Directional bulb keeps malfunctioning.

[kurtverb65]

My front , right directional keeps malfunctioning.The bulbs filiment is OK, its the leads on the plug that seem to get hot and melt the plastic then fail.
I replace about one bulb per week or shorter. Iv'e tried dielectric grease on the connection but to no avail.

Iv'e read that the intrigue has had electical nightmares to some relating to ground wires. Is that the case with mine or is it just a bad bulb socket? What can I do?

[dtownfb]

Replace the bulb socket. I replaced mine about 3 years ago.

Try www.gmpartsdirect.com or www.rockauto.com for your best prices. Or you can get the part at any GM dealership. I bought it from the dealer for $34. It will take you about 5-7 minutes to replace.

[Hoppy2]

The design of the DRL system is not very good in these cars. They use the turn signal filament to burn all of the time while the DRL is on. The bulb burns too hot and melts everything near it.

What I did, was ordered a pair of Amber 3157 LED lights for mine. There was a bit to the installation though. When I put them in and turned on the lights the fuse blew. What I had to do was take the bulb apart and put the leads to their proper locations, keeping in mind the polarity of the contacts on the bulb and in the socket. The reason for this is because on the filament bulbs it does not matter which way the current runs through them. On the LED it does.

The other trouble I had was when I did get them working, the turn signals flashed as though it had a light burned out. Unfortunately, you cannot just change the flasher relay because it is housed in the hazard light switch. What I had to do was add a pair of 3157's in the trunk in the turn signal circuit to compensate for a load that the LED's no longer supplied.

No more burnt sockets, and hopefully no more replacements of the front turn signals. A bit pricey to do, but figure the savings in replacement sockets and 3157 bulbs.

Finding the bulbs is hard in Amber. I ended up ordering them from digikey.ca

[harmankardon35]

heres what you do

Go buy 2 new bulbs, then take out your REVERSE lights and put those in the front signals, and put the new bulbs in the reverse lights. The factory bulbs use a pure glass connector that wont melt, aftermarket bulbs use plastic and it melts because they are always burning hot in the daytime. For some reason GM loaded dual filiment (hi/lo) bulbs in the reverse lights, and unless they have been changed in the past they will still be the original glass bulbs.You can also get GM OEM bulbs at the dealership but you will likely pay quite a bit more for them. Another option here is to pull the DRL fuse and turn those lights off in the daytime.

[LittleHoov]

Both of my front signal lamps are aftermarket bulbs, have been for at least a year or better, in the OP's situation, Im thinking its more likely the bulb socket instead of the bulb itself. My mom's Venture went through a similar situation, kept burning up and blowing bulbs left and right.

[cpberry1]

Here's a cheaper fix, and one that I finally did after spending who-knows-how-much on replacement bulbs - go to your local junkyard and get a new socket off of their Intrigue (look for a burned out bulb in it before you buy and don't buy it if it has one, obviously) - mine was $5 about a year ago and I haven't replaced a bulb since then.
Hope this helps...

[Jimmy Olsen]

Originally Posted by harmankardon35

heres what you do

Go buy 2 new bulbs, then take out your REVERSE lights and put those in the front signals, and put the new bulbs in the reverse lights. The factory bulbs use a pure glass connector that wont melt, aftermarket bulbs use plastic and it melts because they are always burning hot in the daytime. For some reason GM loaded dual filiment (hi/lo) bulbs in the reverse lights, and unless they have been changed in the past they will still be the original glass bulbs.You can also get GM OEM bulbs at the dealership but you will likely pay quite a bit more for them. Another option here is to pull the DRL fuse and turn those lights off in the daytime.

Just pulled the DRL fuse. Very good advice. Turn signals are way more important than daylight running lights. Thanks.

[dizzle1]

I have all original lights all have worked fine since 05 I've only added 2 lights in the outer rear tailights that were burnt out for a while, 194's like the interior never knew it was their till 07

[dtownfb]

So you rather deactivate a safety device then spend $20+ and 10 minutes of your time to fix the problem properly??? Unbelievable!!!!!

[harmankardon35]

with the DRL fuse pulled your headlights/tail lights wont come on at night, so you will have to turn them on manually (no big deal).....personally i hate driving in low light when the DRL's keep going on and off depending on the amount of light. Another little quirk of pulling the DRL fuse is the photo-cell will not work for the horn honk when you lock your doors....not many people know about this feature but if you turn off your car, and hit the lock button on the door the car will make 3 beeps from the dash letting you know you locked it, and about 5 seconds after you close the door the doors will lock and if its daytime the horn will honk but if its night time the horn will not honk...well now i wake up my neighbours because the horn honks every time. oh well...no burned bulbs.

[harmankardon35]

Originally Posted by dtownfb

So you rather deactivate a safety device then spend $20+ and 10 minutes of your time to fix the problem properly??? Unbelievable!!!!!

believe me, if you replace the sockets, they will just melt again guaranteed. Not right away, but i have been through several myself. In GM's infinite wisdom they burn the signal lights on all day for drl's...causing them to overheat/melt and at the very least have a shorter life span. Then you have no signal lights and THAT is 100x more dangerous than no DRL's. This is why most vehichles use the high beam bulbs powered down for DRL's (not very dangerous if your high beam burns out, more dangerous missing a low beam..and way more dangerous than missing a signal light!)

[dtownfb]

I know it is a bad design by GM. You can put this with the Intermediate steering shaft design, the alternators, and oil burning engines. My socket has lasted over 3 years now. Hopefully it will last as long as the original socket, 5 years. While I'm sure it is a pain to keep changing the socket and bulb, it is a very, very easy fix. LIke someone mentioned, go to your local junkyard and pull it off an Intrigue or other mid size GM car. No reason to kill a safety feature and the other features you mentioned. Plus you still will have the other DRL on. Remember only one socket seems to have problems not both.

Agree that they should have went with the dimmed high beams like other manufacturers. The funny thing is I see so many GM cars that use the same DRL system with the same problem.

I'm hoping my Intrigue can last another 4-5 months without a major repair. Depending on how bad winter is here, I plan to get rid of my Intrigue sometime in January or February.

[Tobey]

Originally Posted by harmankardon35

with the DRL fuse pulled your headlights/tail lights wont come on at night, so you will have to turn them on manually (no big deal).....personally i hate driving in low light when the DRL's keep going on and off depending on the amount of light. Another little quirk of pulling the DRL fuse is the photo-cell will not work for the horn honk when you lock your doors....not many people know about this feature but if you turn off your car, and hit the lock button on the door the car will make 3 beeps from the dash letting you know you locked it, and about 5 seconds after you close the door the doors will lock and if its daytime the horn will honk but if its night time the horn will not honk...well now i wake up my neighbours because the horn honks every time. oh well...no burned bulbs.

Hmm... What package do you have? My 2000 GX doesn't do this. It does the 3 ding thing, but doesn't honk when it locks.

[LittleHoov]

Mine honks when I lock it with the remote, but not when I just lock the doors.

Somewhere in the owners manual it tells you how to set the behavior of the keyless entry/door lock system. I think there are like 4 options. I discovered it one day because I wished my horn honked. Now after following the procedure, my horn honks and my headlights flash.

[Tobey]

Yeah, one of the first things I did when I got the car was set it to option number 4. I like having audible feedback.