vincerho

I am a newbie to 928's but I am a fairly descent mechanic and I have a unusual problem with the parking lamps that I can't figure out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Symptoms as follows:

Tail lamp warning light illuminated with the lights off.
No warning light when lights are on.
The right side parking lamps illuminate when ignition is on and lights are off
All parking lights work when lights are on
With ignition off all parking lights off.

If I had any hair left I would be pulling it out.

jwillman

according to the 1979 owners manual.
the right side parking lights will be on with ignition off and turn signal lever in right turn position. left side on with ignition off and turn signal lever in the left turn signal position

dr bob

I would start with a detailed cleaning of all the affected grounds for the lamps. Might as well do all of them, 'cuz they all need it unless they've been done in the last year. Poor grounds and connections account for about 88.35% of the odd electrical issues that face owners these days. The other 90% are caused by owner plus alarm and stereo installer hacks. That leaves about 5% for actual component failures, most of which are bulbs. Don't bother trying to check my math; it's the "new" math they taught my baby brother way back when.

After that you'll want to have the wiring diagrams for your car handy as you troubleshoot. Waste no time trying to troubleshoot or trace functions without the circuit diagrams.

As others mention, there are some carryover features included in US cars, pretty much honoring standards from other markets when possible. The one-side lit with engine off and turn signal switch is one of them, and it's described in your Owner's Manual of all places. Other functions for the headlights and the headlight motor, and the bulb-check unit will capture your attention as you find new symptoms to diagnose. The brake-light-failed light is another good one -- comes on after engine start, goes out when you push the pedal and all the bulbs work correctly.

vincerho

Thanks for the replies but the parking lights do not illuminate with ignition off. The right side only illuminates with the car running. Could the bulb controller cause this problem? I also suspect that since the car was designed to illuminate one side of the parking lamps with ignition off and turn signal lever on that the problem resides within that circuit. Any suggestions would be appreciated

vincerho

Quick update, with the car off and left turn signal on the left parking lights illuminate (normal operation) but with the right turn signal on the right lamps illuminate but the turn signal also come on, weird.