I'm an idiot, and need assistance with rear lights and indicator.

[mickthemaverick]

No you can't just twist them and heat shrink over them for two reasons: 1) You would have no mechanical strength in the joint so the wires could easily pull apart if snagged and 2) Solder provides a direct electrical conducting 'glue' which keeps air or water from getting inside the joint and causing corrosion, as well as giving the joint some mechanical strength. Heat shrink over the soldered joint is the preferred option. A halfway measure which I wouldn't reccommend but will work for a limited period would be to join the spare plugs to your loom with connector blocks known as choc blocks. Those joints rely on a screw clamping the twisted joint to give some mechanical strength but ease of taking apart should you need to. Finally you could use gel filled crimp connectors but personally I don't like that method cos it can get messy!!

[the-termin8r]

Pin 6? There shouldn't be a pin 6, there should only be 5. Can you post a photo of your ruined holder and connector?

The way I did mine was with scrap components I had lying around because it was the day before an MOT (my dad was the owner at the time). The procedure is as follows:

- Get a length of new wire that's long enough to allow you to remove the cluster from the car with the wire still mounted, so I'd say at least 300mm but probably not longer than 500mm as that's a bit excessive. I can't remember what length I used.
- Strip each end of the wire.
- Ideally get 3 crimps. 1 ring terminal like in the photo and then two that mate into each other and can disconnect. I only had the ring at the time.
- Crimp the ring to one end of the new wire and crimp one of the connector ones to the other end.
- Cut the problem wire on the loom as close as possible to the connector and strip the end of it.
- Crimp your last connector to the end of that wire. I had to solder because I didn't have enough / the right crimps. If you are soldering, thread your heat shrink before you solder. Then just shrink over the joint. If you've never soldered, look into some guides on Youtube as a good joint is crucial.
- Go back to the holder and follow the problem pin until it becomes a substantial piece of metal and drill through it. I think I used an M3 screw.
- Put a stainless steel screw through the ring crimp and the hole you just drilled and add a locknut to the other end. Add a bit of threadlock or superglue if you're paranoid, but I didn't.

If you already have a cluster, don't bother bodging the old one. You'll still have to wire in the new connector though. With that method you'll have to cut off the old connector entirely and rewire all the pins. Make note of which pin goes where before cutting the old one off! Soldering is one method, but my recommendation would be to crimp (easier and a better connection if done properly). Even the best solder joint will fatigue over time and eventually fail (not necessarily visually). But, please, for the love of God, DO NOT rely on basic friction maintaining contact. That's just asking for trouble, best case it holds for a few days and then fails, worst case it potentially sets fire to the car.

[Jackinory]

Pin 6? There shouldn't be a pin 6, there should only be 5. Can you post a photo of your ruined holder and connector?

The way I did mine was with scrap components I had lying around because it was the day before an MOT (my dad was the owner at the time). The procedure is as follows:

- Get a length of new wire that's long enough to allow you to remove the cluster from the car with the wire still mounted, so I'd say at least 300mm but probably not longer than 500mm as that's a bit excessive. I can't remember what length I used.
- Strip each end of the wire.
- Ideally get 3 crimps. 1 ring terminal like in the photo and then two that mate into each other and can disconnect. I only had the ring at the time.
- Crimp the ring to one end of the new wire and crimp one of the connector ones to the other end.
- Cut the problem wire on the loom as close as possible to the connector and strip the end of it.
- Crimp your last connector to the end of that wire. I had to solder because I didn't have enough / the right crimps. If you are soldering, thread your heat shrink before you solder. Then just shrink over the joint. If you've never soldered, look into some guides on Youtube as a good joint is crucial.
- Go back to the holder and follow the problem pin until it becomes a substantial piece of metal and drill through it. I think I used an M3 screw.
- Put a stainless steel screw through the ring crimp and the hole you just drilled and add a locknut to the other end. Add a bit of threadlock or superglue if you're paranoid, but I didn't.

If you already have a cluster, don't bother bodging the old one. You'll still have to wire in the new connector though. With that method you'll have to cut off the old connector entirely and rewire all the pins. Make note of which pin goes where before cutting the old one off! Soldering is one method, but my recommendation would be to crimp (easier and a better connection if done properly). Even the best solder joint will fatigue over time and eventually fail (not necessarily visually). But, please, for the love of God, DO NOT rely on basic friction maintaining contact. That's just asking for trouble, best case it holds for a few days and then fails, worst case it potentially sets fire to the car.

Thank you for your detailed instructions, I've saved them potential future use. I actually got another lamp holder, plugged in it and it's all working again. It's probably a temp fix but I had planned to sell the car just after Xmas anyway as I'm using it to drive to Germany, so we'll see how it goes!

[Jackinory]

No you can't just twist them and heat shrink over them for two reasons: 1) You would have no mechanical strength in the joint so the wires could easily pull apart if snagged and 2) Solder provides a direct electrical conducting 'glue' which keeps air or water from getting inside the joint and causing corrosion, as well as giving the joint some mechanical strength. Heat shrink over the soldered joint is the preferred option. A halfway measure which I wouldn't reccommend but will work for a limited period would be to join the spare plugs to your loom with connector blocks known as choc blocks. Those joints rely on a screw clamping the twisted joint to give some mechanical strength but ease of taking apart should you need to. Finally you could use gel filled crimp connectors but personally I don't like that method cos it can get messy!!

Thanks! If you didn't seee my other reply I've actually bought another bulb holder, just plugged it in and it's working now! Temp fix perhaps but I only need the car for a few more months.