Remove/Replace Cornering Lamp in my 1966 DeVille?

[lionsfan54]

Both of my cornering lamps are currently inoperable.  How in the heck do I remove those light covers to get to the bulb itself?  Please help!

[76eldo]

The bulbs should be accessible from the back side of the housing.

Are you trying the cornering lights with the headlight switch on?

Brian

[lionsfan54]

No dice with headlights on. 

So, I see one large wire going into the "rear" part of the housing.  Should I just yank that out?

[76eldo]

No.

If it doesn't look like a socket or some type of push in socket under a rubber boot, wait for a 65/66 guy to see this post.  Did you check your owner's manual?

Brian

[Glen]

To change the bulbs in the cornering lights on my 68 ELDO you have to remove the complete light fixture from the fender and let it dangle from the wire.  Then you remove the lens off the reflector part. 

The lights are in a heavy splash zone so they were not built to remove the bulbs from the back. 

Glen

[lionsfan54]

Thanks Glen -

I think I need to remove the whole lamp, but I'm scared to try and "pry" it out.  Is there a trick? 

Owner's manual is of zero help I'm afraid

[Chris McBride]

If no one replies, you may wish to ask at:

http://65-66cadillaccommunity.ning.com/groups

HTH

Chris

[Kell Oskarsson]

Hi,

on my 1968 de Ville, you have to remove a rubber splash guard from the wheel well in order to access the lamp assembly from inside the fender. The assembly is then removed by unscrewing 4 or 5 nuts. In order to access the bulb, you have to take the assembly apart (some more nuts). You might have to change the bulb with the whole thing dangling from the fender, as per the previous post, as the socket might not be removable at all.

I would suspect that you have a not dissimilar setup. At any rate, I don´t think you should be prying, but rather trying to locate the fasteners of the light assembly. Do you have the Factory Workshop Manual? That should have some info.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Kell.

[Steve W]

Just a thought, but are you sure the problem is the bulbs?
The only reason I ask is that BOTH are out at the same time. Coincidence?
And is it the cornering lights AND the side markers that are out, or just the cornering lights?
Do yourself a huge favor and check your wiring and connections first.
I had a similar problem on my 68 CdV's front turn signal/parking lights...turned out to be the connectors in the wiring, the bulbs were fine.

Good luck.

[lionsfan54]

Thanks everyone... it WAS the bulb.  I will be posting instructions of how I did it along with pics so that other people can avoid this.

[Rob Troxel]

It could be that you need to reestablish a ground for the cornering lights to work.  This was the case on my 68 Eldorado. Remove the housing and use some steel wool around the metal to metal contacts (usually the bolt hole areas to the fender)) I had the same issue with the back up lights too. Let us know what you find. Good luck!

[lionsfan54]

There are 3 bolts holding the entire housing to the fender.  You must remove all three bolts to get to the bulb.  I found it easier to work after removing the tire.



The third bolt is up front and not visible in the first pic.  Here is a pic from the outside with the lens removed so you can see where it is located



The bolts were very hard to remove and I thought maybe they were reverse threaded.  Nope, just old and rusty.

These 4 screws hold the cover over the lens.  You can only get to them by removing the entire lens (thanks GM)


Removed the "grille".  This was a good chance to really clean it up using a wire brush and some polish.


And, here is where the burned out bulb was


A link to a new bulb if you can't find one locally
http://www.bulbamerica.com/GE-38w-RP11-1195-12-5v-Bulb-8453-prod.htm

It's a HUGE bulb!

[lionsfan54]

No, you have to remove everything to get to it.  sorry 

[76eldo]

I am amazed that Cadillac engineered the housing like this.  It seems crazy to have to do all of that in order to change a bulb.

Brian

[lionsfan54]

Well, at least we know it's a problem only with "modern" cars!   

[35-709]

Considering how difficult they made it to change the taillight bulbs on a '66, the cornering light setup doesn't surprise me in the least.
Geoff N.

[Glen]

First of all I think the old bulbs lasted longer than the new ones.  My 68 ELDO still has all its original dash lights and the rear marker lights; front turn signal lights and maybe a few more.  The cornering lights mostly needed grounds fixed.  I did change the cornering lights to halogen bulbs because I can’t get the original bulb with the high wattage. 

The cornering lights are in a place that has a lot of water splashing around when driving in the rain and Cadillac designed them to be very splash proof.   

Glen

[Chris Conklin]

To continue the horror story of cornering lights, lionsfan54, do you happen to have a tilt/telescoping steering wheel? If so, keep your eyes open for the directional switch for sale and bid high. 

[lionsfan54]

Nope, no tilt wheel!

[Chris Conklin]

Lucky you! The last one I saw on eBay went for about $270+. But it was NOS.