Unbelievable... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Andesign · 03-18-2018, 11:20 AM

Ahhh...the joys of being the 5th owner of a vehicle. Whoever did the surgery on this Stallion's eyes should be Porsche-Whipped...

The ever-elusive headlight weather strip...

:ah:

MWS · 03-18-2018, 11:29 AM

Ahh...the joys of PO DIY's. All car sales should come with an "I'm sorry" note as well as a full list of things they should be sorry for...as well as contact info so you can call them up and point out everything they previously didn't include in their apology note.

geraintthomas · 03-18-2018, 12:23 PM

Oh my god.

KevinH1990 · 03-18-2018, 01:58 PM

The tape on the wiring is due to the failure of the biodegradable insulation that Porsche and other German manufacturers used starting in the 1990s. You can read it about it here: https://jalopnik.com/5570865/11-terrible-automotive-engineering-decisions/ and here:Boxster headlamp assembly internal wiring

The repair is not too difficult, but it does require opening the headlight and replacing the offending wire.

Here's a video showing how to open up the headlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjOnfMHED0

Andesign · 03-18-2018, 02:25 PM

My first thread here on this forum...|-) I kinda like the suggestion by MWS. Biodegradable insulation? Really?? Meanwhile, 4 hours later in the psych ward:

kirkandorules · 03-18-2018, 07:22 PM

Hah, your PO should hang out with the guy who did the abomination of a stereo install in my car.

dghii · 03-18-2018, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH1990

The tape on the wiring is due to the failure of the biodegradable insulation that Porsche and other German manufacturers used starting in the 1990s. You can read it about it here: https://jalopnik.com/5570865/11-terrible-automotive-engineering-decisions/ and here:Boxster headlamp assembly internal wiring

The repair is not too difficult, but it does require opening the headlight and replacing the offending wire.

Here's a video showing how to open up the headlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjOnfMHED0

Correct! I'll give the PO a partial pass on the headlight wiring. This issue essentially left me stranded on a trip when I'd stopped for gas. I couldn't get one of my headlights to work and was running out of daylight to try to figure out what was wrong.
I'm sure the next owner of my car might not understand if they ever have to dig into the lights. I used liquid electrical tape and regular electrical tape to insulate the same wires. It's been over three years now without an issue so I can't call it a kluge.

Maybe your PO just used the wrong type tape but I sure understand what they were trying to accomplish.

Andesign · 03-19-2018, 02:49 AM

dghii · 03-19-2018, 11:56 AM

Looks great! Hopefully no more issues. Weird thing for me was that all the bad insulation was in one light assembly. The other looked fine!

Andesign · 03-19-2018, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dghii

Looks great! Hopefully no more issues. Weird thing for me was that all the bad insulation was in one light assembly. The other looked fine!

Lol...This is the same headlight, my first attempt at a DIY re-wire, hence the psych ward remark...|-)

Andesign · 03-24-2018, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MWS

Ahh...the joys of PO DIY's. All car sales should come with an "I'm sorry" note as well as a full list of things they should be sorry for...as well as contact info so you can call them up and point out everything they previously didn't include in their apology note.

LOL...In this case, I think they should have included a fire extinguisher...