Oddball W123 wagon tail light issue
 

Hey guys. I’ve been creeping around for the last couple of years and finally found an issue not addressed on the forum yet.

I have a 1983 US spec 300TD Wagon, 413k miles on the clock and I have been doing a rolling restoration. I drive it ~3-4 days a week consistently with the goal of getting it to a 1m mile car.

When I purchased it the left tail light connection was rusted and I replaced it. All bulbs are new, the taillights on it now are from a Latvian company.

The brake lights work fine but my issue is that for some reason the left side turn and marker lights are reversed. I’m not sure what’s going on here since the connector for the tail light looks good.

The hazard switch looks fine as well.

The only other symptom I have is that the left turn signal is blinking fast as if it has a blown bulb.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Pic attached for reference.

It’s possible that the new housing is wired incorrectly. You might try putting the bulb in wrong way round. It won’t turn to lock but may still reach the contacts. do this with the parking lights on. If it changes from high brightness to low, the socket is wired backwards. The fast blink may due to the lower current draw of the parking lamp filament.

Michael