85fortheDrive

Hi Folks:

Along with a quirky reverse light, the right taillight assembly seems loose. I have removed the colored lens panel and find that the bulb socket assembly is moving rather freely within the bumper.

How can I remove this piece? In addition to seeing how it is supposed to be secured, I also want to take a look at the condition of the wires behind it. The car caught fire years ago and I'm suspicious of the integrity of the wiring back here.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Peace,
Tim

Jim bailey - 928 International

to access the tailight housing you must remove the rear bumper cover... the housing has 4 studs two stick straight up, two straight down all 4 have nuts on them.

85fortheDrive

I can only assume that their having nuts is part of what makes them studs...

So shoot, I have to take the whole blasted bumper cover off? Since I'm having the car repainted shortly, perhaps I should ask the body shop to attend to this while the bumper is off. Unless someone can tell me that the bumper cover removal is a snap.

Thanks, Jim for your help.

Peace.

G Man

BTDT. Bumper cover on either end is a pain in the ***. I would let the shop deal with it.

Emickelsen

Very nice

I actually have this exact same problem (same side to, hmm................??). I was trying to come up with some other way of doing it, but have not as of yet. I would be interested in seeing what you end up doing.

Has anyone ever done this?? I know I will be doing it myself. Best I can figure out from the workshop manual, is about 6 or 8 self locking bolts on the inner/under side holding it to the sheet metal. Do you think the rubber......"gasket" (or whatever it is) will have to be replaced?? Once the panel is off, it will be a snap from there. I even have the new one ready to put in place.

Podguy

Rear bumper cover removal is not such a big deal. You will have to remove the bumperettes first. They are a bit difficult to do since on some models you have to pull back and hold the rubber cover on the lower part. Put some penetrating oil on the screws holding the metal strip under the rear hatch. The screws go into a thread nut welded to the body. Water can sit in them and rust them. If the nut comes off the body you will have to drill then out. The ones on either end are the worst.

Getting at the self locking nuts that hold the cover on is fun, but if you get a deep 8 MM quarter drive socket and some long extensions you can remove the nuts without getting up front and personal. I find a two foot extension works. For a couple of the nuts an 8 MM offset dog bone works nice.

Underneath you will find a mess. If the light is punched check the bumper shocks. There is a good chance one or both are busted. They are oil filled and only take one shot.

The lights are bolted with four studs through holes in four plastic tabs on the bumper. When a light get hit it snaps the studs in the light fixture and tears the tabs on the bumper. To do the job right it is best to replace the light and weld up the torn tabs. I have repaired the lights with some bolts and some epoxy and larger washers can be used on the tabs.

There is some concern here. If the fixture is cracked then repairing it will probably prevent a good fit with the bumper. This means the light lens will not seal and water will get in the light fixture and dirt will be splashed through the bumper cover. Most likely you will find the reflective material is worn off and some of the bulb sockets messed up too.

It is impossible - well never say never - but I could not find a way to get at the top nuts on the taillight fixture with the bumper on. The taillights is one place Porsche made a great improve on the S4.

Good luck.

Emickelsen

WOW! Thats great stuff. Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

WICruiser

Glad to hear that the back bumper is not that bad, I was thinking I would need to drop the fuel tank to get to the end screws. My tail lights also need attention and I have one bad bumper shock to replace when the weather warms up some.

Optimator

I agree that the bumper cover removal is not that difficult. However, it is only half the fun! If you want to move the bumper cover more than a few inches, you will need to unplug the tail light connectors. These connectors are not located behind the tool holder where you might expect them, but are located behind the interior quarter panels. You will need to completely dislodge the quarter panels to get at the connectors. Out come the back seats, etc.

Regarding sealing of the tail light housing: The sealing occurs between the lens and the lamp housing; the bumper cover will not affect seal unless it prevents you from installing the lens properly. With the whole assembly off the car, you will have opportunity to test-fit. If I were going to all this trouble, I would just replace the whole tail light with an in-tact unit.

Emickelsen

Exactly my plan. I agree

Podguy

Old tail light housings graciously accepted.

I agree for all of the trouble replace the housing. There will probably be some other problems with the old one anyway.

It is not necessary to remove the rear quarter panels to disconnect the lights. You will probably find the quarter panel backing has already been bent and cracked from someone else disconnecting or otherwise messing with the tail lights. If the panels are not already bent, the tail light connectors can easily be disconnected by removing the back screw in the panel and the nearest lower metal bracket. This will allow enough space without removing the panels.

mj1pate

Is it possible provide (even mobile phone) pictures pointing at the areas described above, that would allow access to disconnect the lights? I have the same problem, and am faced with the "long dismantling" process otherwise. Surely, the "long process" would be educational, but if easier access is available.......

Thanks and take care!

Mike

Richter12x2

This was a helpful thread - for future searchers, this is also very helpful

Darklands

That´s the PET picture from the frontbumper!

Landseer

The little 8mm nyloc nuts that hold the rear bumper cover are pretty easy to get at, using various depth 8mm sockets and long extensions. Very top rear passenger one can be gotten with a universal joint on a long extension.

But, you should spend time really cleaning the visible end of the studs before turning the nuts. Sacrifice a couple dremel wire brushes if needed. Fine wire bottle brushes from Northern can work. And once clean, you might use some silicon chassis lube or dielectric grease. But not penetrating oil.

If you don't clean them, the nuts get so hot during unwinding that the nyloc melts or breaks free, the stud threads get flattened and the damn nuts somehow start to spin without engagement of threads. Penetrating oil seems to help cause this in my experience. Then, the nuts become major PITA to remove. The studs themselves are hard to replace individually in the backing metal strips.

On my basket case daily driver, most of the studs were busted out of the fixtures. So I bolted a bunch of aluminum angle pieces on the fixtures (actually right through the reflector areas). Then I bolted another flat aluminum piece onto each angle. Effectively, I made clamps that sandwiched the bumper cover tabs that the studs normally pass through. With the cover off, I mounted fixtures to the bumper cover. Then installed the whole thing.

You'd never know looking at it that its a monster patch job. Works great. Always on the lookout for replacements, though, to upgrade it.