How to replace taillight bulb.
 

Hey all. I am the first to admit I am somewhat wrench challenged and don't know as much as I would like about how to fix my own car. I know, not a good quality for the owner of any 928 but thats what it is.
I got the taillight warning sign which was followed about half a minute later by the stop light warning coming on. when i check, the stop light is working fine but the left taillight bulb ( the one most medial, closest to the center of the car) is out. How the heck to I get in there to replace it?! taking off the tool panel in the back doesn't show a way to get in to the lights. Is there something simple I am missing? any pictures of this procedure would be most appreciated. I went through other threads with search function but couldnt find much on this.
I'm sure for most of you this is child's play but I am a bit confused.
Thank you.

when you open the tool panel, there should be an aluminum nob, one for each tail light. turn it counter clock wise and the tail light should come off from outside. then you can change the bulbs easily.

Find the aluminium nut and unscrew it all the way. The complete lens assembly can then be removed and the bulbs accessed.

WYIT, good ahead and replace both harnesses, both lens assemblies, both lens assemblies over license plate, both bumper shocks, hatch seal, hatch lift shocks, missing tools from kit, adjust or replace the hatch release, install an RMB,.........oh uhhhhh, sorry, had a flashback to my '87 S4.

Well, at least remove both lens assemblies and clean out the funk behind them.

hey thanks guys. will give it a shot. someone suggested changing all the bulbs at the same time to avoid issues with different wattage and soforth.

thanks for the help all. went and got a few bulbs. couldnt find the exact same specs but pretty close...instead of 12v 5w it might have been 12.5v 6w but replaced both and no problems yet. nice to get the hands dirty every now and then. lol..probably saved myself $100 not taking it to a dealer or something.

Good timing on this thread as I was just about to check the WSM for this information. I started getting an intermittent tail light warning today so I picked up enough bulbs to do all the tail lights, brake lights and turn signals. Hopefully the rain holds off for a while tomorrow so I can get them all installed.

1980 928 rear tail light and stop light bulb replacement
 

On a 1980 928 , there is no steel knob inside the rear hatch that holds the rear light fixture in place.
That is unless that steel know is underneath the leather rear quarter panel. Should I remove the first rear quarter panel screw?

On the picture below, I loosened these 4 screws but it did not seem light the actual lense would come off. Should I pry it off?
And if if i pry it off, does anyone have some thoughts if i will be able to replace the bulbs?

Lastly, apparently i need to replace bulbs on both sides but i'd like to do so with LED bulbs without triggering the "Tail" light and "Stop" light error i'm currenlty getting. Has anyone successfully put in LED bulbs and not get an error message of any kind?

I"m sure when i put the car in reverse gear and back up the reverse lights do NOT come on.

Any help/thoughts much appreciated.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...6d7cdb0951.png
I remove these 4 screws will i be able to access the Tail light and Stop light and reverse bulbs?

put the screws back into the lens then use them to gently pull the lens straight to the rear of the car
even though the lights are at an angle the lens comes off straight to the rear.
Once the lens is off you should make sure both sides have the same bulbs in them,
I suggest to use the original factory bulbs as most LED replacements are usually not as bright.
Use the Phillips bulbs with the correct wattage displayed at the bulb opening.

NOTE the side marker wires are a 2 pin white connector,
and these are tucked behind the rear edges of the quarter panel liner.
I like to remove the hatch anchors,
then the rear edge screw,
then use a piece of 2X4 to hold the liner away from its seated position.
NOTE make sure the side marker bulbs are also the same side to side use D100 on all elec connections.
NOTE the ground for all the rear lights is also behind the RR edge of the liner see the gang of brown wires.
I loosen the bolt then spray the D100 then tighten the bolt as this is a hard to access area.

Tail light removal on a 1980 928 (5 speed)
 

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...6ece05513e.png
Thanks. Can you elaborate futher? Is this the ground/bundle of wires?
What do you mean by the hatch anchors? the rear hatch lock?

That’s the ground point for all the rear lights on the RR bulkhead

The hatch floor anchors will prevent the liner from being pushed out of the way unless you remove them if you push too hard on the liner it can crack

Ok. Thanks.

What is the RR bulkhead? Right Rear back end of the hatch? is RR(passenger side)? And LR would be left rear(drivers side)?

and is the below blue circle the "hatch floor anchor?"
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c4b479d7da.png

the hatch anchor is at the aft edge of the floor in the right rear corner ,
once you remove the rear edge screw from the interior liner,
you will see that it will hit the anchor bracket,
this should be removed with the 2 phillips screws.
spray them with PB blaster first.
in the that picture you can see the bundle of brown wires secured with a 10 mm bolt,
just loosen that bolt then spray with deoxit 100 then tighten the bolt.
NOTE use a 2x4 block to hold the liner away from its seated area so you can slide your hand in with a wrench ,
if you pull too much on the liner it will crack
The light connector is whats coming through the rear bulkhead its a round connector.

1980 928 rear tail light and stop light bulb replacement
 

I got cables and cleaned and deoxit the connector spade/wires/etc.
I think the STOP LAMP warning light is out/won't come on again.
but the TAIL LIGHT warning light still comes on.
And when i put the car in REVERSE back up lights do not come on.
It seems some are saying to remove the rear bumper to get the tail light fixture out to replace the reverse/back up light bulb?
I've taken a rear bumper off and there are a couple of bumper screws behind the gas filler neck that are very very frustrating.
To MrMerlin's comment, in lieu of using the screws which might require a magic touch, is there any way to pull the tail light fixture off from the rear of the car?
What if i used the 2-4 of the 1mm "hook" tools below in the 4 screw holes and steadily pulled straight out?
Will the tail light fixture come out?
Or is there anyway of getting to the reverse/back up light bulbs without removing the rear bumper to remove the fixture to remove and replace the reverse/back up bulb?


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...58608a4e3f.png

removal of the bumper is not required to remove the bulbs.

you have to pull the lens off then the bulbs are push twist to remove
The brake warning light stays on till after the engine is started , and the foot brake pedal is pressed.
the rear lamp warning lights are usually the 2 pin corroded side marker connectors,
or a broken ground wire coming out of the barrel rear light connector.
or mismatched side marker bulbs or mismatched rear lamp bulbs .
MAKE sure the bulbs are the same for each socket side to side