70 taillight glitch

[Daniel Grunwald]

I recently found the outside tail light bulb on my 70 was rusted/ corroded in and wouldn't come out. The bulb was good and worked fine but for some stupid reason I just wanted to clean it up a little. When I turned it then the glass section turned separate from the base and then I needed to replace the bulb. After much bother I got the old bulb base out and cleaned up the housing and put a new bulb in. Now on that turn signal it doesnt wink but stays on steady and with the lights on it is on brake light all of the time. Anyone have a good guess as to the problem or should I just order a new housing. The spring loaded base seems to be OK and the contacts in the base look good and the tabs on the side of the bulb go in and twist to lock.
Daniel

[John H.]

Re: 70 taillight glitch

Check to make sure the bulb isn't installed 180 degrees off in the socket; if it is, the turn signal circuit may not have enough current draw to heat the element in the flasher (due to being connected to the "dim" taillight filament), and when the parking or headlights are on, that circuit will light the "bright" brake/turn signal filament. The pins on the side of the bulb base that engage the grooves in the socket are at a different height on each side from the bulb base, but it's still possible to install it backwards.

[Michael W.]

Re: 70 taillight glitch

Make sure it's the right type of bulb. The one you want has two round soldered contact spots on the bottom and has two internal filaments, the 'wrong' type has a single contact on the base and a single filament.

I think one is a type 1156 and the other an 1157, but forget which is which.

[Daniel Grunwald]

Re: 70 taillight glitch

Thanks for the responses. I have the correct bulb and it is in the socket correctly. Any other guesses?
Dan

[Michael W.]

My 2nd guess-

If you really struggled to remove the old bulb, it is possible the spring loaded plate in the bottom of the socket may have rotated out of position, despite the fact there is a feature to prevent this.

[Daniel Grunwald]

Re: My 2nd guess-

Makes sense Mike. I'll try looking at that next. Thanks.
Daniel