2002 vw beetle tail light

[muffildy]

Hello,
my bugs tail light brake light on the right hand side does not light up. The light does light up when i turn on the headlights, and the left and middle rear brake lights do light up. I looked at the fuse box and didnt find any fuses burned out.
I thought that the brake light used the same lightbulb as when the headlights are turned on and just increased the power to the bulb or something like that? im not sure why the bulb isnt becoming brighter upon engaging the brakes.

[77kafer]

Even if the same bulb is used for 2 functions, tail light and brake light, there are 2 filiments in there. (little tiny wires that create the light). The filiment for your brake light is broken.

[muffildy]

i managed to fix the tail light just by jiggling the bulb; i guess the connector socket is slightly broken. I used a screw driver to bend the metal for better contact and used a brush to remove some corrosion.
Problem now is, that for some reason the front right headlight doesnt want to turn on. It was working just fine before i fixed the tail light, checking the light and it works correctly when powered directly from a battery.
An alarm sounds whenever i turn on the highbeams now.
i checked all of the fuses again and all of them are good.

[muffildy]

nevermind, figured out the issue.
the red wire in the connector socket had gotten pulled out of the socket slightly.
unfortunatly, in the process of checking the headlight the assembly tab that holds it into place got broken off. Ridiculous that the whole headlight assembly is held in place by a tiny plastic nub. Screwed a screw into that and going to epoxy it when it stops raining.

[77kafer]

broke the nub off on my wifes 99, jamed a wooden clothspin in to hold the slider in place, never came loose on its own.