Today I finally fixed that nagging tail light and thought I would share this with the rest of the members. I am not a frequent user of the site but do come here when I am need of assistance and advice. I will leave it upto the more knowledgeable members to post when others are needing more advice than I can provide. I hope this helps others who might encounter the same issue.

The taillight issue seems to be quite common as the cars begin to age.



I was able to find a Dorman Contact Pigtail 85801. I needed the double contact pigtail but the single contact pigtails are readily available at most FLAP's.



The factory solder is alittle tough to deal with if you dont have a solder tool with enough wattage. I was able to slowly unwind the soften joint with patience and a tug on it here and there as it unwound.



I hope this helps.

$3.00 Dorman Double Socket Pigtail
$4.99 1157 Sylvania LL 2 pack bulb

 

Interesting, I didn't even know these sockets existed by themselves. I bought entirely brand new rear light "boards" from Nissan only four or five years ago and just this morning I noticed a couple of the taillight sockets are burned up already. Amazing how crummy these are from Nissan that we have to fool with these repeatedly.

Just so I understand, the Dorman deals fit right into the factory metal outer section? I was actually planning to order new "boards" again tonight so this is a very timely post on your part.

 

Yes, It did fit quite well. The Socket is sized for the 1157/56 bulb and the Dorman pigtail is sized for the bulb size. I will note that the socket uses 2 cutouts for the contact plate. the Dorman only has 1. I suppose this is to ensure the bulb is correctly aligned with the socket so the correct filament is energized. You can see the notch in the photo.



I will say that it did take some effort installing the new bulb. This I would contribute to the length of the new spring or the insulated material that was used. I didnt modify the spring length but I would imagine it would hae made it somewhat not as tight of a fit that I had.

I took a measurement of one of the extras i have reference.

 

I found these pigtail a while back at autozone and did this very repairs except, I installed some eBay LED bulbs to prevent melting in the future.