96 SEVILLE TAILLIGHT BULB SOCKETS

[franey]

I have been trying for two years to find a solution to the taillight wiring harness problem , of the dual element sockets, in the harness not working properly. If you have one of these cars you know what i am talking about. The original sockets are a P.O.S., . You have a constant battle trying to keep your blinker or brake lights working properly. Putting a new wiring harness in will not fix the problem, only give you a few months before it starts again. THE reason is the wiring harness is built just like the one that does not work. IF you read the board regularly you will recall LOGAN , mentioned that the backup lamps out of 2000-2004 sedan deville , sockets would inter change with the 96 97 seville two element sockets. I am sure this is correct, but currently according to GM, you can not buy these sockets as a pig tail from them , in fact you can not even buy the wiring harness without buying the entire rear backup lamp assembly. AT THIS POINT I DID NOT EVEN BOTHER ASKING THEM WHAT THAT WOULD COST. So in a off chance i went to NAPA, to check on after market pig tails to see if anyone made one for the 96. Well echlin , makes the double element pig tail for the 93 through 96 seville and several other CADS. bUT they did not have one in stock,but their book showed a part number for a gm pig tail, they called the local chevy dealer and he gave them a new gm number which is the new and improved pig tail . THE PART NUMBER IS GM NUMBER 15306194. I am happy to report that it is MUCH BETTER THAN THE OLD ONES. IT must be made by anothe mfg. for gm , it fits perfectly in the three slots on both the left bank of rear lights and the right bank of rear lights. THE MAJOR DIFFEERENCES IN BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW , IS THE SPADES IN THE BOTTON ARE A LITTLE WIDER , THEY ARE STRONGER METAL SO WHEN YOU PUSH THE BULB IN THEY DO NOT COLLAPSE, THE LIGHT SOCKET BARREL IS JUST ENOUGH SMALLER THAT THE BULB GOES IN BUT IT DOES NOT ROCK AROUND IN THE SOCKET . I replaced all three on my right bank, and have the other three on order for my left bank. For the first time in i do not know when they blink perfectly, they do not stop when you hit a hard bump,or just decide that one of them is just not going to work today for no apparent reason but the minute you start workin on it it will start working fine only to put everything back together and it suddenly stops working . AND , the grounds have been cleaned and recleaned and the wiring to the pig tails is perfect. JUST THE ORIGINAL WIRING HARNESS PIG TAILS WERE AND STILL ARE A P.O.S. . SO if you want yours to work i highly suggest you give these a try, cost is $16.03 list, and i gave $11.97 for each pig tail. I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE OUT.

[Logan]

Boy...those Deville lamp socket are the perfect solution.

I wish I had the bulb #.....

Anyways.....the photo of the Deville socket....and a burnt Seville socket....

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/376867..._memory_081.jpg

[chuckgann]

I just found part number 15306194 on gmpartsdirect.com for $8.41

I am replacing ALL of mine ASAP, I have had intermitant problems with the old style off and on for 2 years now.

[chuckgann]

Quick dumb question, Logan, how many of these do i need for a 94 SLS? I dont have my book at work and would like to place my order today. I think 6?

[JasonA]

Here's another dumb question. What is this problem that is so terrible on these taillights? I've had my '97 for years and the only bulb I've ever had to replace was the license plate bulb, once. Of course now that I say this, I'll go out tomorrow and have a brake light out (), but really, I've never had trouble with the lights. Are the sockets getting a lot of corrosion in them or something? I don't understand, from the posts above, what the urgent problem is.

[franey]

First say a thank you prayer that you do not have the problem , because if you do it is a royal pain to get rid of , LOGAN, has stated in the past , i believe i am right on this point that the problem is inside the pigtail itself and has to do with the ground side of the socket . It does not have anything to do with corrosion, because none of mine were corroded , and even buying a new harness only gave you a few months reprieve before it started again. Try this , in the future when you are driving around , if you see a 92 through 97 seville ahead of you take a look at their tail lights, i will bet you a cold one that they will have one or more tail lights out. This is just an observation of mine that i have observed over the last several years. T he garage i occasionaly use when i can not get to the job myself, will not even look at a seville with tail light problems, they say that once you work on it the owners think that all future problems with the tail lights are their responsibility, and over the years they learned that this problem, was impossible to fix . Again you are a very lucky person.

[JasonA]

I've noticed "burned out bulbs" before, but those are usually accompanied by the "half the LED is burned out also" syndrome...basically, I chalked it up to poor maintenance on the part of the owner. Every chance I get, if both me and my wife are leaving the house at the same time, etc, I'll drive behind her to make sure all the lights are on and that LED still shines good. Nothing like a few sections of the LED burned out to ruin a good Caddy shine.

[98Concours]

Ok, I'm having a similar problem on my moms 95Concours. One of the rear turn signal bulbs sometimes doesn't work. The socket looks like new...no rust, burning, dirt or anything. The bulb also looks like new. If I put in the bulb one way, the turn signal will work, but that bulb won't light with the tail lights. If I turn the bulb around, the tail light works, but the turn signal doesn't. It's almost as if only one side of the socket works, but THEN sometimes, it all works perfectly. What could it be?

Jeff