ATV headlights melting

Bought a 2001 arctic cat 500 a few months ago. Lights didnt work when I bought it, only one side worked on low, so assumed just needed new bulbs. Tried taking first bulb out tonight and could not get it out. Finally yanked on it enough and this is what I see. The part that the bulb fits into (socket?) is melted/cracked and the contact points are basically non existent. Looks like you have to buy a completely new headlight assembly, cant just buy this part and put it into your existing headlights. Anybody ever see this?

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That doesn’t look that bad to me. Was the bulb burned out? I would put some dielectric grease in there and a new bulb and give it a shot.
The headlights are not sealed real well and water gets in there so that is what caused what you are seeing. The dielectric grease will help avoid it in the future.

Neither of the bulbs are burnt out. The “socket” that the bulbs fit into basically has no contact points showing anymore from the plastic melting. It may be hard to tell in the pic, but inside of that thing is cracked all the way around.

One option is to get the headlight part number and check eBay for a used one. Lots of guys out there parting out wrecked ATVs so it’s worth taking a look and seeing if you can pick up the whole headlight unit for low cost.

Other than that, it’s a tough deal. Only other idea I have for you is to put the non-working headlights back together as is and install aftermarket LED off road lights or an LED light bar somewhere else on the machine. If you have the right place to install lights so they work and look decent, it could be a lower cost solution.

Grouse

Oh, yeah it was tough to tell in the pic that there was that amount of damage. Is there a part number on just the socket? I am sure there is some Taiwanese company that makes those things, the trick would be to find one that matches up to lock into the light housing.

I might suggest taking the bulb socket into your local auto parts store and see if you can match it up. I agree it should be a standard configuration to plug into the headlight housing. Also agree a good dose of dielectric grease on the contacts when you get a new one.

The aftermarket LED light option is also a good route to go.