Help-I hate chasing lights

[60drvr]

My 98 box, Rachel, blew a headlight the other night. I have halogen bulbs, headlight came out nice and easy, but low beam still won't work after replacement? I have another bulb and thought maybe to change that out and see...but any tips??? The other crazy one is the left brake light. I have the correct bulb/wattage/etc. but it still won't work. I did buy a multimeter the other day to check to see if voltage is getting to that bulb slot but I have not had a chance to check it. It is clean and corrosion free. Thanks, I love my car, it is sooo fun to drive.

[wvicary]

Maybe this is your cars way of protesting cause you named it Rachel?!?!?!

[Lil bastard]

My guess would be that the light fixture didn't seat itself completely in the electrical connector when you pushed it back in, or it is corroded, I'd pull it and reseat it carefully - be sure not to bend any of the pins when you push it back in... this isn't uncommon.

Also, there's a good chance that the other bulb will go in a short time, so be prepared. This is because of two things - both bulbs have the same number of duty hours on them, and the new bulb will have less resistance than the old one and send more curent to the other 'old' one still in service causing it to burn out more quickly.

Another good reason to replace headlights in pairs is that headlights dim over time and replacing only one will usually give you uneven illumination which can cause eye fatigue when driving at night.

[Jeph]

Originally Posted by 60drvr

The other crazy one is the left brake light. I have the correct bulb/wattage/etc. but it still won't work.

Ooh! I bet you're trying to utilize the right-hand-drive rear fog light location. It has a place to put a bulb, but that's not the brake light. No power goes to it.

Get some one else to step on the brake while you stand behind the car. Look on the passenger side to see where the functioning bulb is. Now visually trace that general area on the driver side for the corresponding brake light.

If I remember correctly, the non-operational fog light is higher up on the tail light. The brake light is the inner-more (towards the exhaust) corner of the tail light.