W110 Tail Light Issues!
 

I just bought at 1967 200 and its running great except the rear passenger tail light is giving me huge issues while the drivers side works great, and i cant drive it until its fixed.

The problem goes: With the car running, head lights turned on, there is no parking light on the rear passenger side. Then when i turn on the blinker the front flasher works but the rear is quite dim and the ticker in the car slowly escalates in noise from normal to quite fast. Then when i press the brake the rear blinker light stops and the brake light engages and starts to flash while the front blinker light starts flashing crazy fast.

I have looked at all the bulbs and none appear to be out. so I'm lost for how to fix it, from what I've read it could be a crossed connection, a bulb in wrong, or anything else i havent seen yet.

Any thing helps! i havent even gotten to drive it yet!

Not sure if you posted this elsewhere a couple weeks ago or if this is a new thread/poster, but my advice would be to try the simple things first.
*Be sure the appropriate fuse is clean and seated properly.
*Clean the bulb base and it's socket with emery cloth or very fine sandpaper.
*Add bulb grease to the bulb base when reinserting. ($2 at the register at most auto parts stores.)
*Check, remove, clean and reassemble ground straps in the area first, then all grounds if issue persists.
*Switch bulbs from one side to the other just to be totally sure the bulb isn't the issue.

Very likely it's a bad/poor ground connection.

Yeah, on these, if it's not corrosion, it is almost always that the cylindrical walls of the bulb seats are too big and need to be closed slightly with a pair of pliers wrapped in a rag (while the bulbs are out). Close them just enough that there is pressure on the side of the bulb base when the bulbs are inserted. If the bulbs don't fit tight, they will not ground.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but they are all necessary.

This is a classic case of losing a ground. The only way to sort it out it an all out attack on every surface. Find the connection of each ground, remove it, clean it very well, and re-connect it. This goes for the front blinkers as well as the rears.

Remove each bulb and replace them with the correct German bulbs. You can find these on-line; I should think Pelican would have them. They cost a bit more than bulbs from Autozone, but we are not talking wallet flatting on a re-built transmission scale.

Clean the sockets of each bulb with a rolled up piece of fine sandpaper, and rough up the positive leads in each socket to ensure they are making contact.

When installing the new bulbs coat them lightly with dielectric grease which is available from any parts house or perhaps Pelican. Very inexpensive and will inhibit resistance for years.

And replace your flasher unit.

Your problem is a bulb with a bad ground. Now you have the answer. Now your problem is which bulb? It could be one or all, so don't skimp.

And look for corrosion in the bulb housings. The only cure for this is to replace the socket/housing as they are difficult to clean once they have started to rust through.

If the car has been parked for a long time you might want to inspect the wiring harnesses for mice damage. They love the insultaors on the wires. On one of my 111 cars I just found some bare flasher wires where the wires go through the firewall grommet. They ate the grommet too. I could be wrong but I don't think a bad ground would make the brake lights flash with the directionals. That's weird.

Been there. It's a grounding issue. Most likely a bad ground on the taillight bulb housing. Make a wire and run it from one of the attachment knob studs on the housing to somewhere on the body. Bet that fixes your problem.

Are the grounds you're speaking of the ones in the tail light housing or the one from the housing to the body of the car?

Also when you say fine sand paper is there any grit that works better than others? i have a range from 400-2000 grit..

All of them.

It has been some time since I have worked on 110 tail lights, but I recall they are a plastic housing which holds the bulb sockets. You will need to test each socket for a ground, so the easiest way is to use a bit of fine sandpaper, any fine grit that will shine up the inside of the socket, and test the grounds of each socket to the connection on the back of the housing.

Once you have found that all the sockets have a good ground to the plug you need to test the ground wire coming out of the plug for a ground. If you are unsure as to which is the ground then just test them all. Only one of them should register on your voltmeter as making a ground.

Break each one up into sections and clear that section up. Then go on to the next one.

And don't forget to clean the plug and sockets themselves. I have had tarnish build up in these areas that is unseen but severe enough to block the ground connection to the body.