Worn bulb holders

[Foz31]

The bulb holders for my rear lights, sidelights and indicators are giving up the ghost. Firstly the recesses that take the staggered bayonets on the bulbs are so worn that the bulbs are just not being held, and secondly the sprung end disc with the bulb connector(s) have lost all their spring, making connections intermittent or fail completely. I’ve bodge-fixed this for years by building up solder on the bulb contacts and wedging the bulbs in with cardboard, but even that is starting to fail. Also, some of the wiring is so brittle from exposure to moisture and mud that it’s breaking.

If I replaced the bulb holders would it resolve all 3 problems? There seems to be a few options online, so does anyone know the correct part numbers? Are all the single pole holders the same ie sidelights, indicators and fog lamp?

The holders seem very hard to access because of the mud shields - any advice?

Thanks.

[AR4412]

The part numbers from the parts list for the bulb holders are 576986 for the Single Pole holder, and 572727 for the Double Pole holder. A search on these numbers should bring up various suppliers selling genuine and aftermarket items.

Once the lamp's wiring has been disconnected from the main loom front or rear, the rubber housing and bulb holder can be pulled/pushed/forced/persuaded through the bezel. A bit tricky at the back without removing the mudshields, especially if you have an underarch toolbox fitted, but doable. Once the rubber body is out, you can unscrew the end to free the rubber bush/grommet, push the wires through it to allow you to remove the bulb holder from the rubber body. Once that is out, the individual wires can be removed from the holder and their brass ferrules removed from the wires. (They may be soldered on, or the wires just pushed through and folded back over the ferrule.). With the ferrules removed the wires can be pulled through the rubber grommets and renewed.

You can buy complete lamp units with new bezels and lenses, but they don't include the wiring, and are rather expensive these days. A full set would set you you back over £500 when I last looked at the prices of a single lamp unit.

Regards,