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I've got a 2014 Jeep Compass and this uses Mopar sockets for the running daylight bulbs (part 68191950AA). They look like this: Mopar socket part number 68191950AA

What I don't know for sure is exactly what model bulbs are meant to fit this socket. I'm buying LED replacements for the original 7444NA bulbs that were apparently in the car as the main running daylight bulbs. The odd thing is that no matter what make LED bulb i seem to buy, they don't really fit in this socket. What I mean by that is that they do insert, usually making a connection, but they don't stay safely in place. Within a day or two of running what normally happens is that the LED bulb pops out of the socket at some point due to forces whilst driving or heat changes in the bulb.

Just touching the inserted bulb in the socket, it's clear that this is going to happen as it comes out so easily with just a tap.

So what am I doing wrong? Are there just 101 cheap Chinese brands making LEDs that don't fit the socket standard properly? I doubt it. So I assume it's myself at fault with slightly incompatible parts.

Can anyone shed light on this (pun intended) ?

AdamJones
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2 Answers2

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It's a common problem, with a simple solution. After inserting the bulb, wrap electrical tape around the bottom of the bulb and the socket a few times. See this page for user's excellent results (Nicholas Shiflett's comment).

Carguy
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Here's a thing:

The glass bulbs for those sockets usually have contact wires folded over both sides of the flat surface.

That's because of the differences in configuration of different sockets, in some of them, only one side has a contact that's actually connected to the power wire.

What I have seen on a lot of chinese bulbs, is that they only run one wire, thin one at that, and fold it over only one side, saving a bit in the manufacturing, but effectively shrinking the width of the wire-base-wire sandwich, which is then not enough for it to fit snugly in the socket.

I remember this from when I tried fitting the LED bulbs on F150 and had to fold the contact wires on the opposite sides of the base, because otherwise they got power in reversed polarity and wouldn't work.

Ben.T
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