This is a follow-up to the note below in case anyone searches the archives
in the future for the problem of one light is dimmer than the other. I had
extinguished all the usual electrical causes and upon disassembly of the
light housings found the chrome paint missing from the dimmer light's
reflector.
Based on the advice of the list I ended up using aluminum foil tape from a
hardware store (in the heating duct department). Easy to apply and no mess.
Now my lights have an evenly bright appearance. Plus as a bonus, since I
removed the lenses from the housings I got to clean the dust out the inside
lens surfaces for even more light.
Thanks to Ashley from VA and Marc from the Netherlands for the suggestion.
Peter Zaborski -- CF58310 UO
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Zaborski
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 10:38 PM
>
> Hi Listers,
>
> I recently noticed that one of my taillights is
> dimmer than the other one (left one is dimmer).
> Only the rear park light and brake light are dimmer,
> the rest of the lights are evenly bright. So I did
> the usual diagnostic process, swap left and right
> bulbs, swap left and right bulb holders, measure
> voltage, etc. No apparent faults, it's always the
> left light that's dimmer, voltage is the same at
> each light.
>
> Digging deeper, I eventually disassembled the light
> housings thinking perhaps the left side lens was more
> dirty or full of dust. Well it turns out that none of
> these are the problem. Rather, the left side reflector
> for the park/brake light is missing its chrome paint.
>
> For those who have had these assemblies apart, the
> reflector I'm referring to is plastic with what looks
> like chrome colored paint. Its definitely not metal.
> In fact the reflector is fixed to the main housing
> (which is metal) with two plastic pins. I put up a
> picture of the assembly and the reflector highlighted
> in yellow at <http://members.shaw.ca/plz/tail_light.jpg>.
> Of course this part doesn't appear to be available
> separately, not even in the TRF catalog.
>
> So, has anyone ever tried to paint one of these plastic
> parts with chrome paint? Any recommendations on paint? I
> assume the chrome will get hot due to the light bulb
> temperatures so the paint has to be somewhat temp
> resistant. Any paint techniques to get the best results
> for chrome paint on plastic in a high heat area?
>
> Ideally I'd like to find a spare reflector but I suspect
> the chances of that are close to 0. If anyone has any
> suggestions I'd love to hear them.
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