Brake / Tail Lights aren't bright during the day

In bright sunlight you simply cannot tell if I'm applying the brakes. The bulbs function properly - one filament lit with lights on, both lit when the brake pedal is depressed. I bought some high-lumen LED bulbs and they don't seem to be any more noticeable. I'm not sure if it's the sun entering the taillight from the outside drowning out the light from the bulbs or what.

Anyone ever experience this phenomenon? Is there a simple fix?

I have this very same problem. In a recent parade in my area, the guy behind me only knew when I applied my brakes by the shine of the third brake light on the trunk. Yesterday, I was waiting to make a left turn, with brakes and signal on, and I thought a large SUV wasn't going to stop behind me!! Kinda scary!!! I guess I need the same fix!!

I have to give credit to Hemi for this solution. The inside of the tail light gathers a lot of road dust and needs to be cleaned out periodically. Bob

I have this very same problem. In a recent parade in my area, the guy behind me only knew when I applied my brakes by the shine of the third brake light on the trunk. Yesterday, I was waiting to make a left turn, with brakes and signal on, and I thought a large SUV wasn't going to stop behind me!! Kinda scary!!! I guess I need the same fix!!

That's good and bad I suppose. I feel for your dilemma, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. I'm constantly glancing in my review mirror when braking/stopped and have resorted to using hand signals. I purposely won't drive my TC on a bright sunny day. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a summer car if I'm too afraid to drive it in nice weather.

I have to give credit to Hemi for this solution. The inside of the tail light gathers a lot of road dust and needs to be cleaned out periodically. Bob

Is it as simple as spraying the inside with some compressed air or should I break out some rubbing alcohol and qtips?

Hemi would use a brush with a soft end and insert it into the light after removing the bulb. I would try running it around a bit and then the air compressor as a follow-up to eliminate the dust should work. You may need to add a slight bit of water to the brush followed by a dry towel.

How hard is it to remove the tail light housings?

Very simple. The carpet pulls away from the corners, just held in place by velcro and the bulb holders take a 1/4 turn counterclockwise. From inside the trunk there are a couple of nuts to take off and the whole assembly will pull straight out.

You don't need to remove the tail light from the car. In the trunk peel back the trunk liner from the velcrow and you will have access to the back side of the tail light. There are 2 light sockets but if you feel it is necessary there are 4 bolts right there to remove the tail light.

In bright sunlight you simply cannot tell if I'm applying the brakes. The bulbs function properly - one filament lit with lights on, both lit when the brake pedal is depressed. I bought some high-lumen LED bulbs and they don't seem to be any more noticeable. I'm not sure if it's the sun entering the taillight from the outside drowning out the light from the bulbs or what.

Anyone ever experience this phenomenon? Is there a simple fix?

G&G gave a good explanation. When I demonstrated the process at TC National, I used 'AWESOME' which is a cleaning product available at Dollar General Discount stores. It is GREAT for cleaning the engine as well. I took out each tail lamp in order to keep the trunk dry.

Spray the 'Awesome' directly in through each bulb hole. Rub around thoroughly through the holes with your brush as shown, rinse out with plenty of water and blow dry with compressed air if available. You might see that the left side lens gets dirtier, that is because of the exhaust being on that side. It is amazing that it can affect it so much.

Cleaned my lenses today, the insides were pretty dirty as you fellas indicated. I used a similar brush and Simple Green. No compressed air, so I blew it dry with a leaf-blower!

I'm thinking the outside of the lenses need to be buffed out too. It's hard to tell being red, but they might be a bit hazy, kind of like how my truck's clear plastic headlights will fog from UV every few years.

Maybe I'm seeing things, but if I depress the brake with the headlights on in daylight, they are more noticeable than if the headlamps are off. I suppose as an extra caution it wouldn't hurt to turn the parking lamps on for the real bright days.

which brings me to my next question...

did anyone ever convert the old bulb sockets with something that holds up to date LED's?

I took out my taillights and gave them a good wash, inside out and buffed the outside -makes a big difference already..also replaced the oldschool bulbs with brighter blue bulbs...also much better in visibility...

but to make em really bright, it could only be LED...

Cleaned my lenses today, the insides were pretty dirty as you fellas indicated. I used a similar brush and Simple Green. No compressed air, so I blew it dry with a leaf-blower!

I'm thinking the outside of the lenses need to be buffed out too. It's hard to tell being red, but they might be a bit hazy, kind of like how my truck's clear plastic headlights will fog from UV every few years.

Maybe I'm seeing things, but if I depress the brake with the headlights on in daylight, they are more noticeable than if the headlamps are off. I suppose as an extra caution it wouldn't hurt to turn the parking lamps on for the real bright days.

Check out the following thread. Pretty cool stuff!!

http://forums.aaca.org/f144/tell-me-what-ya-think-368542.html

yep, saw that one...but thats a full conversion to LED...I was thinking of just replacing the bulbs with LED's not the entire strip...love the look! but I am also sure that I would get ticketed here in CA...

Check out the following thread. Pretty cool stuff!!

http://forums.aaca.org/f144/tell-me-what-ya-think-368542.html

the perfect link for conversions : I found it

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1990-chrysler-tc--rear+turn+signal/12-1058--441111/

the perfect link for conversions : I found it

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1990-chrysler-tc--rear+turn+signal/12-1058--441111/

I actually bought a set of those bulbs and wasn't satisfied.

I purchased 2 2057 bulb replacements for the tail lights, one for each side to see how much brighter they actually were. Firstly they sent me a wrong bulb that had to be exchanged.

Secondly you'll notice that when you plug them in, your turn signals will be inoperable. Unless you read the FAQ first, you'll find out that since the old dual filaments draw so much more current, the circuit will think a bulb is out and your turn signals won't flash on-off. You can buy the fix from them or your local parts store. They're sold as 'Load Equalizers' and run about $12 a pair at autozone. They're basically a large resistor you wire in parallel. Note it gets EXTREMELY HOT- So hot they recommend to permanently attach them with a metal hanger, preferably on the underside of the vehicle which means drilling through the floor of the trunk. If you want them inside the trunk, than means cutting away the carpeting.

Not satisfied with the brightness, (and I'll relent here, this may be because the lenses were so dirty) I tried two bulbs in the same side. Turn signals wouldn't work even with load resistor on each bulb.

Luckily superbrightleds has a 30-day return policy.