[SSnakeHunter]

It's been a few years since I logged-on, and it's time to get the '96's tail lights to work.

Question 1: What is the replacement part number for the four-wire outboard tail light socket? Rock Auto only has the three-wire socket p/n 12003757...

Question 2: When splicing-in replacement reverse light sockets (AC Delco p/n 12003757 of course), am I assuming correctly that the new socket's black wire goes to the harness' black wire, new socket's middle brown wire goes to the light green harness wire, and the new socket's white wire goes to the smaller darker green harness wire?

Thanks for your patience. I need to get the lights working before attempting the Chasing Taillight mod. The cops in Milwaukee love to pull me over and tell me one taillight is brighter than the other. "No, you weren't doing anything wrong. Is that a REAL '96 SS?"

Thanks, Rob

 

[Z09B4U]

Left is yellow.
Right is dark green
Reverse is light green
Markers are purple
Black is ground

Question 1 Inboard and outboard bulbs are 2057 and have three contacts so are three wire sockets.

Question 2 Light green and black. Stock socket is two wire but uses the 2057 bulb so one wire is not used on your new socket.

I need to get the lights working before attempting the Chasing Taillight mod

If you do not like doing things twice you may want to use long wires to splice in the left and right sockets.
Are you aware the factory middle socket is a wedge type and the tail light housing will have to be modified for a 2057 bulb socket?

 

[SSnakeHunter]

Thank you for the quick reply. So I'm just connecting two of the three wires in the following picture (black to black, and brown to light green, and terminating the white and dark green wires) for the reverse lights:

Am I resigned to the junkyard to replace the outboard four-wire socket:

I bought the car in Guam in 2007. It was a California car before it made the trip out to Guam in 2004. The sockets are shot, as the electrical contacts disintegrated in the Pacific salt atmosphere, where the dielectric paste they used sort-of turned the inside of the socket to mush. Can you recommend a vehicle newer than ours that has the four-wire socket that I might be able to find in a junkyard, or is there an alternate part number for it that is still available? I'll probably need to get a socket for the passenger side as well...

Thanks, I do know I'll have to replace the center wedge socket with another one of the new 12003757 sockets (that you see in the first picture) to get the chasing taillight kit to work. First I need to replace the outboard four-wire socket, and correctly replace/wire the reverse socket to get the blinkers to work again. Your assistance much appreciated.

Thanks again, Rob

 

[Z09B4U]

The two green wires going into your back up socket should be the same color. I am going to assume the other back up light works. Correct me if both backups do not work.
Take apart the old socket and you should find both light green wires are crimped together. This is called "daisy chaining".

So you will splice the two light green wires to one socket wire and the black to the other.

I expect it will be black to black and white to light greens. And purple to brown on the turn signal(dim park filament).

The only way to be 100% sure is to put a bulb into the new socket and just touch the wires to your battery. The brown lead should be the dim and the white should be the bright.


You need sockets just like the factory. Ones with the wire coming out the back will be too long. I would just get more like the one you have if it twists and locks in either hole.

You might find ones in newer GM products, trucks I think. But GM soon changed to a different bulb type so the junk yard one will be nearly as old as your car's.

Since you are splicing the wires cut the old ones back a bit to find brighter copper wire. If you want it to last solder, heat shrink, and electrical tape the splice. New dielectric paste can be the clear spark plug type or truck shops have a socket paste like the OEM.

 

[Z09B4U]

The cops in Milwaukee love to pull me over and tell me one taillight is brighter than the other

If you mean the marker/park/running lights some one may have substituted the wrong bulb. The 2057 park filament is 2CP and the 1157(more common) is 3CP. So if some one does not know about the correct 2057 they put in the brighter 1157.

For any one interested in the tail lens mod:

http://www.sequentialtaillights.com/buckets.html

The problem with the 3496 or other brighter bulbs is they draw more power. When you add a extra bulb AND brighter bulbs to each tail light lens you create a higher load for the turn signal switch. Improving the reflector is the safer way to improve light output.

Or add some custom LEDs.

 

[Z09B4U]

Any chance that is yellow/yellow BROWN black? Like this:

Hard to see but the middle is brown like your replacement socket. Picture should be outboard left and inboard right of a older car.

My 1994 FSM and Mitchels 1996 both show marker as purple but chevy used to use brown for markers.

 

[SSnakeHunter]

Aloha Sir,

To quote Gru: "LIGHT-bulb!" The clue bird has landed. Thank you. My brown marker wires are equivalent to your purple. My white wires equivalent to your yellow. I butt-soldered/shrink-wrapped daisy-chained wires outside of the new sockets (and removed the brown center lead and contact from the reverse socket). Your recommendation to disassemble the old broken reverse light socket and observe the daisy-chaining (and accompanying picture) were the key to my understanding of the fix. After disassembling the "4-wire" marker light, daisy-chaining of the white leads and connecting black-black and brown-brown was easy. I did have to make the marker light 2057 socket holes in the lens/reflector a little larger to fit the available reverse 2057 sockets.

I am amazed at how nasty/deteriorated the old sockets had become in 24 years.... 2057's all around now - getting harder to find around here for some strange reason.

Thanks also for the link to the Sequential Taillights site -- I had found the kit on the shelf (put theer after moving back to the mainland from military duty in Guam in 2009), but couldn't find the instructions. 'Off to the junkyard to find a couple 2057 female sockets in the junkyard to modify the center marker buckets...

Let me know how I can repay the favor of the enlightenment.

Mahalo plenty, Rob

 

[Z09B4U]

Let me know how I can repay the favor of the enlightenment.

It is good to know you got it fixed. If you search around here you will find alot of threads started but no resolution posted. With such a good thread title this thread may help some one else.