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21 Posts
2003 Focus ZTW (wagon) - 2.0L engine
Need your help, Fanatics!
If someone with a 2003 Wagon could look at their tail-light assembly for me, I would be very appreciative. Phillips screwdriver is all you need.
Here's the deal... I bought the car used, and I know it had been repaired after an accident. Front-end, mainly.
The other day, another driver politely informed me that my rear, LH brake/turn lamp was out. (This is a common, dual-filament 3157 bulb-- dimmer filament for the tail light, and brighter filament for brake/turn.)
Normally this would be a very EASY bulb replacement, taking only minutes.
Of course not...
Previous owner did something to force the bulb socket into the tail-lamp assembly. The socket should just turn 90-degres (lining up the flanges on the socket with the cut-out hole on the assembly) and EASILY come right out. It doesn't.
I checked my RH to compare, and I can see there they chipped away at the housing to fit a 3-flanged socket into a 2-flanged hole on the assembly!!!!
With significant force, I can get the RH socket out. No such luck on the LH-- the one where I need to replace the bulb. Any more force and I think I will break the socket or the assembly. (Not beyond doing that, but not before I have the CORRECT replacement part in hand.)
So... here's my question-- what did the previous owner replace with the incorrect part-- the SOCKETS or the TAIL-LAMP ASSEMBLIES?
The lower (white) Reverse lamp is a socket with just TWO "flanges".
Should the upper Tail/Brake/Turn socket be the same (two flanges)?
Or should the upper Tail/Brake/Turn socket be a 3-flange socket?? (Is that part number #13411)
I see some notes online (namely FordParts.com) specifying a difference in 2003 before and after 2/1/2003... maybe this is a mid-year change? I don't know whether my vehicle was before or after that. I can provide VIN if needed.
Thanks for any information!!!
Need your help, Fanatics!
If someone with a 2003 Wagon could look at their tail-light assembly for me, I would be very appreciative. Phillips screwdriver is all you need.
Here's the deal... I bought the car used, and I know it had been repaired after an accident. Front-end, mainly.
The other day, another driver politely informed me that my rear, LH brake/turn lamp was out. (This is a common, dual-filament 3157 bulb-- dimmer filament for the tail light, and brighter filament for brake/turn.)
Normally this would be a very EASY bulb replacement, taking only minutes.
Of course not...
Previous owner did something to force the bulb socket into the tail-lamp assembly. The socket should just turn 90-degres (lining up the flanges on the socket with the cut-out hole on the assembly) and EASILY come right out. It doesn't.
I checked my RH to compare, and I can see there they chipped away at the housing to fit a 3-flanged socket into a 2-flanged hole on the assembly!!!!
With significant force, I can get the RH socket out. No such luck on the LH-- the one where I need to replace the bulb. Any more force and I think I will break the socket or the assembly. (Not beyond doing that, but not before I have the CORRECT replacement part in hand.)
So... here's my question-- what did the previous owner replace with the incorrect part-- the SOCKETS or the TAIL-LAMP ASSEMBLIES?
The lower (white) Reverse lamp is a socket with just TWO "flanges".
Should the upper Tail/Brake/Turn socket be the same (two flanges)?
Or should the upper Tail/Brake/Turn socket be a 3-flange socket?? (Is that part number #13411)
I see some notes online (namely FordParts.com) specifying a difference in 2003 before and after 2/1/2003... maybe this is a mid-year change? I don't know whether my vehicle was before or after that. I can provide VIN if needed.
Thanks for any information!!!