Side Marker Light Cheap Fix
 

My right (passenger) side marker light came out of the bodywork about a week ago while going out to dinner with a friend. Not completely, but enough that a bit of the socket was showing. I clipped it back in at the restaurant but noticed it seemed a little loose and that the rear portion protruded just a little from the fender. On the trip back, no problem and the rest of the week it stayed put. But it still bugged me. Especially how the rear didn't sit flush with the body work. So I decided to take a closer look this evening.

I'm sure you know what I found. The molded in retaining clip had a crack across the plastic and as I was fiddling with it, broke completely through. I've been thinking of changing to the clear marker lights but haven't gotten them yet. And I was planning to drive the car tomorrow. So I went in to scrounge and fix mode and in digging around the garage, came up with this.

I used a plastic wall clip for a wire closet organizer (ClosetMaid I think). Ground the edges down to allow it to fit over the broken stub of the retainer, shortened the length to fit, filed a notch in the bottom for the bodywork and one in the top to hold a rubber o-ring, slipped the o-ring under the stub and rolled it in to the groove to give tension and allow the replacement clip to pivot over the stub. Worked like a champ and fits nice and snug! I'm only planning for this to be a temporary fix but maybe it can help someone else in a pinch. Hopefully I will be swapping out to the clear marker lights very soon. I think they will look better with the silver paint anyway.

Well didn't get to take it out the next day after all due to rain. But it got out of the garage for a nice little 60 mile run this afternoon. Light stayed snug as a bug in the bodywork. Even high speeds with jouncy roads didn't budge it. No play in the fixture at all.

Hey--looks pretty slick! I was wondering when someone was going to post something about the side markers. Quite some time ago I noticed that the one on the drivers's side would pop out a bit on the rear and I would have to push it back in but I avoided any extensive fiddling since that usually causes things to break further. I was also guessing that there were others who have dealt with this.

Doug

Well it's been about 11 days and still tight as a tick! Good thing. I went to a you pick salvage yard last weekend thinking I might could find a factory replacement. HA! Every single Jag they had with the same light had them all stripped off and gone. One sure way to tell a defective design!