Replacement Tail Light Socket - Maintenance and Repair Forum

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Replacement Tail Light Socket
Saturday, March 18, 2006 10:46 PM
I have a 2000 Cavalier and I both my tail light sockets are so completely corroded that they're burning bulbs out monthly. I need to replace them. The sockets are the ones that hold the brake/turn signal bulb in the rear. They have GM 16519904 printed on them, but I can't find that part number anywhere. GMPartsDirect says it doesn't exist and lists 88986416 and 12141388 for TAIL/STOP LAMP SOCKET, BULB, both of which cross reference to ACDelco part # LS44, but the picture doesn't look the same. Is this the part I need?

Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Saturday, March 18, 2006 10:56 PM
find out what bulb number they use, go to autozone, napa, canadian tire, shucks or where ever and ask for a new bulb socket

it will be cheaper than going through the dealer anyhow




Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 19, 2006 6:52 AM
MeltdOwn350 aka cOdy wrote:find out what bulb number they use, go to autozone, napa, canadian tire, shucks or where ever and ask for a new bulb socket

it will be cheaper than going through the dealer anyhow


Dealer parts are the best to use though.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new



Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:01 PM
are you retarded?




Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:06 PM
lol when it comes to a tail light socket id have to say there all pretty equal




Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:06 PM
go to the dealer for them.....they have an updated socket....if im not mistaken they were like $4-5each



Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 19, 2006 10:01 PM
MeltdOwn350 aka cOdy wrote:find out what bulb number they use, go to autozone, napa, canadian tire, shucks or where ever and ask for a new bulb socket

it will be cheaper than going through the dealer anyhow


Thank you. Advance Auto didn't carry the right one, but Autozone had two. They don't QUITE fit right, but it's close enough to work. It was made as a "Universal" replacement for GM vehicles 1977-1996, and mine's a 2000, but it uses the same bulb and wired up perfectly. Got 'em for $7.99 each. Not a bad price at all.
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 09, 2008 1:58 PM
I'm having the same issue with this, and autozone told me they don't carry it. Pepboys said the same thing and that I have to get it from the dealer. Do you have a part number on the updated socket? Thanks
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:32 PM
Steve O wrote:I'm having the same issue with this, and autozone told me they don't carry it. Pepboys said the same thing and that I have to get it from the dealer. Do you have a part number on the updated socket? Thanks


Did you not read the other posts in this thread?

Go to the dealer, they are $5

/end thread



Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Friday, March 28, 2008 11:37 AM
I just went through this on one of the tail light sockets on a 97 Cavalier, and appreciate the original poster posting this as it helped me as I too had no luck finding it at Autozone or other auto parts stores.

The GMPartsDirect website now lists the replacement part number as 89025036. I went to the dealer today with this part number as well as the corroded socket. As soon as I walked in the Parts Dept, the guy at the parts counter say "for a Cavalier"? I said :"yes".

I told him, if they were less than $10 each I would take two (figuring I would need one for the other side eventually). He said "they are $10 each and you are going to need the other one anyway". He brought out two in bags with the 89025036 number mentioned above. and I bought them.

I thought the dealer would be cheaper because the GMPartsDirect website charges $10.95 shipping, despite the sockets only costing a little over $4 each. Since there was no picture at the GMPartsDirect website and the part was special order so couldn't be returned, I went to the dealer where it did cost me $21 plus change vs about $19 and change at the webste but I got them immediately and could see if they were correct. The website says parts ship in 7 to 10 days so special order is probably longer.

The new socket has the same 16519904 number on the plastic but they are different,. They have metal clips to hold the bulb in place instead of the plastic ones and there are some holes at the bottom of the socket instead of a plastic circle (which probably held the old style plastic clips). I was "horrified" to see that electric grease packed in them which I cleaned out as I mention below.

Since this thread helped me in getting this fixed, I'd like to add my story in hopes it may help others.

What the grease is supposed to do ( in theory) and what it actually does are two different things. Despite what people tell you, the best thing you can do is get as much of that stuff off as you can.

I just when through this with both the tail lamp socket and a swimming pool light socket. Both bulbs were forever "glued" in place from this grease which does two things, it eats away at any plastic (such as the plastic base of the tail light bulb) "melting" it to the socket , and in the case of the pool light, hardens and glues the bulb contact to the socket contact. After an hour of prying the bulb threads out of the swimming pool light, the socket was destroyed. The tail light eventually came out without the socket being destroyed but it was heavily corroded. I chipped away at the corrosion and hardened grease and replaced the bulb with a new one, which as I talk about below, started acting up after a couple weeks.

I saw a message from a guy on another message about this same problem. He said he was burning out or going through bulbs every month because the socket was corroded. I thought he was full of it and figured he just thought the bulbs were bad because the sockets were corroded and the bulbs just weren't making a good connection.

So today when I went to take the new bulb (that I bought only a month ago) out of the old socket to put in the new one, I found the plastic base around one of the bulb contacts was eaten away causing the contact to collapse into the plastic base (no longer there to support it) and make intermittant contact. As I mentioned above, a couple weeks after replacing the bulb into the corroded socket, the turn signal filament of the bulb stopped working. I would reseat it in the socket, it would work a day or two, then stop. I repeated this three times and figured it was the corroded socket not making a good connection. What it actually turned out to be was the eaten away plastic on the bulb base causing the signal filament contact to collapse away from the socket contact.

When I discovered this, I spent 20 minutes cleaning as much of that grease out of the new socket as possible. I got 98 to 99% out, put in a brand new bulb and am good to go.

I know some people will say the grease gets old after a while and that happens but if you don't use the grease, the socket will corrode faster. I don't agree, I have never seen a bulb socket without grease corrode anyway near the way these tail and pool light sockets did. Even some rust can be sanded off a corroded socket. By the time the rust gets so bad it can't, it would still be years later than what happens when using this grease. In the meantime, you can replace a burnt out bulb without having to buy and replace a new socket everytime.

So next time someone tells you this grease is good, you will know they really don't know anything about it. I wouldn't doubt that it is designed this way and used to destroy the socket so you have to buy a new one.
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Thursday, June 17, 2010 10:52 AM
i have a 2002 z24 4-dr, and need new rear sockets for the signal lights...the guy at CT was showing some that were $40-$50, i can find them cheaper??

Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:41 PM
S T wrote:i have a 2002 z24 4-dr, and need new rear sockets for the signal lights...the guy at CT was showing some that were $40-$50, i can find them cheaper??


Are you retarded? Dealer for 10 bucks each.


Weebel wrote:Im to smart to go to strip clubs.

Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Monday, February 21, 2011 3:41 PM
Joe Blough wrote:I told him, if they were less than $10 each I would take two (figuring I would need one for the other side eventually). He said "they are $10 each and you are going to need the other one anyway". He brought out two in bags with the 89025036 number mentioned above. and I bought them.


I know this thread is old but I thought I'd comment on it as I just recently ran into the same problem with my taillights. This is indeed the correct part number and I just bought a new socket from the local GM parts store. Thanks Joe for posting this information.




1985 Sunbird Hatchback | 1991 Sunbird Coupe | 2002 Cavalier LS Sport
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:45 PM
i Just wanted to say thanks to the above posters thanks to them i tracked down the correct brake/signal light for my 1998 sunfire.

Napa has them part number made by Balkamp Part Number: BK 6807009 https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=BK_6807009_0316647058 cost $8.19 + shipping i paid $15 at the napa store up here in canada.
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Thursday, May 11, 2017 2:29 PM
Sockets are available on rockauto.com for $3 - $4 each.


----------
2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Saturday, September 23, 2017 4:10 PM
I started this years ago, was able to get the part and I installed it and everything was fine. car was totalled now i don't have it anymore. so this thread will never apply to me anymore. don't remember anything about it but i just noticed i get emails everytime someone replies, so i will stop that now. good luck if you are having this issue.
Re: Replacement Tail Light Socket
Sunday, September 24, 2017 10:09 AM
The Junk Yad is a magical place my friend.
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