In the dark about headlights

[johnmh]

My '01 996 Cab restoration project has the Litronic option, which seems to be a fancy way of saying Xenon. 

 

The low beam works on the passenger side only.  I replaced the pricey Xenon bulb on the driver's side, but it still does not work.  LHS low beam fuse seems ok.  Light switch seems ok. Any other ideas? Is there a left side headlight relay somewhere?

 

As an unrelated issue, when I pull on the turn signal stalk, both high beams work.  With the light switch turned clockwise to 'on' I push forward on the turn signal stalk to turn on the high beams (and it clicks forward and stays there) no high beam lights come on.  Am I missing something?   

 

  

[JFP in PA]

Litronics is Porsche's copyrighted name for their Xenon lights.  If they are factory lits, you can scan the car and find out what is wrong, if they are not factory lits, check the non functioning light for tight connection.  It may also be the module for the light as well.

[creekman]

A shot in the dark, no pun intended...  what about removing the light housing and checking all the pin slots to be sure you're getting a full engagement of the socket.  Also be sure the light socket is rigidly in place in the fender housing.

[johnmh]

The lights are factory. 

 

The error codes found by the reader for the headlights are:

 

Engine path left

Engine path right

Axle position sensor front

Axle position sensor rear

 

I have no idea what that means in the context of a headlight. 

 

I will remove and re check the pins, but they seemed fine.

 

[DBJoe996]

The Litronic headlights have a self-leveling function, with linkages to the front suspension and rear suspension.  Do they move up and down when you turn them on?  Also, for the Litronics there is a ballast (control unit) that fires the light.  Might check that out.  See parts here http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/hardparts.php?dir=996-99-05&section=905-03

[creekman]

If you had the Durmetric OBD reader you might be able to erase the codes.  I wonder if removing the battery 

cable for a minute or so that it might reset the computer...

[JFP in PA]

1 minute ago, creekman said:

If you had the Durmetric OBD reader you might be able to erase the codes.  I wonder if removing the battery 

cable for a minute or so that it might reset the computer...

 

It won't unless you find and fix the issue first.

[johnmh]

I don't understand the light movement idea, the bulbs inside large glass headlights turn left and right or up and down? There are motors in the headlights that do this?  Even if they do not actuate, the low beams should operate? I have not checked for movement - should it move when I turn the ignition on or the lights on?

[Loren]

Headlight bulbs are separate connections from all movement motors.

 

The 9x6 series cars suffer from damage to the headlight connector in the fender - usually when someone slams the headlight into the carrier and it is not aligned properly.

I have seen bent pins, and broken connectors on both the socket in the fender as well as the headlight itself. I would certainly do some inspect there to start.

[JFP in PA]

4 hours ago, johnmh said:

I don't understand the light movement idea, the bulbs inside large glass headlights turn left and right or up and down? There are motors in the headlights that do this?  Even if they do not actuate, the low beams should operate? I have not checked for movement - should it move when I turn the ignition on or the lights on?

 

Only the projector lens in the upper center of the headlight moves (by small electric motors), which contains only the xenon bulb; the rest of the headlight does not move:

 

[johnmh]

Fascinating. I will check the pins in the connectors today, the issue with finding a problem is the difficulty of replacing a connector with a broken or bent pin. I am less concerned if the motors do not swivel the reflectors (I can fix that later).  Can you confirm that item 2 (which I have replaced, perhaps unnecessarily) is the low beam bulb?  Or is the low beam bulb item 4?

 

Just so I know I am doing this correctly, I push the turn signal column forward to turn on the high beams?  Might it be possible they are not staying on because I am testing them in daylight?  Does the car know and prevent you from turning on the high beams in the day?

 

Considering it was a $6500 basket case to begin with, (with another $6k in parts in it) the car works amazingly well now; its fast, quiet and handles well. Once the lights are sorted I can begin to work on the convertible top. 

[Ronnie38]

21 hours ago, johnmh said:

My '01 996 Cab restoration project has the Litronic option, which seems to be a fancy way of saying Xenon. 

 

The low beam works on the passenger side only.  I replaced the pricey Xenon bulb on the driver's side, but it still does not work.  LHS low beam fuse seems ok.  Light switch seems ok. Any other ideas? Is there a left side headlight relay somewhere?

 

As an unrelated issue, when I pull on the turn signal stalk, both high beams work.  With the light switch turned clockwise to 'on' I push forward on the turn signal stalk to turn on the high beams (and it clicks forward and stays there) no high beam lights come on.  Am I missing something?   

I had a working system, then I replaced the high beams with LED's after install no high beams, being a EE no problem, HA all head light pins not bent, checked all powers on the pins, no power on high beams, finally found the light switch was the problem, if you have a wiring diagram and a voltmeter work your way back from the headlights, or take it to a dealer/repair shop and hold on to your wallet. 

  

 

7 hours ago, johnmh said:

Fascinating. I will check the pins in the connectors today, the issue with finding a problem is the difficulty of replacing a connector with a broken or bent pin. I am less concerned if the motors do not swivel the reflectors (I can fix that later).  Can you confirm that item 2 (which I have replaced, perhaps unnecessarily) is the low beam bulb?  Or is the low beam bulb item 4?

 

Just so I know I am doing this correctly, I push the turn signal column forward to turn on the high beams?  Might it be possible they are not staying on because I am testing them in daylight?  Does the car know and prevent you from turning on the high beams in the day?

 

Considering it was a $6500 basket case to begin with, (with another $6k in parts in it) the car works amazingly well now; its fast, quiet and handles well. Once the lights are sorted I can begin to work on the convertible top. 

 

[johnmh]

So, the high beam switch seems ok,  they come on, they go off. One problem solved. 

 

As for the left side low beam, the fuses for both low beams have 12v power and seem fine.

 

All pins on both connectors seem fine, nothing bent or broken.

 

With the power on, wire plug which connects to the headlights (in my fingers) has no +12v power on any of the four wires.  I assume it is the connector which runs the motor that aims the  headlight reflectors (so perhaps not the problem).  I did not check the voltage other 7 pins in the fixed connector as I suspect they may be high voltage. 

 

Can anyone post a photo of the actual bulb which emits the low beam?  I wonder of the Xenon Phillips bulb I replaced might just be a high beam.

 

 

[DBJoe996]

From the parts link I provided I count 5 bulbs in the unit.  That includes the fog light bulb and direction indicator bulb.  There is a halogen H11 bulb that I believe is the low beam light.  You can get one from almost every auto parts store.  Might be worth a try to just replace it with a new one.

[dporto]

Ah, the elusive connector... Does anyone know where to get this connector? Who the manufacturer is etc...?

[creekman]

Several years ago I looked into replacing the plugs behind the dash for the 3 instrument clusters.  Each time I would remove the plug one of the keepers would break off.  I found a company that has these dash cluster plugs, but now I can't find the information.  I'm sure someone here knows where to look.  I've got one more place to look.  Sorry, I'm not more help...

[dporto]

That's exactly why I need this plug - the lock/keeper broke off. I've found others from China that seem the same (form factor) but the original pins are larger and don't fit into the new shell...

[JFP in PA]

Over on a forum named "986 Forum" is a poster named "itsnotanove" who runs a Porsche Boxster specific junk yard and is a great source for impossible to find new parts.  As these 996 headlights are the same used in the Boxster, he should be able to source the connector and pigtail from one of his wrecks.

[creekman]

I have plugs all over the place that have broken keepers.  The plugs will stay engaged and probably less stressful than trying to get all the wires back in the new socket.  Porsche spec a bad plastic for this.  I have a '65' T-Bird and the rubber plugs are perfect after 50 years.   My gripe is that Porsche has a great car but misses on some of these smaller items, and they seem to keep doing the same thing expecting a different outcome.

 

Mitch

[johnmh]

The broken clip does not worry me that much, as long as the plug stays in.  

 

I think when I replaced bulb no. 2 on that diagram I may have replaced the wrong bulb after all.  The low beam bulb may be number 4. 

 

Maybe an easy fix after all.   Thanks for pointing me towards the right direction.

[johnmh]

Ok, according to Pelican, part no. 2 is the low beam.  No idea which bulb is the high beam. I have replaced part no 2 and the low beam does not work.  Can anyone identify which bulb is which on a Litronic headlight?  Is the low beam a H11 or a H3 light?

[dporto]

The low beam is the one that the ballast plugs into (#2) - it's a Xenon bulb, so you can't really mix it up with a Halogen...

 

JFP - I'll check into the 986 forum for that plug - Thanks (BTW - it's "itsnotanova" "a" not "e"... not too difficult to figure out though )

Edited August 29, 2017 by dporto

[johnmh]

5 hours ago, dporto said:

The low beam is the one that the ballast plugs into (#2) - it's a Xenon bulb, so you can't really mix it up with a Halogen...

 

JFP - I'll check into the 986 forum for that plug - Thanks (BTW - it's "itsnotanova" "a" not "e"... not too difficult to figure out though )

Then I am a bit screwed. The bulb is new, the fuse gets power. No light. No error codes on the scanner.  No ideas. I hate just throwing parts at it like a ballast (or whatever that box is).

[dporto]

Could be ballast or ignitor then...

[johnmh]

A few additional thoughts -

 

If the right side light works and the left low beam does not - the rotary light switch on the dashboard should be ok? All other switch settings seem to operate.

 

As well, as the high beams come on (on both sides), the plug in the back of the headlight should be fully seated in its receptacle, correct?  

 

I will check to see if some of the pins may be dirty or of the plug in the fender moves around.   

 

I suspect I can check all those headlight pins for +12v to narrow the issue further.