65 Front turn signal assembly - how to remove electrical socket?

[Guest Rivdog]

65 Front turn signal assembly - how to remove electrical socket?

 

I have had problems with my front parking lights and turn signals. I ran some tests and found that the socket with the two wire prongs that make contact with the bulb had bad springs and were corroded. I bought new ones but I cannot figure out how to remove the electrical connector from the housing. I didn't want to break it if there is some trick.

 

Here are some pictures to show you what I'm talking about. Thanks to anyone that can tell me what I need to remove them.

 

 

[alini]

The socket is not intended to come out.  The replacement you have in the pic is going to require you to cut out the socket in the lamp and then insert it from the back.   I had one of those installed in mine, I went and found a better correct socketed lamp off Ebay,

[telriv]

No need to actually remove the socket for faulty springs behind the wires. Cut the wires, replace the springs/wires, solder & shrink wrap back together.

[KongaMan]

My experience is that the springs are generally still good.  What happens is that the wire gets hard and/or dirty and no longer moves back and forth easily through the base. That is, you depress the contacts a bit when pushing the bulb in to remove it, but they won't spring back out to make contact with the new bulb.  If you can clean, straighten, and lube the wire, you can often get it working again.  Of course, that's most easily done by having access to the back of the housing.  And that means pulling the whole housing.

 

The problem with cutting and splicing (if you're a purist) is that the offending section of wire is often right next to the end cap.  You can't really remove the bad wire without losing the cap as well -- but you need that cap as both a spring retainer and contact.  If you can't find a new cap, a blob of solder on the end of the wire can make a functional substitute.

 

Another problem that you sometimes see is that the area between the socket and the housing corrodes so you lose your ground.

[Guest Rivdog]

9 hours ago, alini said:

The socket is not intended to come out.  The replacement you have in the pic is going to require you to cut out the socket in the lamp and then insert it from the back.   I had one of those installed in mine, I went and found a better correct socketed lamp off Ebay,

 

Hmm. I thought the one I bought was a direct replacement for what was in there. Any suggestions (tool) on how I should "cut out" the socket that is in there? I need to get old ones out and replace with the what I thought were OEM replacements in there. 

[PWB]

A

1 hour ago, Rivdog said:

 

Hmm. I thought the one I bought was a direct replacement for what was in there. Any suggestions (tool) on how I should "cut out" the socket that is in there? I need to get old ones out and replace with the what I thought were OEM replacements in there. 

A Dremel with small cutting attachment, steady hands, safety glasses. Of course you destroy the old socket.

Slowly grind it out from within the I.D.

[alini]

I would follow Tom's suggestion and rebuild it.  Your contacts are corroded, sand them up or replace the wires themselves

[RivNut]

Ditto.  Use the wire and spring from the new one and clean up the boot on the end of the old one.  As long as the contacts are clean and  the wire will slide in the boot, you're good to go.  Use as much of the new wire as possible, it's still flexible.  Sometimes it may be necessary to slit the sleeves on the boot to give them some room to allow the wire to slide in them.  The condition of the socket in important to ground the lamp housing and holding the lamp in place.  A good cleaning is all it needs.  There a video on YouTube that shows a guy doing this to a turn signal for a GTO.  It's worth watching.

[Guest Rivdog]

2 hours ago, RivNut said:

Ditto.  Use the wire and spring from the new one and clean up the boot on the end of the old one.  As long as the contacts are clean and  the wire will slide in the boot, you're good to go.  Use as much of the new wire as possible, it's still flexible.  Sometimes it may be necessary to slit the sleeves on the boot to give them some room to allow the wire to slide in them.  The condition of the socket in important to ground the lamp housing and holding the lamp in place.  A good cleaning is all it needs.  There a video on YouTube that shows a guy doing this to a turn signal for a GTO.  It's worth watching.

 

PROGNOSIS...NEGATIVE.. 

 

It's too late for that, the patient's already dead. I destroyed the old socket on my first attempt to remove it. I was finally able to remove it completely with a butane torch and a wrench. 

 

So then I put in the "direct OEM replacement" (hahaha) and it still doesn't work. I finally figured out that housing doesn't have a good ground. So probably the entire time it was a poor ground that was causing the issue, not the socket at all. I wouldn't have figured this since it's mounted to the chassis with 3 bolts. Oh well. 

 

 

[RivNut]

 at least with new parts, you'll be assuring yourself a good ground.  On the tail lights on both my '63 and '64's, I've replaced the OE socket with a Ford type socket that has a dedicated ground wire soldered to the base.  I then ground that wire to the body.  Works much better than trying to get a ground through old die cast. Which you've now discovered as well.  

[Guest Rivdog]

Yes I won't be making this mistake on the right side. Just curious, do you have a suggestion for a OE socket with a ground wire? This is for the front left on a 65.

[RivNut]

I found something like this in a local jobber's HELP section when I did mine.  This picture was copied and pasted from the www.etrailer.com  website.  It could be a solution for your front bulbs as well if the hole is a 1" hole.  Stick the socket in the hole and the spring tangs hold the socket in place.  The red and black wires provide 12V for the parking and turn signal (front) or tail light and brake light (rear) and the brown wire is a dedicated ground.   I'm sure there are many solutions out there.  First thing I'd do is make a trip to Advance, O'Reilly, NAPA, or Autozone and see what's on their shelves.  

Ed

 

 

 

Here's another one from Dorman.  I has the ground tab to which you can attach a dedicated ground wire. Dorman products can ususally be found at any Jobber.

You just have to make sure what size hole you're filling and get the proper socket.  

Edited December 26, 2016 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Scott Mckenzie]

The only other thing  is to remove all the corrosion. I use a vinegar soak or molasses immersion https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=molasses+rust+removal 

  It only takes away the rust

[Guest Rivdog]

On 12/26/2016 at 6:27 PM, RivNut said:

I found something like this in a local jobber's HELP section when I did mine.  This picture was copied and pasted from the www.etrailer.com  website.  It could be a solution for your front bulbs as well if the hole is a 1" hole.  Stick the socket in the hole and the spring tangs hold the socket in place.  The red and black wires provide 12V for the parking and turn signal (front) or tail light and brake light (rear) and the brown wire is a dedicated ground.   I'm sure there are many solutions out there.  First thing I'd do is make a trip to Advance, O'Reilly, NAPA, or Autozone and see what's on their shelves.  

Ed

 

Here's another one from Dorman.  I has the ground tab to which you can attach a dedicated ground wire. Dorman products can ususally be found at any Jobber.

 

You just have to make sure what size hole you're filling and get the proper socket.  

 

Thanks Ed. Really good suggestions. I had planned to solder a ground wire onto the ones I have but after seeing these I think I will go your route.