I Like the Easy Ones

Yesterday afternoon I received a text from the lovely Loriann. “V’s got a dead driver’s side brake light.” Once dinner was done and we’d walked around the neighborhood, I tackled the issue. Armed with a flashlight, a GUP bulb, a jumper wire with alligator clips, and my voltage tester, I popped open Glinda’s engine lid and began diagnostics. After ensuring the metal socket was properly seated in its plastic housing (it was), I replaced the bulb, connected the ground clip to a good ground on the body with the jumper wire, and pulled on the hazard light switch – no blinking bulb on the right side. I removed the bulb and probed the contacts of the socket with my tester. Nothing at first, but then, after scratching through a light layer of corrosion, the tester started to blink. I shut off the hazard switch and used the end of the tester probe to clean off both contacts in the socket. After the replacement bulb was reinstalled and the socket back in place, both the blinking and taillight elements of that light functioned.