Parking/City Light issue - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

boxster6354 · 04-10-2013, 04:09 PM

Has anyone had the issue or knows of a fix?

Situation:

I have litronic headlights and my passenger parking light went out, went to replace and still dead, used the one from driver side and still did not work, tested the other bulbs I had and they are all good.

Looked at the connections and from what I see is all good.

Thoughts?

litespeedp · 04-10-2013, 06:35 PM

Same here.Have not tried anything yet but I will attempt to follow the instructions that I have seen somewhere,maybe my owners manual in my 2000 S which involves going into the frunk and moving the latching mechanism that holds the whole bucket assembly in place.

Maybe the latch has loosened and the whole bucket has lost part of its connection.

A friend that I was following said that at night, it appears as though something might be loose as there is a small flutter in the headlights appearance.
Hope this is all there is to it!

thom4782 · 04-11-2013, 07:03 AM

You said you looked at the connection so I assume you made a visual inspection.

As a next step, you might try removing the headlamp assembly and testing that you have voltage at the socket. Here's a diagram that might help.

http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/44045-fyi-headlight-connector-pinout.html

Just keeping adjusting the light switch to turn on the various lights and see if you have voltage. If so, then the problem is in the headlight itself or you had a loose connection between the headlight and the socket.

boxster6354 · 04-11-2013, 07:18 AM

Thanks for the info, will have a look at it in more detail today

Wret · 04-11-2013, 07:32 AM

I have the same issue. I confirmed that the bulb was good and it lit when an external 12v source was applied to the right connector. I also confirmed power and ground at the chassis side, which I compared with the driver's side. Everything seemed normal, so I'm still stumped.

Some day I'll get around to some more troubleshooting but I really only notice it when I stop for gas and leave the lights on.

thom4782 · 04-11-2013, 08:32 AM

I had a light problem where my driver low beam would go dark. If I turned the light switch off and back on, the low beam would light back up.

It turned out the headlight to socket connection on the tray was loose. With the light assembly out, I pushed down on the socket until it was firmly in place on the tower. Then I put the headlamp assembly adjusting it orientation until it went in place without much pressure. Since I did this five months ago, the low beam has stayed on over the bumpiest of roads.

So the connections can become loose. They can also become dirty so some electrical contact cleaner might help too. All this assumes that you have voltage at the socket on the tower and the resistance between the parking light + and ground pins isn't infinite.

boxster6354 · 04-11-2013, 10:26 AM

We have a winning solution!

It was a loose socket connection, just had a little wiggle which I place a bit of duct tape on and reinserted and I now have parking lights.

Thanks Guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by thom4782

I had a light problem where my driver low beam would go dark. If I turned the light switch off and back on, the low beam would light back up.

It turned out the headlight to socket connection on the tray was loose. With the light assembly out, I pushed down on the socket until it was firmly in place on the tower. Then I put the headlamp assembly adjusting it orientation until it went in place without much pressure. Since I did this five months ago, the low beam has stayed on over the bumpiest of roads.

So the connections can become loose. They can also become dirty so some electrical contact cleaner might help too. All this assumes that you have voltage at the socket on the tower and the resistance between the parking light + and ground pins isn't infinite.

Homeboy981 · 04-12-2013, 04:30 AM

I solved that problem on mine by bending the holding bracket ever so slightly so that it made a good connection to the light socket. Apparently, those brackets are easy to move or bend if headlight is not inserted properly (usually by the owner before you who was in a hurry and tried to "jam" it in there).

Glad to hear your world has been illuminated.