760 Tail Light Problems

I have an '87 760 Turbo. For quite some time the tail lights have been
giving me trouble and I'm soon going to replace both assemblies. I've
recently discovered that when my head lights are on my tail lights work
intermittently or not at all. Today I spent some time trying to
isolate the problem by going through and checking all the bulbs, the
contact points for the bulb sockets and all the fuses. My concern is
that I cannot safely drive at night and would like to know if any of
you have ever encountered this problem. If so, what might be a
solution aside from taking it to a dealership and being charged an
insane amount of money for diagnostics and repairs.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

I have often seen a failure in the flexible circuit board at the harness
connector. The circuit board might still be available separately and it is
quite easy to replace as there is nothing to solder.



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

 

Look in the fuse box, there's a red cannister in there which is the bulb
failure sensor. All power to the headlights and taillights routes
through that part, pop the cover off and you will likely find cracked
and dull looking solder joints on the two circuit boards inside, you can
either flow some new rosin core solder into the joints or replace the
$$$ module. If you can't fix it yourself I would suggest finding a TV
repair shop, they can fix it up for you in a few minutes for less than
the cost of a new one.

 

Is there any possibility this sort of problem would simply be caused by
a bad circuit board in the tail light assembly? Would that cause this
sort of problem?

I'll be taking the fuse box out this weekend to check on the sensor you
mentioned, although I want to explore other possibilities as well.

 

It could be, sometimes the contacts burn where the plug connects, I've
fixed a couple of those bulb failure sensors recently though and it's
not really any harder than messing with the taillight circuit boards.

 

sweet. well i guess i'll make the sensor the first priority as it is
the easiest possible solution. thanks!

 

I replaced both tail light assemblies. The heat from the bubs can melt the
plastic causing the contacts to receed into the plastic assembly. This
makes the bulb holder lose contct. I have also slipped a small strip of
sheet metal under the contact to restore the connection.

The same problem occurred in a new assembly after four month of use.