My 2000 Ford Taurus SE Wagon is suddenly eating through rear brakelights (both left _and_ right) like they're candy. Is there an _easy_ way of finding where the short sending a surge through to the bulb might be without tearing my car apart?
Many thanks.
The Ranger
Get a voltage check on your system first. If it is normal at average RPM's, then recall where you bought replacement lamp bulbs. Quality varies, so you may simply have some foreign made types with poor durability. Using the wrong bulb has sometimes been reported as the problem (if have a dual filament in a single socket) although it is not clear why that is so.
Joe
I doubt it is a short that is sending the surge. What is the voltage coming from the alternator? That is the fist thing to check. Next is the bulbs themselves. Are they from the same batch? In the case of defective bulbs, try another brand from a different sweat shop in China.
Could be the regulator in the alternator is not working properly and you are getting voltage surges. Auto bulbs can usually take higher than the normal
14.4 you see in a 12V system.I had a similar thing with my Mom's car, was blowing bulbs at a rapid rate. Two things were the problem. First, I was using a discount brand of bulb. Dad got some real ones, which worked better. Second, the ground connection wasn't quite touching the bulb. I had to put a bit of electrical tape on the other side of the bulb to force it over a bit, so it would touch the ground connection more firmly.
are the bulbs physically broken? if so, you may be getting water inside the housing.
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