I noticed my 3rd brake light on the spoiler wasnt working, and managed to get it off to change the bulbs after breaking the right screw off (was rusted to bits)

anyhow, to my surprise it looks like the bulbs have seriously overheated so much so they've melted the actual reflector.



These are 912 bulbs. I'm not sure if a previous owner put them in by mistake and something lower was supposed to be used. Anyone know what stock bulbs are intended for this housing?



Im not sure if I should add a resistor to the circuit, or just switch to some 912 led builbs.

 

the window CHMSL on my GXE did sortof the same thing. First, a bulb exploded/overheated and melted away the mounting point for the bulb socket. So i replaced the bulb and jammed it up into there, lodging it somewhere where it would stay put. So i drove away fat and happy. Then I looked back while at a drive thru... and there was smoke. In my car. I was like WTF. Then i noticed the smoke was coming from my CHMSL and only when the brakes were applied for more than a quick tap of the pedal. What happened is I lodged the light way up in there and it was touching the top of the housing, and was actually burning the plastic. When i removed the light to reposition it, I took some of the plastic with it (melted and when it cooled, stuck to the bulb itself and tore away) so now i have a hole in the housing, and a nontextured dome-shaped protrusion/cavein shape at the top. But if the bulbs ever burn out i'll know, since i can see that speck of light where the hole is from my rearview...

anyhow, try a 921 bulb. That's what's printed on the housing, as I just saw in your pic. I googled it, it is a car bulb, so there you have it. Oddly the 921 is HIGHER wattage than the 912, so beats me as to why it blew so dramatically. Maybe you should check your voltage before you put lights in again.

 

higher wattage? yikes. I think i'm gonna go LED. I bought two red 912's off ebay for only $6. I'm going to need to wire in some more leds to fill the gap in the center of the reflector, as I doubt the beams will cover the whole area.

 

i suspect an issue with the car's wiring though. I mean, all bulbs burn out. They aren't supposed to blow violently though. You should check into what caused it before sticking a light in its place. I myself have been having a bulb that likes to blow (rh tail sidemarker) but i checked voltage and it seemed fine so I'm not sure if it's really a problem or not. I have 2 new bulbs to put in there so I'll just hope this one lasts.

 

ya ill check the voltage coming off the wires tomrororw.