Running Light/High Beam Issue?

[fazerG8R]

I've got a 2012 3.8 base with about 5000 miles on it. On a recent trip I noticed the drivers side running light was not working (same with the high beam). Wife took it to the dealer today for replacement, but the replacement bulb didn't light, and then the tech noticed "melted plastic" around the bulb. They didn't have replacement parts and the dealer is checking for service bulletins. They'll be fixing it later this week (I hope) but I hadn't seen this come up before. Anybody else heard of this problem?

 

[fazerG8R]

I guess this doesn't come up much based on the underwhelming response (none), which is probably a good thing. In any event, the dealer ended up replacing part of the wiring harness and now it works again, just like new.

 

[QuantumRift]

Yea, no response, not a 'big' issue. Prob a bad run of plastic.....I doubt the bulb was running HOTTER but the plastic has to be able to withstand a certain amount of heat as it's enclosed and not much ventilation.

 

[fazerG8R]

I'm guessing the harness had a high resistance connection (or was improperly installed and that resulted in a high resistance connection) that causes the meltdown. In any event I don't expect a repeat.

 

[QuantumRift]

Actually, it would not be a 'high resistance' condition...to cause meltdown you'd need more current flow to heat up the circuit, connector or wire...not necessarily a short but a condition somewhere in there that allowed excess current to flow thru the connector...