Reatta front parking lamp assembly

[Barney Eaton]

I have one of these out of a car and it had something rattling inside so the logical solution.......tear it apart.

The first picture to help you understand the bulbs....... it shows the harness and the different bulbs....the small amber bulbs are 194A.    The two large halogen bulbs are 890

 

Next one of the 890 bulbs does a dual function....it is give a lower voltage so it has the intensity of the 194A when in parking mode,  when you turn on a turn signal, it get full voltage, is much brighter and flashes.

That is where the rattle came from.......the amber shield/cover was broken.   I always thought it was a glass tube,  but it is actually the glass part of a common amber bulb....see comparison (left is common bulb, right is broken part)

sorry about the poor quality.

I think we could modify a common amber bulb to work....you can see I removed the metal socket end but the glass bulb is sealed,   next step is to see if it can be heated and the end opened.   If we have any one out there

that works with glass......please give us some guidance.     One of the other pictures shows three spring fingers that hold the amber bulb in place.    I can think of several ways of making this work....if we could come up

with a process..    I believe many of these parking lamp assemblies are discarded because the amber part is broken.

 

 

[Philbo]

What if you made a process to modify the back of the reflector piece to accept the common amber bulb.  Then swap out the connector.  I think they would take the same voltage right?  You could solder a different connector and then cut the back of the reflector to accept the new bulb.  Hopefully that makes sense.

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

If we have any one out there that works with glass......please give us some guidance.  

 

Turn Signal Light Amber Globe Repair    It's been on ROJ for years.

[Ronnie]

BTW, what breaks the amber globe is buying the wrong bulb, one that is too long, and forcing it into the amber globe when you install it. Auto parts stores will tell you that the 880 and 890 bulbs are interchangeable but in this application they are not.  I learned this the hard way. Luckily my globe didn't break it was just pushed out of the metal holder. I was able to reinstall it but it still required quite a bit of work.  You don't have to disassemble the light to change the globe. It can be removed by prying off the cover to get it out and replace it as shown below. Then glue the cover back on.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[Barney Eaton]

Thanks Ronnie

I don't remember seeing the information you already had on your site...........thanks for the information.

I was thinking after modifying a standard amber bulb,   maybe finding some tubing that would fit on the outside of the glass and gluing that to the glass... by making the tubing longer

some of those longer bulbs would work and not break the fix.  

 

I have some 890 obtained from a local source  the brand is LUKS apparently made by a company in Florida and they are 1 5/8 from the gasket.

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Barney Eaton said:

I have some 890 obtained from a local source  the brand is LUKS apparently made by a company in Florida and they are 1 5/8 from the gasket.

 

That should work fine but I don't think I have ever heard of that brand.  The 890 bulbs are getting harder to find so grab them while you still can. The 880 is easy to find but it is the one that is too long and it's the one that the parts store will try to convince you is a suitable replacement for the 890.  In most cases it probably is but not for the Reatta turn signal. 

 

Where the problem starts is when the unsuspecting Reatta Owner tries to change the bulb himself from underneath without knowing about the damage the longer bulb can do. They go to the auto parts store and rely on him to give them the correct bulb but he gives them a bulb that is too long. Thinking it should just go into the hole the old one came out of they push so hard the globe is damaged. Then they discover what use to be an amber colored turn signal light is white and they don't understand why.  Like you say, a lot of light assemblies are probably scrapped because of this.  It would be nice if an amber replacement bulb could be found. I did a lot of searching for one when I had the Reatta Store  but I never found one. 

 

880 is on the left. 890 is on the right.

Edited November 10, 2019 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[Roadster90]

Hi Folks...

 

Any sources anywhere for new or used  bulbs please?

[Barney Eaton]

I have new 890 bulbs .......in the box made by LUKS..... as noted they are 1 5/8 which Ronnie says is ok.    Using the original amber globe,  they appear to have about 1/4 inch clearance.

$8 each plus shipping

Edited November 10, 2019 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)