so i think my driver side tailight upper bulb socket might be messed up.
this is the tailight assembly thats on the body of the car, not on the trunk. When i turn on the lights it lights up, but when i hit the brakes the light on the upper lense of the tailight turns off.

anyone know where i can find the socket for the tailight or what i can do to solve the problem?

thanks.

 

typical trunk harness issue..search it up.

 

i checked the harness already man. i think it might be broken right under the socket where the connections are.

 

double check that it has the right bulb in there. sounds like it should be a 7443 bulb and someone may have replaced it with a 7440 single filament bulb.

 

hmm...1st gen uses 1156 and 1157

 

my bad, but the same concept applies where you can fit a single filament 1156 into the 1157 socket.

 

yeah that was my first thought so i changed it anyways even though it was 1157LL.
so it wasnt the bulb.
this thing is bugging the hell outta me.

 

as weird as it sounds, try wiggling the socket, if it works then you need to either take it apart if possible and clean the contacts, or just buy a new one/used one. our '00 has a similar issue.

 

I had a similar issue. It turned out to be the trunk harness AGAIN.

I was using a probe to test the wires to determine where the break occurred.

 

Since you already got to the bulb, you prolly don't need this:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ation-diy.html

However, there was a loose screw holding down the wire coming into the back of the socket in my 90's trunk mounted tail light. I kept getting the bulb out light on the dash until I found and tightened the screw.

I did have the trunk harness wire break too but still check out the socket assembly.

 

im probably gonna check the harness one more time and then if anything i'll just take it to tommy at musicbox and hopefully he can solve this problem.

 

Actually look at the condition of the socket.
I had one that had fused the 2 leads together due likely to a harness short issue.

After grafting in a new socket I stripped the ground wire out of the harness & attached to a bolt in the trunk.

 

I realize this is an old thread, but I also have a bad socket on the drivers side tail light (the "side marker", or bottom light).
One of the terminals inside the socket appears to be burned, and replacing the 1157 lamp did nothing.
I have been unable to locate a new socket. Does anyone know where I can find one?

 

try autozone or an auto part store in your area. they should have the inside part of the socket and all you need to do is cut out the two pigtail wires where the contact ends are, remove the old contact points and resolder the new one in.

 

Thanks!
Do you know if all sockets connect to the tail light housing the same way?