These dead simple light sockets are my kryptonite.

'93 XJS Front Signal Lamp Pigtail

Notice this is just a 2-wire pigtail with the horrible PM 5 connector. Between both of my '93 convertibles, I have at least two, and possibly three instances of this part becoming intermittent at best.



I have hogged this thing out with steel wool and WD-40 multiple times, and I can occasionally get the bulb to blink just long enough to reset the socket in the lens and tuck in the pigtail when it stops working again.

The bulb is good. The circuit is good, according to my voltmeter. There is no obvious problem with the spring. The turn signal sometimes works. Briefly. Never long enough to get through a safety inspection.

Before I start paying through the nose for an expensive and hard to find used part, which may just corrode out again in a year's time anyway, does anyone have any alternative suggestions?

Is there an aftermarket socket which will seat into the XJS lens? Is it possible to tear this socket apart and put it back to together? Will magic fairy dust help?

Help!

 

Okay, I can at least answer one of my own questions.

Based on the example I am working with now, it is not very practical to disassemble this thing without destroying the barrel. The ground terminal is has got a Crimp from Hell on it, and the barrel is rolled with a locking seam that makes it really tough to extract from the casing without tearing it up. But extract it I did.



Step Two will be attempting to fit a replacement BA 15S socket, which unfortunately I need to order since I cannot find a local retail source. I'll let y'all know how that turns out.

 

Leviton household candelabra bayonet socket - BA15S/1156 compatible.


Plastic housing modified to seat candelabra socket.


Solid nickel-plated steel barrel and stiffer spring.


Pigtail patched and ready for installation.

So it turns out that the standard 15mm 1156/1157 light socket is not only popular in auto applications, but is used for interior lighting as well. The household barrels are much more expensive, but apparently the automotive units are cheap zinc-plated copper, whereas the household units are nickel-plated steel. Go figure.

Once the factory copper barrel is ripped out, a slight expansion of the center hole in the back of the plastic housing allows a candelabra-style barrel to be mounted in the Jaguar housing. The Leviton unit I tried here is slightly shorter than stock, so I used an offset nut on the mount to get as close to factory as I could; the result is well within functional tolerance.

This works a treat and should last a lot longer than the factory fitting. I know this is small potatoes compared to some of the awesome stuff posted here, but I also know these light sockets have come up before on the forums, so here ya go.

 

Kurtomatic,

Just wanted to say thanks for a great engineered solution.

Ted