OTR18WHEELER

All was well after all the work, flex plate, TT bearing, CV boots. 500 miles later, I get home tonight and wash the car, and as I start it up to put it in the garage, I turned on the park lights, and I got a "tail light" warning on the inst. cluster. After all the work I did, why does the right rear marker light go out now?.... I wanted to replace these with new ones while I was in there, but got anxious to get r done, and left them for later. Well now is later.
This is to open up a discussion for stuff you didn't do when you should've.

Ducman82

Had the trans out.... Did not do TT bearings. Then had the engine out.... Did not do TT bearings..... And now I need to do the TT bearings......ugh

dr bob

I think the irony in the title says it all.

I try to stay on top of everything, but there's always some little sniggly item that reminds me that this is a 25+ year-old execution of a 40+ year-old design. Stuff happens sometimes.


FWIW, I buy auto bulbs in ten-packs, and when one gets replaced, they all get replaced. Sockets get cleaned and packed with Vaseline on assembly to keep the corrosion devils at bay. But bulbs burn out, and I don't know any practical way to PM the bulbs except replace them all when one fails. I'm swapping in LED's on the Honda, thanks to one running light bulb that failed less than a year into its service life. I'm not generally a fan of them on the 928, think they look "funny" on older cars. Sort of a cry out to try and say how young the car really feels.


So... Be happy that your sniggly failure is just a light bulb. There are at least eleven other possible failure items that would be perhaps a little more annoying. Trust me.

Turc928S4

It happened to me a few times. If you check under the carpet in the trunk near the right side of the tool panel, there is a two wire connector. Wiggle it a bit and see if the light comes back on. If it is, you should clean the connector of oxidation.

Hope it helps.
Sylvain

Mrmerlin

what Sylvain said and I would add,
spray some deoxit into the connector

OTR18WHEELER

I have replaced every bulb with new but the markers, I tried to reach under to wiggle the socket, but shy of slitting my wrist on the wheel well, I will have to remove the wheel to access the bulb.

siscogts

I washed main front beams, chrome is now shiny and inner side of glass lost its old matt patina , now they are pretty good.
I reassembled everything to see the improvement, but I was anxious and forgot to install bulbs....

now I have to change fuel line. I will take my time and triple check everything.burnt (or missing ) bulbs hurt less than a burnt car...

Francesco

Red Flash

Dr. Bob

Could you please explain this? It sounds interesting. BTW, at least your still smiling!

John

Bertrand Daoust

Did you try Sylvain's tip?
I had this problem - not working right side marker with the tail light warning - and it was the connector. There's one connector for each side. In front of both tail light under the carpet.

LT Texan

When I (first) had my engine out, I didn't bother changing the clutch flexible line.

Of course I had to replace it a month later, with the engine in.

dr bob

So the socket/barrel gets 'cleaned' with a soft wire bursh to clear any oxidation. The connectors inside get a similar treatment with whatever works. Smear the inside with Vaseline. I keep a jar with a small soldering brush in it. Then the bulb. The Vaseline keeps casual moisture from corroding the terminals and barrel. Everything washes out easily. Use "just enough" to create a film inside, since heat from the bulb will allow any excess to flow around inside. There are other products like Stabilant that protect similarly without the potential mess. The most vulnerable part of the sockets seem to be those inner connector contacts. The marker lights have boots over the cable connection, but that's not always a perfect seal.

OTR18WHEELER

It was the bulb, or the socket, or the hot wire connector at the socket.
All three were bad!, this job was not fun, had to remove the wheel to access the nuts for the lamp, why are the studs an inch long for a 8mm nut?. I removed the marker light, the wire came loose from the connector, the filament of the bulb was not bad, but the bulb came out of the base, the base was rusted into the socket., Got the old base out, cleaned the corrosion of the base terminals with a dremmel, used bulb grease on the new bulb, and copper antiseize on the threads. The bulb base was actually rusted to the socket, all good now

dr bob

Most 'bulb grease' is either a high-dielectric silicone grease or just silicone grease. Great if you have some handy. I've used Vaseline for the duty for years. K-Y will do the job too, by the way. Just something to protect from casual moisture incursion.