November 17, 1986 - Paolo was hungover

So I decide to detail the rear end of my 1986 Testarossa, which included removing the rear grill, tail light assemblies, etc. I dismantle the tail light units and clean the lenses, reflectors, bulbs, etc. I abrade the contacts and bulb contacts. Of course, 2 of the plastic Phillips head screws break, and I found a source to replace them (for my first and second born sons).

Several days later I reassemble the rear end, and test the various lights. I had written down all of the connections and locations of the various sockets. When I test the lights, the left and right brake lights are different! So I figure one of the filaments in a bulb is bad, and I remove to inspect. Nope. All the bulbs are fine. So I check the wiring. As I had written down. I am usually careful about this sort of thing.

I step back and decide to remove the plastic lenses and look at all of the bulbs without the yellow/red covers. My son steps on the brake and the lights are different on each side! It turns out that there is a single filament socket on the right side where the left side has a dual filament socket (each with the appropriate filament bulb). I check the schematic, which calls for dual filament on both sides. I scratch my head. I double and triple check the sockets and the schematics to no avail. Something is wrong.

Now, I have owned the car since 1988. I know the dealer that originally sold the car in San Diego. There have been no accidents. No fender damage. No one has removed these light assemblies since they were installed in the factory.

I surmise that Paolo, in his stupor on the day of manufacture, simply reached into the wrong bin and installed a single filament socket instead of the dual filament. That there is no wire coming from the harness connector is troubling, but maybe the person that put together the connector was hung over (Mario), and Paolo simply figured since there is only 1 wire available, I'll put a single filament socket. In either event, this has gone unnoticed for 18 years.

Any thoughts? By the way, November 17th, 1986, was a Monday.

Jim S.