How do you fix a broken tail light?

If you have an auto parts store, I.e. Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, etc., they have catalogs with year, makes, models and parts for all vehicles, and you can even bypass the catalogs and go straight to the front desk and ask an associate who can pull up specifically what you need if you give them the year, make and model of your vehicle, plus tell you how much it costs and even help you install it if you need help.

 

Bulbs are not all the same. If you have the owner's manual in the glovebox there should be a cross-reference to every bulb needed for the car. For taillights in particular this is important because you may need a red bulb instead of a clear bulb.

 

Oh, that was brilliant. lol

 

In the UK you wouldn't be able to fix the lens cover with tape They have to be exactly the same colour both sides or its an MOT Failure ! I had to replace a side indicator lamp on my car and found a you tube video (you can find anything if you look )

 

That works for me, lol

 

If you go to the junkyard watch out for Mickey Mouse and the KKK.

 

go to autozone and they will show you what you need … maybe even help you do it.

 

Come to think of it, the junkyard is called Libertarian Junkyard.

 

Go to AutoZone and buy a red LED bulb. That's why tail lights are an issue for the cops, because they project white light backward and can be seen instantly. If the light source itself is red, this is not a problem.

 

Most of the time on new cars/trucks you just reach in behind the tail light housing and grab the socket which has the wires leading into it. Then twist the socket and pull out the bulb/ or new style lamp. Do not touch the filament part with your finger. Just touch the metal/plastic hard part. Then plug in the new lamp and re twist the socket in its place. If the lens is cracked or broken, you can change that before installing the new lamp.

 

God Help you!

 

Yea, but some of those bozos either do it the hard way, or spend so much time with their face on the screen that actual details of the procedure suffer. I've seen a few of them doing it entirely wrong, but that's pretty rare (then there's the ElectroBoom guy on YT).

I have one car that must have the air intake system partially disassembled to change a headlight and another that requires a fender to be removed to change the battery. Working on cars sucks these days.

 

By the way, I once had a friend with a Triumph GT6 that had a 5-speed transmission. But it wouldn't stay in 5th gear unless you held the shifter. It needed transmission work but he needed to sell it for a down payment on a Trans Am.

I fixed it by going to the auto accessories aisle at K-Mart and purchasing a new shifter knob, with a 4-speed pattern on it. Less than $10

 

It's odd that you'd find an auto wrecker or metal recycler with "Junkyard" in their business name. All junkyards around here go the politically correct route and prefer to be called Auto Wrecking yards

 

I have changed mine before, I just watched a youtube video and read my car manual.

With my old car, I took it to one of those auto part places, and bought a light. When I was checking out I asked the person behind the counter if they knew how to change a tail light, and they showed me right there in the parking lot. You could always try that.

 

Thanks for your help, everyone. I ended up just taping a bag of Doritos over the lights.

Just kidding. I bought two red bulbs for the red part and a white one for the white part, and taped over the white part with some white tape. If it's not sufficient, I'll just get pulled over again.

The lights were really easy to install. I didn't have to go through my trunk or anything. They just snap in and out.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It would have been so much easier just to buy a new car

 

I don't have enough patience with other people to buy a new car. I probably wouldn't drive, except I've got circumstances where people think I want a car, and I'm looking out for them, so I say sure.