Olds Silhouette

[Sideoftheroad]

Anyone currently drive or used to own an Olds Silhouette, Chevy Venture or the like?

 

I have an 03 Olds Silhouette that the left front turn signal bulb went out. Thought easy enough to change out (and it normally is). Well the bulb actually melted into the signal housing. If you look at the hole the bulb goes through, the entire circle is bubbling like the bulb gets too hot for the plastic housing. Looked at the right side and same thing with the bubbling.

 

The issue is on the left side the socket the bulb plugs into got so hot it has what looks like burn marks around the socket and became brittle. So what happened is part of the socket broke in pieces so it was no longer held in place. So the bulb touched the side of the housing and melted to the side.

 

Found replacement parts for the socket and housing. Even found led bulbs that I wonder if that would be cooler.

 

Just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues?

[Reddog170]

I had a Lumina that did the same thing. Found out what caused the bulb to get that hot was a bad ground. Kinda odd though, you would think that the bulb would just not work but with the GM logo you never know what will happen. I replaced the socket, lens, and part of the wiring and fixed the ground. Never had the problem again. Did go through all the other ground wires as well just to make sure. Shaun

[Grisolm1]

My daughters Olds Intrigue had a melted signal light socket. Turns out a common GM problem. Think its not enough contact pressure in the socket. Replaced with new OEM socket $35. But won't be surprised if it doesn't come back again.

[rsstar]

To answer your question about LEDs; if you can find a suitable replacement I would use them. They emit NO heat whatsoever. The only problem I ever ran into with LEDs was on my 99; I had to change the flasher so they wouldn't flash too quickly. They draw so much less current that in some cases the flasher won't work unless you add a shunt resistor. I would get them and try them. If they don't work you can always take them back and get the regular bulbs.

[Sideoftheroad]

So been calling around to auto parts places. No one carries the parts. I called the dealer and the socket is $83 + tax but the lamp housing is $64. Go figure. Anyway the socket is on ebay for 1/2 that.

 

Grisolm1, where did you get yours for $35?

[Sideoftheroad]

Forgot to add, parts guy at the dealership said he knows of the bad grounding issue too. Says it is usually 1 side, not both like mine. He called it high resistance level. He said not very common or else he would have the parts on hand.

 

Well we have 3 examples here so I am thinking might not be commonly heard of from their dealership but I am gonna go out on a limb and say it is more common than what he may know.

[Grisolm1]

Buick dealer. Silhouette may be different. This was just the socket, not the whole light asy.