I replaced my rear left taillight with a new one. However, the bottom row of lights(the red break/taillight row) does not work. I think the plug might be bad because there are a couple of pins where the plastic around them is brown. I tried my best to clean them with goof off but it's almost impossible to get in there without breaking the plastic. Does anyone have a Electric plug I can buy off them?

 

take a bit of fine grit wetdry sandpaper, fine grit, and a q-tip, and wrap the sandpaper around the end of the qtip and use that to remove the corrosion.

if you really do want to get a new plug, you'll need to be a lot more specific, like... what model car is this for, which plug is it?

 

Sorry, it's for a volvo 240 1990. The plug is the plug that plugs in the left real tail light assembly. I can't get in there to clean it because I would have to spread the plastic open and I think the plastic would break since it is old.

 

in spite of the bit of brown, the contacts look clean and shiny, and thats what counts. I'd take a soft pink pencil eraser to the circuit board contact fingers that connector goes onto and clean them up (like the pink eraser on the back of a #2 pencil).

 

Wow, I am pretty stressed out because my inspection sticker is out and I the mechanic shop is not in my budget. I don't have any electrical equipment. I called the guy who sales the new tail lights and he insists it oxidation of the plug and not the tail light. The fuse is good since all the other rear tail lights work(and the upper row of the defunct tail light). Is there anything else that I could check that could be wrong?

 

ok, which lamps are out exactly? when you say 'tail light', do you mean the parking lights that come on with the headlight? Is this a sedan or wagon (they have different tail lights).

according to my greenbook wiring diagram for a 1990 240 , the left parking light is on the red wire. the right parking light is on a seperate brown wire, both these go through a 6 pin connector under the dashboard near the fuse panel, then they go through the bulb-out detector module (cylinder thing, also under the driver side dashboard). left is on fuse 15, right is on fuse 16 (but if the front corner parking lights are working, then the fuses are good).

I show a yellow-grey wire (but in your picture, it looks yellow-white??!) goes to the left brake light. this goes to another connector, 9 pin, also near/behind the fuse panel. the brake lights, including the 3rd 'high level' one, are all on fuse 7, so if any work, then that fuse is OK.

 

I would get/beg/borrow/steal(hah) a volt meter, and read the voltages on the pins of that connector. any black wire back there is ground.

I would think you could take a thin strip of fine sandpaper and get in there and clean the connectors, and maybe use a tiny screw driver or some fine point needlenose pliers to squeeze the connector contacts a bit together so they grip the circuit better when they are plugged in.

 

I got a new issue...My fuse for the rear tail lights(and rear dash break light) keeps popping. I have no rear break lights and this is my only car. Is there anything I can do to make the fuse not break? I am using the white ceramic ones right now.

 

the color is according to the amp rating. I'm not sure off the top of my head what amp rating is which fuse, but the brake lights and parking lights are on different fuses. i'm not sure what you're referring to when you said 'rear tail lights', as there's a bunch of lights on the rear or tail of the car, including parking, brake, turn signal, reverse.

if the fuse is popping, that means there's a short somewhere in the wiring. you'll need to track down that short and insulate it.

btw,t he copper/brass fuses are MUCH better to use than the silver/tin ones commonly sold at local auto parts stores. I picked up a kit like these awhile back MERCEDES fuse kit W124 W201 190E 16V 190D 300E 260E 300D 300CE 300TE 300TD 200D | eBay that should be enough for a 240 with lots to spare.

 

I'm sorry, it is the rear brake lights....including the upper one on the dashboard. Those fuses look alot like the ones I have. How much should it cost to fix a short like this?

 

lets see... brake light circuit on a 1990 240... battery + to positive terminal (thats a rectangular black plastic thing on the left side of the engine compartment with a pile of red wires, its always powered), red wire to fuse 7, fuse 7 green-red wire to the brake switch behind the brake pedal, blue-red wire to pin 9 on the bulb failure warning disaster-er-sensor. bulb sensor pin 5 to blue-black wire to high level brake light. bulb sensor pin 11 to yellow wire to right brake light. bulb sensor pin 10 to yellow-grey wire to left brake light.

a short to the chassis on any of those wires after the fuse would cause the fuse to blow.


the fuse sizes in amps should be labeled on the inside of the fuse panel cover and in the owners manual. the white fuses are 8A, the red ones are 16A and the blue ones are 25A. I would not use a larger fuse than the car calls for, if its blowing there's a short somewhere.

I believe the rear light wiring harness on the 240's goes from the drivers side dashboard, under the drivers side door sills, up the left rear wheel well, to approximately the base of the "C" pillar, then it forks, and one wire goes along the inside of the top of the rear fender to the left tail light, across to the license plate lights, and to the right tail light. on a wagon, it goes up the "D" pillar, and over the roof line to the other D pillar and back down.

 

Any fix with the corrosion issue on the white connectors? I have the same problem

 

Mr.pierce
I noticed this post about tail lights. And my pins don't look that nice. They are much smaller like maybe they melted some but they still are visible and not broken. Of course it they not making good contact my lights won't work on my left side parking lights. Do you know it it is possible to buy a connector for the tail lights anywhere?

 

frankly, by the time the connectors are shot, the lenses are probably cloudy and the reflectors oxidized, I replace the whole light assemblies every 10 or 15 years. makes the whole car look nicer.

 

I bought a new nylon connector board and the replacement pins from my dealer about a year ago.

The parts person will need to look in the older paper-printed parts book (not the e-book)electric section for a picture/part number of the connecting pins.

Sometimes a few light strokes with an emery board paper nail file in the pin-groove does the trick.

 

I like to use soft clean pink pencil erasers to clean electrical contacts, this removes oxidation without removing any protective plating. finish up with a drop of DeOxIT D100 to prevent future corrosion.

 

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