Driver's side headlights went out after heavy braking

[Casualboxster]

Last night, I was driving home and had to slam on my brakes when the person in front of me stopped short. In doing so, my driver's side headlight (both high and low beams) went out! I'm quite sure that both worked immediately beforehand because my car had just been driven to me by the valet (very common in Houston) and I didn't notice anything off about it when I did the walk-around.

 

The passenger's side headlight still works on both levels. This past fall, I replaced the headlight switch with a used one after my headlights began flickering/not turning on (both headlights) and that had solved the issue. By the way, this is on a 2002 Porsche Boxster S with litronic headlights.

 

Has anyone encountered this problem? Could it be the headlight switch, or is that unlikely given that only one side has gone out? I'm thinking that the bulb may have shifted under heavy inertial load so I'll be checking fuses and the bulb today at lunch. Thanks for your input.

[lkchris]

When the headlight is installed, it is pushed into its electrical connector.

Seems plausible that yours wasn't latched down properly and momentum moved it forward and disconnected it.

I'd try pushing it back in and latching it according to instructions in your owners manual--requires a tool.

[Casualboxster]

Thanks for your feedback. I ended up going through all the fuses and connections at lunch yesterday. I found that the twist-on connection for the ballast (red connector) had come loose but hadn't entirely fallen off. I tightened this back up and the headlight works perfectly again. Very satisfying fix, especially given the high costs of Xenon headlight parts.

 

Also, as an engineer, I'd like to applaud Porsche for designing the headlights to be so easy to work on. The pop-out mechanism is brilliant.

[lkchris]

They are indeed a cool design ... just wish replacement front "glass" was available. Mine look pretty good, but when lights are turned on lots of crazing is visible.

[KevinH90]

They are indeed a cool design ... just wish replacement front "glass" was available. Mine look pretty good, but when lights are turned on lots of crazing is visible.

I polished a set of litronic headlights that were in pretty rough shape and they came out looking almost like new.  You can read the details here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54697-advice-used-litronics.html

 

The plastic covers stand up well to sanding and polishing.  Since you can take the headlight units off the car to polish them, you can find a comfortable position and place to work.  It will take about 2 hours for each headlight.