How to fix a melted headlight socket

Headlight sockets melt because the wire is too thin and it overheats

Typical examples of melted headlight sockets

You never had a melted headlight socket on your old car, so why are they melting now? It’s pretty obvious that it’s poor engineering, but that’s not the complete picture. Carmakers use 20-gauge wire for headlights. Then, they bury the headlight in the corner of an already packed engine compartment. The combination of thin gauge wire, heat and little airflow and no one should be surprised that they melt.

Ok, we all agree it was poor engineering. But how do you prevent it from happening again? Buy a replacement that uses a heavier gauge wire or one with a ceramic core.

Buy a non-dealer replacement headlight socket (pigtail)

TechSmart, a division of Standard Motor Products and Dorman Products have developed complete lines of wiring harnesses that use 14-gauge wire and have a ceramic socket that can’t melt. You can also find no-ceramic headlight pigtails at findpigtails.com. See this post for instructions on how to properly splice in a new pigtail.

With a heavier gauge pigtail in place, you’ll never have to deal with a melted headlight socket again.

Dorman Products Ceramic headlight pigtail