Mk 4 escort rear lights like a disco

[daveyh]

Hi fellas,



My 87 xr3i the rear lights are a bit like a disco at the moment, and i also notice that when i put my foot on the brakes the fog light orange light ( the one that is on to show when the fog light is on) illuminates but dim.

I have replaced the rear light bulb holders with new items and the problem is still there, i have had a look at the connectors and they look ok, but will still give them a good clean up. Does anyone know where is the earthing point is for the rear light, is it the one that goes up behind trim on the passenger side of the boot ?



Any suggestions, is it worth moving that earth to a better place? As it doesn't look the best.

Cheers Dave

[hamps]

The plugs on the back are rubbish, unplug them clean with contact cleaner then carefully push the pins tighter together, also make sure the bulb holders themselves are clean.

You also have an earth either side behind the boot trim you can check too.

very common problem on the mk4, I've played with loads until they are right.

Good luck

[daveyh]

Thanks for the reply, both the bulb holders are new as i have just replaced them, will check the plugs and the earths tomorrow and see what happens. Its a bit weird how the fog light switch lights up when you press the brakes.

cheers Dave

[colnerov]

Hi, that is almost certainly an earth problem. It isn't there, so is finding one through other bulbs to their earths. If necessary run another.

Colin

[bmw2101]

they all used to do that, and they used to look like 2 strokes too...

[swampy76]

Had the same on a sierra gt, that thing would go through bulbs at an amazing rate.

Made some new Earth cables up in a larger guage cable and they worked fine afterwards

[daveyh]

Thanks for the replies fellas, been out messing about with it this morning in between the rain.

It has new bulb holders, i have also replaced the plugs with new ones ( i had them lying around from a previous escort ) and i have run new/better earths too and touch wood it all seems to be working fine at the moment( how long for though is anyones guess !!.

Cheers Dave

[swampy76]

Just make sure where you bolted the new earths too had good shiney metal