i got pulled over the other day because a cop thought i "ran" a red light, even tho it was clearly yellow when i was in the middle of the intersection any who i didnt get a ticket for running a light but i did get one for a tail light not working. when i got home i removed the tail lights. every single tail light socket is rusted. where can i find replacement sockets? can i use any socket or do i need specific one. i tried autozone napa and kregan no one has them. any advice?? any shops in san diego???? thanks guys car is a 95 formula

The sockets for our cars are hard to find at the local auto parts stores as you've found out. Really the only place I've been able to find them, since yes you do have to use specific sockets for our cars, is my local dealer. Just to let you know, they're not cheap either.

But when you replace them make sure that you put on the gasket that comes with the socket. That gasket is what helps to keep the water from getting into the socket itself and also from getting into the taillight housing. Also make sure that you put some die-electric grease on the new sockets too. That will help keep the new sockets from rusting also.

I had the same problem. Found replacement sockets in stock at the local autoparts store, but they were really cheapo and would have been filled with rust in no time. So, went to the local dealer and bought one...very expensive at about 50 bucks or so. However, here's the ticket: The new OEM socket comes with the correct wires attached to the socket. All you have to do is cut your old wires and solder the new and old together. But, if you want to make a super clean installation, pull the pins out of the old socket and and reinstall them in the new one. Experiment on the old socket first for pulling the connection pins out. All that you have to do is go 90 degrees off of straight up (the 12 o'clock position) with a thin wire or something like a paper clip, depress the little catch on the connector and then pull it out. Then, clean the old pins, and push them into the new socket. Presto chango, you gotta new socket that weather seals perfectly and no one will ever know that it was replaced.

i called a pontiac dealer and asked how much the sockets were. he told me 100 dollars each!!!!! does that sound right???? i really dont want to spend that much. any one know any online store that i could find some i tried year one but no luck.

That's nuts.

Try GMPartsDirect.com. I looked the sockets up for you and they want 40.99 plus shipping/handling for them each. Here's a link to the their catalog page:

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/catalog/frameset.cfm

Just put in your year, then Pontiac, then Firebird. When the new page opens look down the list for rear lamps and click on that and several subtitled areas will show up, when they do click on combination lamps and another subtitled list will open up under that. When it does click on socket and the socket listing will open up for you. Click on tail from the next subtitled list. When you click on tail, the listing for the taillight socket will open up. Also if you're backup lights aren't working you can click on the work backup from that same list to get the backup light socket.

GMPartsDirect lists the taillights as $78.82 each MSRP btw, so his $100 each isn't far off.

Also if you want me to I can call the Pontiac dealer here and see what they want for them for you but I won't be able to do that until sometime Monday or Tuesday cause of the times I have to work before then.

just ordered the parts from the link you gave me sassy sue. its way cheaper then the dealer thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool on ordering them and I'm glad I was able to help you out.

Hello group, haven't posted yet, but I've been a member for a little while and really appreciate the wealth of knowledge many of you possess. Just did the headlight fix yesterday with Brent's metal gears and it was a snap, I'm very pleased with the outcome.

I need at least one taillight socket also, maybe more, I'm getting water inside because my lenses have several small cracks... I found these at Rock Auto: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecat...c1251953k319078
Are they the cheapo-crappy kind?
jonboy

From what I can see by looking at both the link you posted and then looking at the listing on there for the sockets, that you have to buy the pigtail and the socket seperately. But the pigtails do look like the correct ones as does the socket.

Myself what I would do instead of ordering all of them for your car is to just order one of each and see what they look like in person. Most of the time just by the feel of the plastic and the wiring you can tell if they're quality or not. If they feel/look cheap they usually are and you'll know not to get anymore of them. If they seem to be of the same weight/grade/quality as the stock ones then you can order the rest of them that you need.

However, just remember this, with our cars you get what you pay for. Usually 9 times out of 10 if you buy/get cheap the item won't last long and you'll end up paying more cause you have to replace the item more often then if you'd just got a higher prices/good quality part to begin with.

Agree totally, Sue. I like that in most cases the site specifies whether its an ACDelco part or otherwise. I'll buy a couple and let you all know how it turns out...

okay, here's the latest... i talked to the guy at RockAuto and he said all the sockets come with 6-8 inches of wire attached, no need to buy pigtails separately... then i asked him if i ought to pay the 3 dollars or so extra for the ACDelco parts and he said don't bother, the parts are identical... i bought 4 sockets for almost $160, and when they arrived i found they are exactly the same as the ones in the car, so i guess that's as good as it gets... another story about my lenses: both sides have hairline cracks, probably from the Florida sun, the left one has gotten water inside, so i was searching for 2 complete Formula tail lights... nothing on eBay for a while now, so i put in a search on the nationwide used parts database, specifying that they must be the Formula style with the rectangular pattern, not the plain or honeycomb style. the next day i got an e-mail from Quality Auto Parts in Chicago saying they have them. rather than just sending them the payment online, i called them and spoke to a human being to make sure they were the right ones. they promised me they were and guaranteed i would be satisfied. so i bought 'em, $190 each... a few days later the first box arrived, in it was one tail light, for the right side, a honeycomb T/A style. Grrr!! called them the next day and wanted to give them hell, but they had my money so i graciously told them how disappointed i was and asked them to cancel the order for the other side and refund all my money. they said the other side was already in transit so they couldn't cancel, and i had to pay return shipping for the refund. i sent back the one i had and went back to searching online. lo and behold, up pops a craigslist listing for a right side Formula light in Arizona, the guy's asking $45!! i called him and he's sending it tomorrow. hooray! when i got home the other box had come from Quality Auto, inside was a left side Formula tail light! i have my pair!! life is good... now i just hope Quality doesn't try to stiff me on the refund...

That's good to hear that they are the same. I'll have to remember that incase I ever have to get some new ones.

Those hairline cracks are common on our cars no matter where you live. They're caused by the body flexing/twisting and the hard plastic of the lenses not doing the same.

It's cool that you found some replacements for your car and got one for so cheap. But just to let you know, there's no difference between the Formula taillights and the Firebird and Trans Am ones. It depends on the year rather then the model for the most part. In 1993 the taillights didn't have any type of lines on them, in 1994-1997 the taillights have the lines on them and in 1998-2002 the taillights are the honeycomb style ones.

Oh and remember when you put on those new sockets and taillight lenses that you to put on new and/or good rubber seals around the sockets or you'll have water coming in around those and into the taillight lenses.

as usual, you're right Sue! i just saw a '94 Trans Am (same year as my Formula), at the Tower Shops last night and noticed it had the same lenses... thanks for that. hmm, you say the cracks are from flexing of the body, huh? i wonder if some kind of spongy-type washer under the plastic wingnuts might help...

You're welcome for the info.

As for the spongy type of washers, I'm not sure if they would work or not since the whole body of the car twists and flexes and with the length of the taillights it would be hard to make it so that all of the length of the lenses wouldn't try to twist/flex with the car. But hey, it would be worth a shot to see if that would work or not.

not-so-quick update on the tail light search: the one i bought from the guy in arizona for $45 arrived and it looked good, a couple light scuffs on it but i can polish them out... i pulled the other one that i got from Quality out of the box to see if it had any scuffs and the thing had some bad delamination on the end, a big white spot! so Quality Auto Parts is a no go, guys... i had to send that one back too, they refunded me for the first one after i sent them a reminder e-mail, should be getting the second refund soon... there were two sellers on ebay who had pairs for sale, one of them said in the product description that they were 'perfect'. i wrote to him and told him i wouldn't bid unless he could guarantee they had no areas of delamination between the halves and thankfully he was honest and wrote back that they did in fact have a couple small spots, so i counted him out... the other seller said the same thing so i didn't buy his either... i was about to buy a new one from Young's for $269 until i read in your other thread for sellers to avoid about the problems with Young's so i did another search on Google and found a lens from an outfit named Everdrive... called them and explained like i did to the Quality people about the importance of it being in excellent condition and they assured me it was... even though i didn't really believe them i bought it because they promised me if i wasn't satisfied that return shipping would be on them... it arrived the other day and it looks good. in my searches i found a kit to make the turn signals blink sequentially and i bought one... i know, i know, go ahead and holler at me, i think that's cool... as soon as the kit arrives i'm putting in my lights...