Tail light pics needed w123. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Renntag · #1 02-19-2012, 09:31 PM

Hello Peachparts friends.

I was just pulled over by the Virginia State Police for having "no tail lights".
Surprised I asked to see and went to look. Yep. They are working.

He went so far as to say " the only reason they light at all is because my lights are shining on them. " I tried not to laugh as I didn't want a ticket.

I explained that the car was 30 years old (he wasnt yet) and they were this 'bright' as long as I have owned the car. I also mentioned it is inspected and passes every year. Never failing for tail lights.

I mentioned that I would check other cars of the same vintage and compare lumens.

I have a pic I took on the side of the road a few minutes ago it is too big to upload here.

Anyone interested, please post yours. No flash please.

Thanks.

t walgamuth · #2 02-19-2012, 10:25 PM

Reminds me of when I was stopped by a local gendarme for a similar beef in my 62 190c. The tail light portion was roughly the size of my thumbnail and I had a broken lense on one of them with a red painted bulb in it while waiting for a new one I had ordered. When I appeared in traffic court I was able to tell the judge that I had installed a new lense since the stop and he dismissed the ticket IIRC.

vstech · #3 02-20-2012, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renntag

Hello Peachparts friends.

I was just pulled over by the Virginia State Police for having "no tail lights".
Surprised I asked to see and went to look. Yep. They are working.

He went so far as to say " the only reason they light at all is because my lights are shining on them. " I tried not to laugh as I didn't want a ticket.

I explained that the car was 30 years old (he wasnt yet) and they were this 'bright' as long as I have owned the car. I also mentioned it is inspected and passes every year. Never failing for tail lights.

I mentioned that I would check other cars of the same vintage and compare lumens.

I have a pic I took on the side of the road a few minutes ago it is too big to upload here.

Anyone interested, please post yours. No flash please.

Thanks.

You may want to pull the reflectors out, clean them, and put them back in.
as the steel ages, rust and dust significantly reduce the light's brightness.

Stretch · #4 02-20-2012, 03:04 AM

I was planning to experiment with a spray on chrome finish - perhaps you can give it a go too?

By the way you can also buy the reflectors separately here...

t walgamuth · #5 02-20-2012, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renntag

Hello Peachparts friends.

I was just pulled over by the Virginia State Police for having "no tail lights".
Surprised I asked to see and went to look. Yep. They are working.

He went so far as to say " the only reason they light at all is because my lights are shining on them. " I tried not to laugh as I didn't want a ticket.

I explained that the car was 30 years old (he wasnt yet) and they were this 'bright' as long as I have owned the car. I also mentioned it is inspected and passes every year. Never failing for tail lights.

I mentioned that I would check other cars of the same vintage and compare lumens.

I have a pic I took on the side of the road a few minutes ago it is too big to upload here.

Anyone interested, please post yours. No flash please.

Thanks.

The lights will of course look dimmer with his headlights shining on them from a few feet. Ask him to look at them with his headlights off.

shadetreemechan · #6 02-20-2012, 07:41 AM

So, did he actually give you a ticket, or did you get off?

MBeige · #7 02-20-2012, 10:57 AM

Is it the driver side? Maybe it's just sooted up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

You may want to pull the reflectors out, clean them, and put them back in.
as the steel ages, rust and dust significantly reduce the light's brightness.

It would be better to clean the lenses (inside and outside) first before the reflectors. Those reflectors (with the shiny chrome finish inside) are very sensitive to touch.

Might also want to put in some new proper nickel-base (as opposed to brass base) 10W bulbs for good measure.

Biodiesel300TD · #8 02-20-2012, 12:15 PM

Sounds to me like he was hunting for something more. My wagon's tail lights were dangerously dim, but never got pulled over for it. Unfortunately you can't take the lenses off the housings on the wagon tail lights, so they are hard to clean inside.

Might try cleaning all the sockets and putting in fresh bulbs as well. I'll try to remember to snap a pic of mine tonight.

Simpler=Better · #9 02-20-2012, 12:25 PM

you could always gut them and stick an oval LED assembly behind the lenses. They're like $15 each and are very bright-I have on e on my hackjob Ninja.