Drivers side litronic low beam issue - I'm stumped - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

boxxster · 05-21-2021, 04:40 PM

So my drivers side low beam seems to work intermittently and I can't figure out why. It's always on when I start the car, but usually goes out after 5 or 10 minutes. If I turn the car off, then back on, it always comes back on.

Recently I found out that when the light goes out, I can just pull the fuse out for that light even with the car running and the light will go back on as soon as I put the fuse back in, and it will stay on too. For example, the past 2 nights I have taken the car out for a drive. Both times the headlight went out after a few minutes. Each time I pulled over, removed and reinstalled the fuse with the car still running and afterwards the headlight was totally fine for the duration of the drive (~half an hour).

So far to troubleshoot I have done the following:

-Removed and cleaned the headlight switch
-Swapped fuses
-Removed the headlight, cleaned the connections, and ensured everything was attached correctly
-Swapped the ballast and igniter with those from a spare headlight
-Changed the low beam bulb

I'm not an electrical expert so I'm not really sure where to go from here. Any ideas? why would it go out in the first place? Why does it seem to work perfectly fine after I "reset" it by turning the car off or taking the fuse out? Please help lol

Stl-986 · 05-21-2021, 05:39 PM

sounds like a wire issue. the insulation is known to go bad and the wires are pretty small gauge. I would look for cracked wires. Also check the connector for corrosion, another known issue.

Zordrack · 05-21-2021, 07:16 PM

Personally I would look at the ballast.
This very much sounds like overheating electronics to me.

That said.
I pretty much had to re-insulate every single wire in my litronics headlights after i picked them up.
Lot's of patience and a jar of liquid tape.

dghii · 05-21-2021, 08:26 PM

My headlight issues years ago were a result of deteriorated insulation.

Smallblock454 · 05-22-2021, 03:58 AM

It sounds like you have Litronics.

Had exactly the same problem years ago. I replaced the Xenon bulb. Problem solved.

PLP · 05-22-2021, 07:21 AM

I would lean towards the xenon lamp... but if you say you replaced lamps and ballasts - there is nothing left.

DarrenD · 05-22-2021, 09:13 AM

I am having the exact same issue with my drivers side Litronic. I swapped the ballast, same problem.

Where in Ontario are you located?

boxxster · 05-22-2021, 09:53 AM

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I initially thought it was some sort of overheating issue too, I just don't understand why it would overheat after 5 or 10 minutes, then be perfectly fine for half an hour after I take the fuse in and out. Again, swapping the bulb and ballast did not correct the issue.

There's no corrosion on the connector and all the wiring looked good when I had the headlight out. Might take it out again just to be 100% certain though.

Darren, nice to know I'm not crazy and that someone else is having the same issue. PLEASE let me know if you find the problem. I am in Burlington btw.

blue62 · 05-22-2021, 10:09 AM

Perhaps testing the wiring with an oms meter would be of some help.
I am not very good with wiring but it sounds to me like you may have a grounding issue.

DarrenD · 05-22-2021, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxxster

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I initially thought it was some sort of overheating issue too, I just don't understand why it would overheat after 5 or 10 minutes, then be perfectly fine for half an hour after I take the fuse in and out. Again, swapping the bulb and ballast did not correct the issue.

There's no corrosion on the connector and all the wiring looked good when I had the headlight out. Might take it out again just to be 100% certain though.

Darren, nice to know I'm not crazy and that someone else is having the same issue. PLEASE let me know if you find the problem. I am in Burlington btw.

Yes, I'm stumped with mine too. I'll certainly keep you informed if I figure it out.

Stl-986 · 05-22-2021, 12:24 PM

Open the panel and look inside the headlight. Haven't seen a litronic that didnt have any cracked wires/insulation. Very common due to the head and small gauge wires used.

Next thing is to connect a durametric and look for codes for the lights.

boxxster · 05-22-2021, 01:24 PM

Everything looks alright?? I don't have a durametric, only a generic OBD2 code reader, which I'm assuming would be no help in this scenario.

Stl-986 · 05-22-2021, 01:43 PM

Looks good.
Correct, obd2 can't read litronic codes

Ok, still sounds like a wiring issue. Dont know what year your car is. I dont have any apart right now but if you look where the headlight goes into the car there is a wiring harness (loose) and a connector that the lights plug into. Check both of these. The bigger connector has a yellow sliding clip on the back side, make sure that is secure and the connector isn't able to move. On the loose connector make sure the tab that clips into the light is still there and that the plug can't pull away from the headlight.

Wouldn't hurt to give the male end of the connectors a light sanding and spraying di-electric on the ends and in the body side connectors/plugs.

Other thing will be a potential loose connector at the controller. Some cars this is in the frunk behind the carpet, believe pass. side. On others it is inside the car, passenger side, right below the dash airbag. I had one where some of the connectors had pulled away from the plug and just needed to be pushed back in and all was good after that.

Check with your local PCA as well, they (or someone in the club) might have a durametric you could borrow.

Last thing is it could be the headlight switch. You said you removed it and cleaned it, but these are common failure items and will cause all sorts of weirdness. It's cheap to replace. If you do replace it, I suggest replacing the ignition switch at the same time since you are right there and it makes replacing both easier at the same time.

boxxster · 05-23-2021, 05:32 AM

Thanks for all the info. I didn't even know about the controller so thank you for pointing that out. I was able to find it behind the carpet in the frunk. It all looked pretty good to me. Any chance an issue with the controller itself could be causing the problem?

All the connections to the headlight are clean and secure. I did consider changing the headlight switch entirely but I seem to recall reading somewhere that if there is an issue with the switch it would affect both headlights? My problems are just with the one side.