Blowing Bulbs

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THRobinson

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I got my Ram in the late spring, and the previous owner had those smoked/tinted head/tail lights that he then sprayed with more tint, so, utterly useless. Looked cool, but almost rear-ended a few times and couldn't see at night.

So I bought the exact same housings off eBay, black background, but a clear front. Upgraded the bulb to a LED, very bright, and put Sylvannia Long Life bulbs in for the rest.

3 days later, passenger/front turn bulb blows. 4 weeks later, passenger/rear light goes. Week later, passenger/front turn bulb blows again.

Bulbs new, good brand name, I don't touch the glass with fingers just to be safe.

Any ideas?

Hoping not the new housings, not sure how it could be... but, bulbs are a pain to change for the fronts especially and they keep blowing out.
 

SYKRAMMAN

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https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01MT48C3C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

headlights only for led... rest are all regular incandescent bulbs.
I would start tracing wires for broken, melted, corrosion etc. Definitely sounds like a short somewhere. Also go around and clean all of your grounds, they need to be clean and metal to metal, put dielectric grease on all your connections. These trucks are very finicky with electrical issues, everything needs to be clean and corrosion free for optimal functionality. Gl.
 

Fitz-0518

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My 03 Ram QC 5.7 1500 with 130k miles. ^^^as said our Rams are electrically challenged at times. Grounds are critical. I was going thru rear bulbs every 3-6 months. 2 months ago I looked carefully at the bulb board that screws into the lens. I found burn't bulb ends and burn't board plugs. After 15 yrs the boards were shorting out. Replaced both (NAPA) no problem since.
 

MikeT

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Are any of your other bulbs blowing out? If not then the above posts about connections, grounds and dielectric grease are most probably the correct diagnosis. If other incan bulbs are blowing then check your charging system for over-voltage charging anything greater than 14.5 - 15 volts should be looked into, check at battery with engine running and charging battery.

Mike
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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So far the same bulb (front passenger turn signal) has blown 2x... the rear passenger side brake light has blown as well. I had the truck maybe 5 months before I swapped the light housings, in that time 0 bulbs blew. Maybe pulling the housings out and replacing loosened up some wires?

I'll check the charging though first since probably the fastest/easiest to do, especially since weather wise, been non-stop rain the past 2 weeks, and down around 4'C/39'F... weather wise, my window for getting work done is dwindling. :D
 

JohnnyMac

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Are any of your other bulbs blowing out? If not then the above posts about connections, grounds and dielectric grease are most probably the correct diagnosis. If other incan bulbs are blowing then check your charging system for over-voltage charging anything greater than 14.5 - 15 volts should be looked into, check at battery with engine running and charging battery.

Mike

I second this... I had a voltage regulator start taking a crap on me in an older truck and it would spike once in a while and pop bulbs. Seems unlikely that installation of new lights would cause this, but there could be a bad bulb/socket in one of the new lights that is loading down the charging system and causing the regulator to either fail or overcharge.
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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Not sure if matters, but, when the lights go, they aren't cracked or blackened, rather a milky white coating inside. Which I thought was odd, since last time I had to replace a bulb I was sure it was blackened in a spot.
 

MikeT

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The milky interior coating on the blown bulbs could be just the way those bulbs blow. Another thing to try is another brand of bulbs, however if those same ones continue to blow your going to have to dig into the wiring. Simply no way around it.

Mike
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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So, test battery... well, charging of.... and failing that disconnect the battery and search for rust, frays, melt points in the wires. Probably wouldn't hurt to clean the sockets with Deoxit either.

Hmm... looks like someone deleted a few posts between Post#1 and #2... was a mention of dielectric grease, which I wasn't sure about. I've used for spark plugs, not sure where to use that for the wiring on bulbs.
 

MikeT

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So, test battery... well, charging of.... and failing that disconnect the battery and search for rust, frays, melt points in the wires. Probably wouldn't hurt to clean the sockets with Deoxit either.

Hmm... looks like someone deleted a few posts between Post#1 and #2... was a mention of dielectric grease, which I wasn't sure about. I've used for spark plugs, not sure where to use that for the wiring on bulbs.

Dielectric can (should) be used on any electrical connection. I've never used it on spark plugs, I'm assuming your talking about the threads on the plugs to use it as an anti-sieze.
I guess it would work for that. It is an electrical and moisture insulator, prevents electrical connections from corroding.

Mike
 
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THRobinson

THRobinson

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Had a motor bike and did a conversion on the thing with bits of brass rod, DIY on a forum used that grease

 
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