brake light melted

[bzwyatt]

Changing bulbs on brake lights in my '08 CX-7, I pulled the bulb out and it had some dark red goo on it, something had melted and dried onto the bulb.

Couldn't see what it was, noticed that the top part of the brake lights were not as red as the rest, and after some research, found out/realized that the bulbs get too hot, melt a hole in the inside of the brake light housing/lens area, the red plastic drips onto the bulb as it melts, and there is a nickel-sized hole above each brake light bulb on the inside of my brake lights.

I'd noticed that there was some dirt/smoking and wasn't sure if it was getting faded, or something else, maybe a bug got in there. Now I realize it is from the smoke of the plastic burning onto the bulbs.

Have you heard of this anybody?

I'm thinking of getting some LED bulbs to replace the standard ones. I also want clean brake lenses again. I don't know about good options for replacing them without spending probably several hundred if I wanted Mazda ones.

Any input?