sm

Hey guys/gals:

As I was exiting the highway, I went over some bumps and my headlights cut out for a split-second. The car's power didn't cut out, just the headlights did.

What can I look at first? I'm not sure if the fact that the gauge lights on the left side of the gauge cluster are out have anything to do with this?

The headlight switch?

Thanks in advance.

89magic98

The wires tend to break inside the headlight wiring harness, near where they bend in the headlight buckets. But that may not be your problem if both lights cut out at the same time.

mclarenno9

I had that happen as well. Only one time when I drove upon the crappiest road ever though (potholes galore). I know my ignition switch is kinda bad though because sometimes I have to jiggle it after I start the car to get the electronics working...

sm

I wonder if it could be related to the fact that I have to sometimes jiggle my reference sensor connections to start the car?

ExMainer

I had the exact same problem on my 24S, I ended up sanding the ground and cleaning up the connections behind the headlights. worked for me.
I blew some fuses in the process, not sure if it was related. sold it before it got out of hand, haha.

sm

It happened again tonight. This time, the low beams stayed off for about a minute, while the fogs and high beams were still working.

Since I have the Iceshark kit with relays, could it be that the relays are going bad? The engine didn't lose power at all during this.

Thanks.

tomrc

Probably not your reference sensor then. Although having to jiggle your ref sensor to start the car probably isn't good for other reasons.

Jakerx

sounds like you need an iceshark headlight kit! i just happen to have one for sale! hehehe

IceShark

Simpson,

Guess it could be the dipped beam relay, but unlikely. Switch the relays and see what happens; they are the same relays so no problem there. I did have a guy that had a relay fail, which is pretty unusual as they are supposed to last about a quarter million cycles.

I would suspect something in the cockpit. Like the fuse/relay board or a switch. I know that sucks to hear, but I really doubt it would be my harness going bonkers.

Jake, did your car die or something? You are the SOB that got me to do the additional battery cable build and major soap opera here on Rennlist!

sm

Ice:

I'll swap the relays tonight and see what happens. Is there a way to know which relay is for the low and which is for the high beams?

Thinking about it further, the symptoms are this: after starting the car and driving for ~15mins with the lights on, the low beams go out; the first time it happened, it came right back on - the second time it happened, it stayed off for about 1 minute.

Since the parking, low, and high beams work during this, I'm assuming it's not the headlight switch. Would a fuse on the fritz do this?

Jakerx

ice buddy, with class, work, and my organizations, and other responsibilities, i have wayyyy too much stress. my health has actually begun to deteriorate. i will have to resume porsche ownership later because i just can't afford the time right now

it really hurts to have to sell all my parts for the 3.1 turbo project and my car itself but it's a necessary evil. i'm really sad but at the same time i know that in the longrun it's the best. don't worry everyone i don't think i'll ever break the rennlist addiction though. i'll still be around posting away!

Clowd

How much do you want for the kit? it makes me drool.

pjs

Check the fuses next to the relays on the Iceshark kit. I had the exact same problem and one of the fuses up there had become corroded. Make sure they are well-seated. Replaced it, worked fine after.

IceShark

Doubt it is a fuse as we use ATO/ATC fuses. When the fuse member melts apart that is the end of the road as the gap should be too large to have some bits reconnect when you go over bumps or smack the fuse.

The headlight switch has multiple circuits/contacts so you can't rule it out if one failed and the others still work.

As far as dipped and main beam relays, I could tell you in a couple seconds if I could see the wiring. But you were one of my first customers and I was using black, brown, red, white, and yellow wire back then. All great marine grade wire, just not a standard color scheme like I have now. Look at my male plug that connects to your left female headlight plug. There are 3 basic connections. One is going to be a ground that comes out and splits into two wires that go to the relay bases. It is probably brown but may be black. This is one of the horizontal exits out of the plug.

The top wire is dipped beam, so just follow that to the base. The other horizontal wire is main beam. There you have it.

If you are confused, I will draw a picture and send it to you. Just let me know where you are staying as i know you had some changes in living quarters.

IceShark

I wish you guys would tell me items like this. I'm putting in dielectric grease for the last couple years but if you got an early kit from 4 or 5 years ago, you don't have the grease.