Tail light socket now parking light out.

[JimGregory]

2016 1500 incandescent tail lights. I had a passenger rear signal light go out. I had been getting warnings for months but it had always worked. Pulled the bulb and it was in fact the socket going bad. Looked kind of burned/smoked as well. Picked up a new (probably Chinese) socket and put some dielectric grease on and it worked. Then I noticed the "parking light out" warnings constantly. Unfortunately I tossed the old socket. Could a Chinese socket be causing trouble? I have a couple thousand miles to drive real soon. Oh. about a year or two ago I installed LED backup lights. They work fine.

 

[Wild one]

2016 1500 incandescent tail lights. I had a passenger rear signal light go out. I had been getting warnings for months but it had always worked. Pulled the bulb and it was in fact the socket going bad. Looked kind of burned/smoked as well. Picked up a new (probably Chinese) socket and put some dielectric grease on and it worked. Then I noticed the "parking light out" warnings constantly. Unfortunately I tossed the old socket. Could a Chinese socket be causing trouble? I have a couple thousand miles to drive real soon. Oh. about a year or two ago I installed LED backup lights. They work fine.

Check the 3rd brake light for a bulb out.

 

[JimGregory]

Sue enough the third bulb is out. I hope that resolves both warnings. Let you know.

 

[JimGregory]

SURE enough.

 

[JimGregory]

Replaced 3rd brake bulb. Still have brake light error and parking light error. Maybe it will resolve itself?

 

[hunterdan]

2016 1500 incandescent tail lights. I had a passenger rear signal light go out. I had been getting warnings for months but it had always worked. Pulled the bulb and it was in fact the socket going bad. Looked kind of burned/smoked as well. Picked up a new (probably Chinese) socket and put some dielectric grease on and it worked. Then I noticed the "parking light out" warnings constantly. Unfortunately I tossed the old socket. Could a Chinese socket be causing trouble? I have a couple thousand miles to drive real soon. Oh. about a year or two ago I installed LED backup lights. They work fine.

The cheap aftermarket sockets are known for causing issues. More than likely the old socket was just fine even if it looked toasted. Pick up an OEM one from the dealer, you'll likely get rid of the issues.

 

[JimGregory]

Was at nappa to get center bulb. Picked up nappas chinese socket. Replace auto zones china socket with nappas china socket and all errors are gone. So yes. Cheap sockets can cause errors. I cant imagine why, but it is a fact.

 

[JimGregory]

And BTW. The passenger tail light socket looked bad and was bad. Wiggle the bulb and it would go on and off. Dielectric grease MAY have fixed it but i never tried it.

 

[NETim]

And BTW. The passenger tail light socket looked bad and was bad. Wiggle the bulb and it would go on and off. Dielectric grease MAY have fixed it but i never tried it.

Dielectric grease by nature is non-conductive. Some versions are conductive but that's not as common. For instance, you wouldn't want to put a conductive grease on the spark plug ceramic.

Maybe try bending the pins out on the bulbs some so they make better contact with the socket?

 

[mdc1990zr1]

Dielectric grease by nature is non-conductive. Some versions are conductive but that's not as common. For instance, you wouldn't want to put a conductive grease on the spark plug ceramic.

Maybe try bending the pins out on the bulbs some so they make better contact with the socket?

You put dielectric grease aroujd the inside of the spark plug boot, essentially on the ceramic. You don't want to put it on the electrical connector or the tip of the spark plug.

 

[Atcer2018]

You put dielectric grease aroujd the inside of the spark plug boot, essentially on the ceramic. You don't want to put it on the electrical connector or the tip of the spark plug.

Serious question, why not? I was under the impression that the dielectric grease was also to prevent corrosion between the plug tip and the metal seat in the boot. Similar to using it on battery terminals. Want to know if I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.

 

[NETim]

It will prevent corrosion like most any other grease but since most varieties act as insulators, it may well stop low voltage, like 12vdc.

When applying it to battery posts/connectors, it goes on the exterior of both, after the connection is made.

 

[Atcer2018]

It will prevent corrosion like most any other grease but since most varieties act as insulators, it may well stop low voltage, like 12vdc.

When applying it to battery posts/connectors, it goes on the exterior of both, after the connection is made.

Here is the issue, for every wrencher that follows your train of thought there are others that don’t. I’ve read literally dozens of articles on the topic and they are split. Everything from the product manufacturers to articles from professional mechanics. Personally I grease the terminals on a battery before attaching the cables. Half do it my way, half do it yours. Same goes for electrical connections including plug boots. I’m interested in the why at this point more than the how. You state that dielectrics act as insulators which at face value makes sense although plenty of people more knowledgeable than me disagree. Wish there was a definitive answer.

 

[GTyankee]

This was not written by an electrical engineer,
BUT to me it does make sense.

at the end of the article, there is a Life Hack YouTube video

What The Heck is Dielectric Grease?

Learn more on what dielectric grease is. Our team of experts have prepared a detailed guide on everything you need to know about electric grease.

www.thedrive.com

&

What Is Dielectric Grease? Uses & Cautions (with pictures)

Dielectric grease is designed to seal out moisture and prevent corrosion on electrical connectors. Read on to learn more about dielectric grease.

www.aboutmechanics.com

 

[Atcer2018]

This was not written by an electrical engineer,
BUT to me it does make sense.

at the end of the article, there is a Life Hack YouTube video

Thank you, good information. After reading both articles I found some of the information between the articles contradictory. One states not to use it on metal contacts and the other says it doesn’t matter because the grease will be pushed out of the way. As the video shows the grease added to the socket appears that school of thought goes with the grease will be pushed out of the way. Personally that’s the way I do it and I’ve never had a problem but as NETim states dielectrics are electrical insulators. Most likely both ways are fine for general electrical purposes.

 

[mdc1990zr1]

Serious question, why not? I was under the impression that the dielectric grease was also to prevent corrosion between the plug tip and the metal seat in the boot. Similar to using it on battery terminals. Want to know if I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.

Its put on top of the battery connections after they're connected to prevent corrosion. It isn't meant to be put between the post and terminal clips and then tightened. Dielectric grease is an insulator.

 

[NETim]

Obviously people use dielectric grease on the actual contacts and get away with it. Who knows how much insulation it actually provides in a very thin film? I've never seen specs on how much of an insulator it can be. At least the automotive grade stuff. I'm sure there are various grades of the stuff to begin with.

I see the word "dielectric" and I see "insulation." I come from the medical imaging world where I had to deal with voltages upwards of 140KV. We had some serious dielectric goo in that biz.

Preventing corrosion in low voltage applications is obviously important. It doesn't take much to stop 12V though, so I'm leery about getting it on LV electrical contacts. I use the grease in an attempt to seal the socket and put a good contact cleaner like Deoxit on the contact themselves.

Deoxit btw, is REALLY good stuff. Pricey but it works well.

 

[JimGregory]

The female contacts in the socket was sloppy. Time for a new socket. 2 minute job if you buy a good one.

 

[JimGregory]

And I have been using dielectric grease on dc connections for many years and never had one issue with any of them ever. I also use deoxit when needed. Great product. That mostly on old amplifiers and such.

 

[Link1]

Thank you JimGregory for this information. After replacing my burned looking tail sight sockets with new ones from O'Reilly's, I started getting a Tail Light Out message every time I used the brake or turn signals with the headlights on. After reading Jim's post, I replaced them with new ones from NAPA and all error messages went away. It's going to be NAPA only for me in the future.