991.1 Tail Lights Falling Out
#16
Okay break it down DIY
I wish there was a DIY on this for idiots. I feel like I need to do this but have no idea which 2 surfaces to glue together.
#17
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
It's pretty simple. I'll try and put a video together.
#18
unscrew no.5 in the diagram. If your black supporting bracket (The whole piece including item no.2) completely comes off from the red taillight housing, you might loose your taillight one day down the road. This item no.5 holds the bracket and the taillight housing together and the screw-hole on the taillight housing side is too fragile (Blue circled area).
(Photo taken by rennlist member BLK991CAB)
Now to prevent taillights from falling out, you can add double-sided adhesive tape or glue on the yellow area. You can also apply few more surface on the side to be sure. When the two parts are strongly attached together, screw no.5 back and put the taillights back on. That’s it!
I hope this helps-
Last edited by Dany Kim; 07-18-2020 at 01:02 PM.
#19
Thanks !!!
Perhaps a stupid question but how do you get the lights out for service or am I not understanding ?
#20
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
You mean the bulbs themselves? I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect it's a complete LED unit, not designed to be serviced. I mean, why pay a few bucks for a bulb when you can pay $650 per side!?
Last edited by Wolpertinger; 07-19-2020 at 09:39 AM.
#21
I meant the entire thing
I guess the part you are usiing tape on just connects the bracket to the light not the light to the car
#22
Instructor
yeah happened to me as well. My car's CPO and it's NOT COVERED under warranty. Showed it to downtown LA Porsche and they said they never seen it before. HA! I just epoxy and ducttape the heck out of it. Still I get the usual "oh someone didnt install it properly" comment all the time..the point of failure has nothing to do with how tight you screw on the taillight
#23
Cindr
I had my 2012 Porsche 911 serviced last summer by the dealer I purchased the car from. They changed the air filter which requires taking off the bumper & lights. Shortly after that, my passenger side rear light came off and was dangling. The dealer denied having anything to do with it and charged me $1k to fix it. Now my other light is loose. I believe the dealer did something to cause the problem during service. My car is driven only in the summer, kept in a garage, never parked near other cars in parking lots and only has 12,000 miles. The dealer claims somebody probably hit the bumber flexing it enough to break the bracket holding the lights, There are no marks on my car to indicate being hit.
#24
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Honestly, I doubt the dealer did anything wrong. The mounting lugs have probably been broken for quite some time. When the dealer removed and re-installed the lights and bumper, it was enough to jiggle the broken bits to the point where they were lose enough to fall out during normal driving. it wasn't until I had mine out on the track that they fell out. They had been broken for quite some time, as I could tell by the dirt and grime where the break was, and how some of the sharp edges of the broken plastic were worn down from rubbing against each other over time. I was lucky enough to have mine replaced under CPO warranty. It's a known issue with the early 991's.
#25
Racer
What is the proactive solution to prevent this?
I have my spark plug service coming up and would like to reinforce something to prevent this happening.
Can I buy the clip and install it on my existing lights or was that a revision to the lights themselves?
I have my spark plug service coming up and would like to reinforce something to prevent this happening.
Can I buy the clip and install it on my existing lights or was that a revision to the lights themselves?
#26
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I've never seen the clip. On my replacement lights, the black piece was glued to the light assembly using what looks like plain black RTV. I would just do that, or use Shoe Goo.
#27
Racer
Thanks. It took some time to understand. I now realize that the black bracket falls off the taillight, so if I glue the black bracket to the tailight, that should work. I will try find some epoxy or JB weld.
#28
Rennlist Member
My theory on why these fail is people might crank the screws on too tight. I guess this area does get a lot of heat which can make the plastic brittle too.
#29
#30
Weak
I had my 2012 Porsche 911 serviced last summer by the dealer I purchased the car from. They changed the air filter which requires taking off the bumper & lights. Shortly after that, my passenger side rear light came off and was dangling. The dealer denied having anything to do with it and charged me $1k to fix it. Now my other light is loose. I believe the dealer did something to cause the problem during service. My car is driven only in the summer, kept in a garage, never parked near other cars in parking lots and only has 12,000 miles. The dealer claims somebody probably hit the bumber flexing it enough to break the bracket holding the lights, There are no marks on my car to indicate being hit.