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When turning the lights on in my 993, the fog lamp switches light up, but the rear window defroster switch does not. When pulling it out to turn on the defroster however, it does light up. Is this an issue with the switch itself or is it simply not supposed to light up?
On mine the switch illumination is the same for fog lamps and rear window defogger - dimly lit whenever the lights are on - changing to brightly lit whenever the switch is pulled to turn on the device. Not sure whether the dimming is accomplished via two different bulbs, resistor, or some other way, but I'd say the problem is in the switch.
P.S. Welcome to the forum! FYI, it's not critical, but first-time posters often include a bit of a self introduction - what year, version, how long owned etc. Sometimes even a photo. This is a friendly group and people generally like to "meet" new users.
Thank you for the quick reply! I figured the switch would be the issue... I will have to look into replacing that.
Also thanks for the heads up! The car in question is a black 1996 Carrera 4S X51 (3.8 l 300HP engine as part of the factory power kit) with a Nephrite Green interior. I've got the car since mid 2014 and it has been great so far!
Nice car, yes it is the switch!
For me this could be an existential issue, If one's fog light **** bulb never worked during ones ownership of the car, is it broken or simply a feature your car never had?
I had this same problem with the vacuum actuators where I was giving up performance due to a vacuum leak from day one and I never missed the significant loss of power in the mid rpms. Eight years later I stumbled over the issue by accident and got an instant performance upgrade!
Glad you added that - my envy meter was spiking thinking that was your stable Beautiful car!
I'd check the wiring at the socket for poor connection as well. Looking at the wiring diagram it does appear that there is resistor inside that accomplishes the dimming. One of the wires coming to the back of the switch will be hot whenever the main lights are on. If you have +12v coming in, then either the connection in the socket is corroded, or the resistor is blown or disconnected inside the body of the switch. (we know the bulb works) A resistor with such low current requirements would not seem to be suspect to blowing, but you never know. Good luck with the fix....
Resurrecting a pretty young (for Rennlist) thread.
I have almost the same issue as the OP.
My rear defrost switch does not light up when pulled or not pulled.
I read somewhere you can carefully prise the top off the switch to reveal the bulb. Are there any better instructions of this on here, with maybe some pictures for a 964 novice?
Can someone confirm also that the headlight switch should light up in the same way as the other 3 to right of the steering wheel?
Resurrecting a pretty young (for Rennlist) thread.
I have almost the same issue as the OP.
My rear defrost switch does not light up when pulled or not pulled.
I read somewhere you can carefully prise the top off the switch to reveal the bulb. Are there any better instructions of this on here, with maybe some pictures for a 964 novice?
Can someone confirm also that the headlight switch should light up in the same way as the other 3 to right of the steering wheel?
Yes I believe your headlight switch should illuminate , I know my '96 does anyway , possibly some earlier 964 only once the lights are on...Bert
Replaced the bulb in the fog lamp switch - wasn't the bulb but the little shroud it mounts into needed a scuff and a twist, works.
BUT, the rear window defrost switch (it's little light works fine), won't stay pulled. It just goes back to stop position as if it were a momentary switch. Did something break in the switch itself? These seem so tough, never had one fail in any p-car.
Replaced the bulb in the fog lamp switch - wasn't the bulb but the little shroud it mounts into needed a scuff and a twist, works.
BUT, the rear window defrost switch (it's little light works fine), won't stay pulled. It just goes back to stop position as if it were a momentary switch. Did something break in the switch itself? These seem so tough, never had one fail in any p-car.
In mine the rear window switch doesn't stay pulled but snaps back also, but it does illuminate brighter when pulled/on and I believe it automatically shuts off sometime later and the light goes back to dim.
Thats correct. You pull it and it returns to position. It activates the defroster and brightly illuminates the light, indicating it is 'on'. The rear defroster runs for a set period as described in the manual. Cant recall if it is 2, 3 or 5 minutes. After that, the defroster turns off and the light returns to the dim setting.
01-28-2018, 08:45 AM
Rear window defroster switch issue
Beautiful car!
