Not sure why this decided to be a thing but it did. My driver side brake light stopped working and upon inspection I find the bulb holder melted and deformed.

I didn’t put much effort into removing the bulb holder from the fixture so not entirely sure how deformed it all is.

Does this call for a new fixture/lenses? Or can I sacrifice the bulb holder, break it off and attempt to clean up the fixture?

 

Exact same thing happened in my ‘97. I just cleaned it up and replaced the bulb, even though the bulb-holder was ridiculously hard to turn and remove because it was melted. I replaced my passenger side bulb too for good measure, and it wasn’t melted.

Could this be from moisture getting in somewhere?

 

sadly it is a common problem. and the tail/brake holder is getting harder to locate as it is a dual filament bulb where as the others are a single filament bulb. When th housing melts, it distorts the electrical connection and you get an intermittent connection. Police love to pull you over for that one!

 

Ya, they're expensive. BP Utah has them for $45/EA. I snag them from the boneyard when I can find them in decent condition.

The dual pole part number is BAU5028L.



Our Price: $44.86
Brand: Land Rover

1994~1999 Land Rover Discovery Tail Lamp Bulb Holder Socket Dual Pole P25/2

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Every one of mine has done this and they all have led brake light bulbs now

 

Did you need to change the entire fixture? I love the LED idea.

 

Mine did it as well. Was very careful to get holder out of housing without cracking the latter. Ended up using wee files on both holder and housing. PITA.
Have a couple generic 1157-ish holders in a box somewhere. Figure I can fit them with some LEDs and gently jam them in the housing. Would have to get creative with the wiring.

 

I regret not taking every part i could 7-8 years ago from these trucks when I would still see them in yards. I knew the day would come.

 

I use the drop in 1157 leds after lots of clean up and needle nose plier work to get good contacts

Maybe the problem is the 1157 bulb they all seem to have by now. The rover 264590 is a 21W/5W and 1157 is 27W/8.3W. If the light housing is designed so close to the requirements maybe the 67% extra heat cooks it.

 

That's what I was thinking a year or so ago