error ::::check dipped beam

[lovethesport]

once in every 500 miles the dipped beams dont light up and get this error-----once i restart the vehicle the error goes away and the lights start working-----what could it be------it only happens when i turn the switch to turn the interior lights on as well

[DDiggler69]

I had the same problem. My dealer tied several things but the thing that fixed it was to replace the bulb. After replacing the bulb, the error went away. They can do this without a service appointment.

[cayenne69]

I had the same problem, and this will become more often. I changed the bulb and make sure all contact are tight around the bulb. Finally after a couple of weeks my headlights were blinking and during night driving one light turned off and I got the message "check dip light". 2 weeks ago I changed both HID bulb and everything is now resolved. Hope this can help you.

[Dennis C]

Remove the headlight assembly per the owner's manual. When you do, look inside the fender and find the bolts that attach the "carriage" with the connection wires to the frame. They are black, and are 10mm. They tend to loosen over time, allowing the carriage to move and the connection to become inconsistent, resulting in the error message. Tighten the bolts and see if this helps your problem. It did for me.

Good luck.

[BullOnWallSt]

I had the same problem. My dealer tied several things but the thing that fixed it was to replace the bulb. After replacing the bulb, the error went away. They can do this without a service appointment.

I am having this same problem. Just wondering if replacing this bulb has corrected the problem for good or just temp? Did you end up taking the light out and all? Thanks Keith

[BullOnWallSt]

I had the same problem, and this will become more often. I changed the bulb and make sure all contact are tight around the bulb. Finally after a couple of weeks my headlights were blinking and during night driving one light turned off and I got the message "check dip light". 2 weeks ago I changed both HID bulb and everything is now resolved. Hope this can help you.

Has this resolved your problem here by changing the HID's and what is the cost on these and what and were are the best and most inexpensive to get? I just purchased my cayenne and it is already doing this to me as well. Error message that headlight dipped and going out at night as well. Please let me know.

Thanks

Keith

[SeattleBum]

I had the same problem, and this will become more often. I changed the bulb and make sure all contact are tight around the bulb. Finally after a couple of weeks my headlights were blinking and during night driving one light turned off and I got the message "check dip light". 2 weeks ago I changed both HID bulb and everything is now resolved. Hope this can help you.

Has this resolved your problem here by changing the HID's and what is the cost on these and what and were are the best and most inexpensive to get? I just purchased my cayenne and it is already doing this to me as well. Error message that headlight dipped and going out at night as well. Please let me know.

Thanks

Keith

I get this message as well. What is the 'dipped light' anyway?

[RFM]

Dipped-beam means Low-beam, SeattleBum.

[DDiggler69]

If your Cayenne is under warrenty, the dealer will replace the bulb free of charge. Just tell them that you herd a buld replacement fixes the problem. For me, adjusting the wire harness did nothing to help. They can replace the bulb without an appointment. Just go into service and ask them to do it on the spot (like I did). It's now been fine for over one year (previously did it 2x a week for six months for me).

[fredjchavez]

very interesting...i went for the hid lights simply because of my experiences. i have another brand, and not a single ounce of problems in almost 9 years. on top of that, simple to adjust (thumb wheels you turn while the head lights are burning).

the stealer swore up and down that my cayenne hid's could not be height adjusted. they claimed that the reason everyone was holding up their hand to their rear view mirror at night was because hid lights are so bright and people arent used to them. if it doesnt make sense, then it isnt true!

thanks to forums, i figured it out on my own and love rubbing the service clerks nose in it everytime i get the chance! LOL

[woeis]

My '04 Cayenne HID drivers side high beam seems to get stuck on even when I switch to low beam. I will switch back and forth between High and Low beam several times and it will finally go to low beam on left hand. The right hand beam always switch high/low fine. Do I need to replace the bulbs?

[Hanziman]

The dipped beam error desribed sounds similar to mine - restart the engine and the problem went away temporarily - until one day driving long haul a bump on the road caused permanent error on the dipped beam. The car has only 15.000 miles on it so I could not believe it was a faulty bulp. Porsche dealership said to simply remove and reinsert the light unit as per instructions manual. Voila - fixed the problem - ie. it was a problem caused by the light unit´s connection box having poor connections.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Hanziman

[tXster]

Will replacing the bulb fix the problem, yes, necessary, maybe, maybe not. My problem included the left side bulb, turn signal, and high beam, not in that order and they would all switch off and on randomly. In addition, within a couple of days of left side problem, my right side turn signal went out too. The dealer diagnosed a bad igniter on the left side and replaced the part. The truck was returned to me with the beams and signals working, however, the left side high beam was still failing.

These problems began after a 24 inch snowfall which included a lot of bumping and bouncing through snow and ice.

When the headlamp assembly is removed and reseated, the electrical connector was failing to fit snug in the headlamp assembly when slipped back in and locked. Some of the connectors would attach to the electrical assembly just enough to work, the other side of the connector would not slip in snuggly and the high beam would not work (for example) Due to the headlamp connector not properly mated with the electrical assembly, a short drive over a few bumps would knock the high beam or signals out.

So, to fix, attack from behind the headlamp assembly. Open the hood and remove the plastic covers that surround the interior of the engine compartment. The right side (washer reservoir, coolant) is easy to get to the rear of the headlamp assembly. Put your hand down there and push the electrical connector from the rear into the back of the headlight assembly. You'll feel it slip properly over the headlamp assembly electrical connector, mine was very loose even after being locked in place! The left side is more difficult to get to since the air filter assembly covers the rear of the headlamp assembly. I used a half inch socket extension to reach the connector, again, it slipped on and traveled quite a bit even after the headlight assembly was locked in place.

So, your dealer is replacing bulbs when they may not be broken. The problem was solved (in my situation at least) by simply getting my hands dirty.

[TopGun2000]

definitely caused by the mount kit and the back connector not being mated properly

i ordered parts (#20) 955 631 041 02 and (#23) 955 631 239 10

but i think your trick should work at 0 cost. maybe i should just return the parts.

Will replacing the bulb fix the problem, yes, necessary, maybe, maybe not. My problem included the left side bulb, turn signal, and high beam, not in that order and they would all switch off and on randomly. In addition, within a couple of days of left side problem, my right side turn signal went out too. The dealer diagnosed a bad igniter on the left side and replaced the part. The truck was returned to me with the beams and signals working, however, the left side high beam was still failing.

These problems began after a 24 inch snowfall which included a lot of bumping and bouncing through snow and ice.

When the headlamp assembly is removed and reseated, the electrical connector was failing to fit snug in the headlamp assembly when slipped back in and locked. Some of the connectors would attach to the electrical assembly just enough to work, the other side of the connector would not slip in snuggly and the high beam would not work (for example) Due to the headlamp connector not properly mated with the electrical assembly, a short drive over a few bumps would knock the high beam or signals out.

So, to fix, attack from behind the headlamp assembly. Open the hood and remove the plastic covers that surround the interior of the engine compartment. The right side (washer reservoir, coolant) is easy to get to the rear of the headlamp assembly. Put your hand down there and push the electrical connector from the rear into the back of the headlight assembly. You'll feel it slip properly over the headlamp assembly electrical connector, mine was very loose even after being locked in place! The left side is more difficult to get to since the air filter assembly covers the rear of the headlamp assembly. I used a half inch socket extension to reach the connector, again, it slipped on and traveled quite a bit even after the headlight assembly was locked in place.

So, your dealer is replacing bulbs when they may not be broken. The problem was solved (in my situation at least) by simply getting my hands dirty.

Edited December 28, 2009 by TopGun2000

[TopGun2000]

oh well, too much hassle to remove the air filter box, i will wait for my new parts to arrive to fix the problem...

[tXster]

oh well, too much hassle to remove the air filter box, i will wait for my new parts to arrive to fix the problem...

Yes, it is a hassle getting around the air filter box, however, you do not have to remove. There is a bolt that can be easily removed that will allow for a bit more play. I used a 12 inch 1/2 socket extension to reach behind the air filter box and apply pressure to the electrical connection to mate. This worked.

[bleo]

Very known problem

Some hints I got from workshop:

1. Check front cabling system (sometimes wires and/or connectors are corroded, which generates accidental faults) - there was a case they had to replace or fix wires on 3 years(!) old car, front cabling replacement is very expensive due to engine removal need

2. Check headlight connector (sometimes they had to physically remove electrical connector from the back of the headlight assembly and wired it to fix increasing distance between connector parts - then you have to pull it out slightly and disconnect connector before complete removal of headlight assembly)

[profusion]

dealer replaced my hid bulb and the message dissappeared for good. it was replaced for free through my cpo warranty.

[dinans2]

make sure replace both bulbs to get same temp. color on both lowbeam, my dealer only replace 1 side and you'll see one side is whiter (new bulb) and other is yellowish white (existing bulb) so I end up replace on my own on a set of 9000k bulbs.

[TopGun2000]

Very known problem

Some hints I got from workshop:

1. Check front cabling system (sometimes wires and/or connectors are corroded, which generates accidental faults) - there was a case they had to replace or fix wires on 3 years(!) old car, front cabling replacement is very expensive due to engine removal need

2. Check headlight connector (sometimes they had to physically remove electrical connector from the back of the headlight assembly and wired it to fix increasing distance between connector parts - then you have to pull it out slightly and disconnect connector before complete removal of headlight assembly)

I fixed mine by bending the mate pins inside the headlight connector a bit to get a better contact with the female connector

new parts are not needed

Edited January 8, 2010 by TopGun2000

[mazingerv1]

I had a bad contact with the female connector of the indicator light, so it intermittently shows "check indicator light" which is extremely annoying.

I bought the headlight wire harness but I found it impossibe to replace the parts without removing the air filter box. So I give up the idea of replacing the wire harness. what a waste of money on buying the harness !

I didn't bend the male pin to improve the contact, instead, i insert a small toothpick into the upper gap and the lower gap of the female pin to make sure it clamp the male pin real tight, it works perfectly now.

[RandalJ]

My symptom was that the driver's side bi-xenon would come sometimes fail to come on. I had the dealer look at it again, since they had replaced the wiring harness/multi-pin receptacle that the headlight plugs into a few months back for the same problem. This time they told me that the whole headlight assembly needed replacing because it was "arcing". They wanted $1200 to do this.

I decided I would take the headlight unit out and see if I could repair it. When I did, I could see no evidence of arcing or any other damage. So I unhooked the receptacle from where it snaps into place on the headlight bracket so that I'd have enough length to plug the receptacle into the back of the headlight, without putting the headlight all the way in. I just wanted to be able to see whether the headlight worked if I had a known firm connection. I turned on the car, and wiggled the receptacle around a bit. You have to hold the receptacle/connector because it does not snap in to the back if the headlight. And the rubber diaphragm around the plug, designed to keep out moisture, I guess, creates tension when you try to push the plug in, so you have to use a slight amount of force to make contact with all of the pins. The bi-xenon came on when I applied more pressure to the "passenger side" of the receptacle. So, it turned out that the headlight assembly was fine, and the wiring was fine. The problem was in bad connection when the headlight was re-installed.

So I snapped the receptacle and headlight back into place, and again the bi-xenon did not work. But then, as others have suggested, I removed the plastic above the air filter box, and reached down to push the receptacle on, concentrating on the passenger side of the connector again. And voila, it worked. So far I have driven for a day with no problems. But if it happens again, I'll know why, and I'll just have to rig something that will ensure better contact.

The main advice I wanted to give here is to unhook the harness plug, and manually hold the socket to the connection at the back of the light to test the light, before going off and replacing expensive lighting components.

By the way, our friends at Sunset Import quoted me just over $600 for the headlight assembly, which includes some bulbs but not the xenon. If it were ever to come to that.

[tinkstwin]

Thanks for the great information, everyone. Got the check dipped beam message. Have an '04 Cayenne and after switching out headlight on L side the low beam would still not work. We have an electrical connection tester at home and all circuits were working. The old bulb was definitely burned out. So I took the female rear connector out of its cradle and pulled it forward and connected it to the headlamp assy. and it worked, so long as I kept it pushed firmly into place, especially on the inner side. So I did two things: I used some brake spray to clean the connectors (male and female) and also I placed a small washer behind the inner portion of the cradled connector so that it was pushed as far forward as possible without any play. There was definitely a little bit of play in the cradle. This fixed the problem!

[Pcsfan]

I had the same issue yesterday on my 08 Cayenne S.  The issue was not a bad bulb but a ballast issue.  The ballast allowed water to get in.  We cleaned and patched up the ballast and siliconed it so its now water tight.  Hope this helps others.

[LG63]

On 4/9/2016 at 11:03 PM, Pcsfan said:

I had the same issue yesterday on my 08 Cayenne S.  The issue was not a bad bulb but a ballast issue.  The ballast allowed water to get in.  We cleaned and patched up the ballast and siliconed it so its now water tight.  Hope this helps others.

Hi, I have an 08 Cayenne S as well and am being told my ballast is bad and they’ve suggested I replace the entire unit. I see you stated you Cleaned and patched your ballast... How were you able to make it work again? What did you to clean and patch it?

 

Any insight you can provide will be much appreciated! 
 

Thanks,

 

LG