NOGO4U

Hi,

Has anyone had problems changing rear brake lights?

Mine seem to be almost impossible to take out. I managed to get one off but then I dropped the harness thing.. so now it is sitting at the bottom of my rear guard somewhere.. I hope it doesn't rattle bcoz I can't reach it... I'll probably have to get a whole new harness for it.

andrew

Brian_R170

Are you talking about replaceing the entire brake-light assembly or just the bulbs.

Why can't you just fish the harness out?

Why are you replacing them?

NOGO4U

well I was actually trying to change my brake light bulb, but coudln't twist the harness out? it seemed to be stuck, eventually I managed to twist the bugger out with some unbelievable force, only to drop it down between the panels.

This morning, I had to take all the plastic moulding out of the boot and fish it out with a long bendy stick with a magnet on the end of it.

but now its all good.. brake light has been replaced

Brian_R170

Oh, you mean the bulb socket. I thought you meant the wiring harness.

The '98-'00 SLKs have a habit of forming corrosion on the contacts between the socket and the housing AND between the bulb and the socket. I would bet that's why it was so difficult to remove. Sometimes, the corrosion will get so bad that the entire housing must be replaced. I recommend you pull all of the sockets from both brake light housings and put a small dab of grease on each of the contact points.

SLK 230 Ltd.Ed.

After two times of replacing my brake light, I've grown accustomed to doing it. I will admit that it was a beeyatch at first but then I got used to it.

Section-9

I have the upper break light lamp that is out on my tail light assembly and I have replaced the lamp as well as the lamp holder to no avail. Does anyone know how much effort it will take to remove the tail light to inspect it for rust or if needs be replacement? At some point I would like to have both tail lights working again..

billymueller

There are 3 nuts (8mm I think) that must be removed to remove the lens assy. The contact plates pit where the socket connectors hit. You can try to clean this but more often than not the whole assy needs to be replaced. Good luck with your project.