I like followups on here. This is mine.
A while ago I posted that my yard light suddenly quit. Not the usual dying bulb syndrome, where the light gets dimmer until one day it just wont light. Mine quit and that was it, A new bulb and new sensor did not fix it. I finally convinced myself to go up the pole (I hate heights). Several months of stumbling around in the dark was getting tiring. I bought a complete new fixture and replaced it. I now have light again, and it's brighter than the old one (same wattage bulb).
Anyhow, I found the problem with the old one. One of the wires inside the fixture that goes to the socket for the sensor had come loose. How in the heck that happened is beyond me. That fixture has been up there for 8 years, the wind might shake the whole fixture, but not the individual wires inside. Although there was a huge blob of dead bugs inside, so maybe the weight of all that crud did it. I have not yet figured out if that wire is molded to the socket or if there are screws. I'm waiting until I get my air compressor back (from a friend) so I can blow out all the crud and see what's in there.
I never would have suspected this !!!!