Sport Wagon series 1 Tail light lamp holder faulty

[AnotherSS]

Hey its been a while since I've been here. I decided to change my Series 1 VF Sportwagon tail lights to LED and to check why my reverse lights were playing up.
It seems that the white plastic lamp holders on both sides have perished (the reverse lamps). The driver's side badly enough that the lamp basically fell out when I removed the tail light assembly from the car. To make it worse the driver's side lamp was not sealing due to the plastic breaking away and not holding the seal seated it wasn't noticeable from outside but the base of the lamp was wet when I pulled it out.
This seems to be some sort of manufacturing fault the grey and black holders for the other lamps are fine.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, I am thinking I might go to a dealer and ask them if Holden will cover this as an 8 year old car should not have a defect like this.

 

[Forg]

Just to check what you mean exactly, did you replace just the bulbs within the VF tail-light cluster with LED’s that fit into the same holders, or did you replace the entire VF cluster with the LED VF2 tail-light cluster?

I fitted those VF2 clusters to our VF, and I’ve not had your problem, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a problem with one production-run for example. Ours is a late build for an MY14 & because I replaced those clusters within about 3 months I might have the same problem as you but never know it, if you’re still using the VF ones, as mine are unused on the shelf.

However if you fitted aftermarket LED’s into the VF cluster that was designed for incandescents, the problem may be the LED units. Because LED’s don’t use as much current as incandescents, some incandescent-replacement units will have resistors to use-up some of that juice (so as to avoid all sorts of dash warning-lights etc), and as a result they may be putting out a lot more heat than incandescents. This won’t necessarily be the same for all LED units that replace incandescents, but does occur with some.

 

[wetwork65]

Hey its been a while since I've been here. I decided to change my Series 1 VF Sportwagon tail lights to LED and to check why my reverse lights were playing up.
It seems that the white plastic lamp holders on both sides have perished (the reverse lamps). The driver's side badly enough that the lamp basically fell out when I removed the tail light assembly from the car. To make it worse the driver's side lamp was not sealing due to the plastic breaking away and not holding the seal seated it wasn't noticeable from outside but the base of the lamp was wet when I pulled it out.
This seems to be some sort of manufacturing fault the grey and black holders for the other lamps are fine.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, I am thinking I might go to a dealer and ask them if Holden will cover this as an 8 year old car should not have a defect like this.

My RHS reverse lamp is like this in my SV6.
Bulbs last a few months and the bulbs don't feel tight in the holder. Or the wire connectors are a bit munted. Not wet though.
My other wagon doesn't do this.
I actually forgot about it till you mentioned it here. So it could be a bad batch - My car is early 2014.

 

[AnotherSS]

Just to check what you mean exactly, did you replace just the bulbs within the VF tail-light cluster with LED’s that fit into the same holders, or did you replace the entire VF cluster with the LED VF2 tail-light cluster?

I fitted those VF2 clusters to our VF, and I’ve not had your problem, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a problem with one production-run for example. Ours is a late build for an MY14 & because I replaced those clusters within about 3 months I might have the same problem as you but never know it, if you’re still using the VF ones, as mine are unused on the shelf.

However if you fitted aftermarket LED’s into the VF cluster that was designed for incandescents, the problem may be the LED units. Because LED’s don’t use as much current as incandescents, some incandescent-replacement units will have resistors to use-up some of that juice (so as to avoid all sorts of dash warning-lights etc), and as a result they may be putting out a lot more heat than incandescents. This won’t necessarily be the same for all LED units that replace incandescents, but does occur with some.

The white coloured reverse lamp holders in the original loom are perished, the actual tail light housings are fine. I have had the car since new so it has never had so much as a lamp changed. I have a bought a new LED Stop / Tail light set up but I need to plug the old lamp holder in for reverse the kit is pretty much plug and play but won't work with a broken lamp holder. . I was pretty disappointed that the two white lamp holders were stuffed the other two different coloured ones on each side were fine, but both sides the white plastic parts are just crumbling away.
I was able to order replacement looms from Holden for $25 @ thankfully so not sure it's worth making too much fuss.
The parts man says this is a common problem on VT-VZ and might just be starting to show up on VF. I've included a picture now the grey holder and the white one are in the same loom.

 

[AnotherSS]

Just to check what you mean exactly, did you replace just the bulbs within the VF tail-light cluster with LED’s that fit into the same holders, or did you replace the entire VF cluster with the LED VF2 tail-light cluster?

I fitted those VF2 clusters to our VF, and I’ve not had your problem, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a problem with one production-run for example. Ours is a late build for an MY14 & because I replaced those clusters within about 3 months I might have the same problem as you but never know it, if you’re still using the VF ones, as mine are unused on the shelf.

However if you fitted aftermarket LED’s into the VF cluster that was designed for incandescents, the problem may be the LED units. Because LED’s don’t use as much current as incandescents, some incandescent-replacement units will have resistors to use-up some of that juice (so as to avoid all sorts of dash warning-lights etc), and as a result they may be putting out a lot more heat than incandescents. This won’t necessarily be the same for all LED units that replace incandescents, but does occur with some.

The white coloured reverse lamp holders in the original loom are perished, the actual tail light housings are fine. I have had the car since new so it has never had so much as a lamp changed. I have a bought a new LED Stop / Tail light set up but I need to plug the old lamp holder in for reverse the kit is pretty much plug and play but won't work with a broken lamp holder. . I was pretty disappointed that the lamp holder was stuffed the other two in it were fine, both side the white plastic parts are just crumbling away. Tempted to modify the housing and use HQ Bakelite lamp holders those things are going strong at 50 years old! I was able to order replacements from Holden for $25 @ thankfully not sure it's worth making too much fuss. The parts man says this is a common problem on VT-VZ and might just be starting to show up on VF.

 

[Forg]

Ah, I get it, ta … LED’s not fitted yet, problem became apparent when trying to fit the LED’s.

Hopefully the replacement looms fix the problem, IMHO if they do then the problem is unlikely to repeat itself too as the new part won’t melt.

 

[AnotherSS]

The white coloured reverse lamp holders in the original loom are perished, the actual tail light housings are fine. I have had the car since new so it has never had so much as a lamp changed. I have a bought a new LED Stop / Tail light set up but I need to plug the old lamp holder in for reverse the kit is pretty much plug and play but won't work with a broken lamp holder. . I was pretty disappointed that the lamp holder was stuffed the other two in it were fine, both side the white plastic parts are just crumbling away. Tempted to modify the housing and use HQ Bakelite lamp holders those things are going strong at 50 years old! I was able to order replacements from Holden for $25 @ thankfully not sure it's worth making too much fuss. The parts man says this is a common problem on VT-VZ and might just be starting to show up on VF.

Sorry about the double post its a while since I posted and somehow I had it open twice!

 

[AnotherSS]

Ah, I get it, ta … LED’s not fitted yet, problem became apparent when trying to fit the LED’s.

Hopefully the replacement looms fix the problem, IMHO if they do then the problem is unlikely to repeat itself too as the new part won’t melt.

They didn't melt it was more like perished and crumbly there was no sign of any overheating marks etc.