones it over the inside of the top lens. I have had them run for 2 years now with no signs of melting. Plus, my amber/red lights are correct in their illumination. I have red brakes and amber signals.

Ben

Bill,

The rear lights for my Chesil arrived as a kit.

An original all red lense rear light unit, a new amber-red cover, and two new bulb holders.

The configuration for the all red unit was a dual filament outer bulb (brake/rear light) and a single filament inner bulb (indicators).

Clearly this is different to the european amber-red cover; hence the need to remove the original bulb holders and replace in the opposite configuration to match the new cover.

My understanding is that rear light bulbs should be 5W and indicators and brake lights 21 W.

Will check my lights over at the weekend so see if they're overheating.

David - sorry, didn't mean to offend with my comment - just concerned about safety.

I had a problem with my right rear brake light getting so hot it deformed and made a hairline crack in the lens. I never noticed a problem til I turned on my lights one night and noticed my right rear light was brighter then the left. Also, when I put on the brakes the right rear brake light never came on. When I have the lights off and step on the brakes both rear brake lights function normally. I realized the builder had accidentally swaped the right rear wires. I switched the wires and amazinly I now have a brake light on the right rear when I have the lights turned on. Also, no more problem with melting lens due to a brake light being on all the time.

Interesting, I'm gonna try these smaller bulbs, and I like the heat shield idea, maybe it could add some reflectiveness for the smaller bulb.

Read a different post from Ron O: "I like working on my car because all of my tools are right by my side when I need them.........". I'm sure that all of you have the same experiences.
Decided to pop off a lens and see what's in there! Can't take more than five minutes.........

First, Same as Simon for bulbs: Outer bulb is dual filament Tail light (6 Watt) and Directional (21 Watt). The inner bulb is Brake light (15 Watt). I'm also running a third brake light up above the engine cover - dual bulbs, unknown wattage - (keep reading)

BTW: The lenses are curved downward on the bottom, and more-or-less flat (horizontal) across the tops to make the rear of the lens more vertical.

When trying to get the outer bulb out of the socket, it didn't move much and I had to work it for a while before it came loose - cause? The socket had been corroded by moisture that leaked in around the plastic lens due to the lens being slightly too long and overlaping the hold-down screw mount, thus, holding it up off the gasket. Hmmmmmm.......walked around the house for 10 minutes before I found my Dremel tool, then buzzed the area of the lens around the mounting screw mount to give it the proper clearance - leak solved. Figured the other side was the same (and it was) so I clearanced THAT lens as well and put it back on.

Then I looked for another ten minutes for the little wire brush attachment for the Dremel to clean out the bulb socket and couldn't find it, so I used Emory cloth on a piece of wooden dowel after scraping the socket with a small screw driver.

Notice I still haven't found the dimensions of the bulbs yet.

Put all bulbs back on the left side, and found that the directional filament isn't lighting.......Hmmmmmmm.........then I remembered wrapping the wires up after returning from Carlisle - Maybe I pulled one out of the connector? Jacked the car up, put it on stands, unwrapped the tape from that side and sure enough, a fast-on had pulled loose. Pushed it back on securely and, Voila! Light works. Looked for another ten minutes for my electrical tape and finally got my new roll out of the spares kit under the hood to wrap everything back up.

While I'm lying there on the floor, I'm snuck up on by my two Jack Russell Terriers who attack me and start licking my face and ears....I try to sit up with a start and smash my head on the left Nerf bar end, yell at the dogs, then get yelled at by my wife, then everyone goes back to their neutral corners to stare at each other (I close the door to the garage).

Notice I still haven't found the dimensions of the bulbs yet.

Wrap everything back up, get the car down and call it a night (10:15pm by that time). Get on the computer this morning and remember that I haven't measured the size of the bulbs yet, so go back out, pull a lens and measure them with a caliper.

OK, the BIG bulb is 1 inch high and 1 inch wide, has two filaments which are 21 watt (brake) and 6 watt (tail) (marked: 12V21/6CP)

The Smaller bulb is 1 inch high and 3/4's inch wide at 15 watts (Marked: 12V15CP)

BTW: ALL of my running lights are 6watt - both tails and the running lights inside of the headlight assys. License Plate lights are 4 watts and the back-up light is 10 watts.

After all this, I wasn't about to pull the third brake light apart to see what's in there - it's working, and I'm not touching it, so there.

Some day I aspire to be like Ron O......Tools are always right where I put them (too bad Alzheimers prevents me from remembering WHERE the hell I put them), nothing breaks or vibrates apart, and the dogs stay at the door and wag their tails happily until invited in.

Greg: Hope this helps........

Gordon
One of the Speedster Guys from Rhode Island

P.S: Total time (including the original 5 minutes) was 72 minutes. No wonder it takes so long to get anything done!

Gordon:

Great story, and we have all been there. Loved the part about the dogs!

As for RonO's comments, keep in mind his current state of mind after having sold his Speedster. We need to remind him he doesn't have a car to 'work on'.

Bob

Yeah, I know. Ron's suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

I can just see him going out into his, now empty, garage, finding an old milk crate to sit on and positioning it just so, holding an old lid from a 5 gallon pail as his Nardii steering wheel and making engine noises while he pretend shifts; Brrrroooooommmm! Brrrooooooooooooommmmmm! Brrrrrrrooooooooooommmmmmmmmm!

Pretending to be on windy back roads and never getting out of third gear while leaning, slightly, side to side on his milk crate Recaro as he navigates the "twisties". Downshifting for that next tight turn and powering through it; "Whaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrr, Brrrrooooo000000mmmmmmm!

Think of it! He could be out there for HOURS!

Maybe he could forget convertibles all together and get a really good road course X-Box game and a set of desk controls - I hear they look and sound pretty realistic these days! No rain to contend with, either!

Oh if only I got my face licked when I'm toiling away underneath my Speedster! I never would crawl out from under there!

Simon you make a good point about the safety aspect of whatever gets changed, if I go with the smaller bulb I'm gonna test it by having my son drive it and I'll follow, got to feel confident about the brightness. But then again, he may choose to test the accelerator pedal instead and I'll never see any brake lights.

Gordon,

Do us all a favor and set up the video camera the next time you attempt to work on your car. Perhaps Mike Cochran can help you post it for us all to see.

Brings back memories of my cat "Ghost" helping me out during my build. He was in charge of the following tasks...

- Jumping on my chest while I was under the car
- Standing in the middle of whatever I was assembling/disassembling
- Getting cat hair in my freshly cleaned and greased CV joints
- Sleeping in my open wrench drawer of my toolbox
- Killing any and all bugs and rodents in the garage, and usually leaving half for me.
- Sharing a beer with me at break time.


Jerome

Nothing like some good shop Pussy
Cat!
Nuf said

There are more and more LED replacement bulbs available. They are bright, draw very little current, give off no heat, and are quite expensive, though they do last a long time.
The Ron with a car...

LED bulbs are great but....But,they don't have enough draw to activate the directional flasher a $pecial adapter ( street rod sources)has to be purcha$ed to make them work. Alan M

I bought a LED bulb by APC for my bike but it wasn't nearly as bright as the regular bulb. I came to the conclusion that some taillight housings designed with reflectors were made for incandescent bulbs. As the speedster sockets point the bulb upright, LED bulbs wouldn't work as they need to be viewed head on.

BD

Steve has installed an LED assembly within the "backup light" assembly to be used as a third brake light. It's pretty bright, does not spoil the look and hopefully will be an attention getter. This may be an interim step to installing a high mounted third brake light assembly, but first I want to see if any marauding SUV tailgaters make its presense merely incidental and not helpful.

BTW, I don't usually bring our Cocker Spaniel, Alibi, into the "shop" but perhaps I should. For her, it would be another venue for her favorite pastime, sleeping. Ah, the dog's life, short but pretty good. If I was to be reincarnated, I think being a Cocker would be pretty OK.
John H.

Yeah, and being JOE Cocker would have been awesome!

I just found one of my tail lite lens with the same sign of wrinkling.

I would really like to find some glass lenes. But Im going to try the Led Bulbs first on a new lens J.C Whitney, or Speedway Racing carry the bulbs in stock.

Were the original 356 lenses glass?

No,, not the tear drops But some of the early beehives were. But I sure wish they were glass.

Anybody know someone that does glass blowing and cut glasswork?