This 2006 Suzuki Aerio came in with the complaint that the two lower stoplights did not work. The center high mounted stoplight worked fine. I Installed my pedal holding tool and went to the rear to inspect.
The center high mounted stoplight worked and the two lower ones did not. Just as the customer described. I removed the two 10mm headed screws along the inner edge of the light assembly.
Then pulled on and wiggled the light assembly to free the two outside detent retaining pins.
After twisting and pulling the light socket free from the lamp assembly, I could see that the upper park light element was glowing. This indicates a faulty ground for the light bulb. The glowing of the wrong element is caused by the stoplight element needing for a ground and trying to pick it up from the park lights.
A simple ground jumper wire installed between a good chassis ground and the bulb base proved the poor ground condition.
I looked down the slot next to the metal socket and could see evidence of heat on the ground wire. After a little studying, I realised that the metal base was just pushed into the plastic. A little leverage with a small screwdriver and I was able to lift the metal socket from the base.
If you look closely you should be able to see the evidence of a poor ground connection.
The wire had been heated up enough that the insulation would not pull free properly. I decided to use a new piece of wire for the repair. I also increased the size to a 16 gauge wire. the original was 18 gauge at best.
In the next picture you can see the new wire stripped and rolled into position. Then I just aligned the metal socket and pushed it firmly into the plastic base until it stopped.
The backside of the socket assembly where I spliced the new and the old wires together.
Now the light works as designed.
After installing the sockets into the lamp assembly I made sure to tuck the harness into the retaining slot in the back of the housing.
