Malibusteve

I have a number of LED bulbs (4W 12V) from my 3rd brake light out. As per DIY from P-Cars.com these should be available through a Porsche Dealer. My local dealer informs me that the bulbs can only be replaced by purchasing the entire light strip.
NAPA has no such bulbs nor does Radio Shack. Any suggestions?
Thanks,

David in Chicago

The part number for the individual bulbs is:

999.631.135.90

My recollection is that they're about $2.50 each.

Regards to all.

Jeff 993TT

If your local dealer doesn't have them, then try the usual online sources. Pelican parts, suncoast porsche, etc. Although it just sounds like your stealer is either lazy or wants to sell the whole light bar to you.

I got mine at the stealer at $4 each! Yikes! I bought 8 of them, so it cost me over $30 for little light bulbs!

You could probably get them at radio shack, but I don't know the exact specs. Safest thing to do is to get the exact ones. The specific part # is listed in the diy here: <a href="http://p-car.com/diy/3rd/" target="_blank">http://p-car.com/diy/3rd/</a>

Malibusteve

Thanks, Found an out-of-town Dealer who was reluctant to order the bulbs separate from purchasing the entire light strip.....but with some encouragement he did at $4.50 each.....
Need 6...... Shoud be interesting to see how long it takes for them to arrive.

Pete K

Steve,
Find another dealer, this is the kind that is only thinking of their pocket and not yours.

I paid about $4 each for them also but they had them in stock and knew exactly what I wanted to do and offered pointers.

Pete

Jeff 993TT

I'd just recommend doing the online parts places. You can order other misc things that you probably need anyways ( oil filters, etc )

Malibusteve

Pete,

I thought $4.50 was quite expensive and had similiar feelings that it was a "heavy hit" for such a minor item. Time to make a few more calls.

Conisder this (in the context of our love for the P-Car): Doubt is to certainity as neurosis is to psychosis. Hobby is to passion as obsession is to "mental illness". Porsche is to self-satisfaction as Prozac is to depression.

Heavy stuff for a Friday......Drink up!!!!

Robin 993DX

Steve,

The dealer idoit parts guy probably didn't know where to find the part number for the bulbs, that's why they told you that you can't get them separately. But they are there if they would just spend some time to look for it.

I have personally purchased them before from my local Porsche dealer, you just need to walk in and ask for it by part number, and if they don't have them in stock just ask them to ordered it.

Jeff 993TT

the PET cd is great for part numbers.

914und993

The 3rd brake light bulbs, which are not LEDs by the way, are definitely available and stocked at the Atlanta PCNA warehouse. I was able to get some through Suncoast Porsche, though I ended up not using them.

This begs the question, why not LEDs? These little incandescent lightbulbs in the 993 3rd brake light will continue to burn out. You will replace the bad ones, and in one year probably find a couple more have gone bad. That is just the nature of incandescent light bulbs.

LEDs OTOH have a 100,000 hour estimated lifetime, and is why most 3rd brake lights have gone to them. I ended up finding a Hella LED light bar that I modified and substituted for the original light bar. It was a bit of a hack job, but the final result looks good and you would have to be looking for it to know it wasn't stock. Now I no longer have to worry about burnt out bulbs.

My plan B, which would appeal more to the concours types, was to obtain 24 high output red LEDs, clear epoxy them into the bulb wells of the original lens, and then wire them up so that 14 volts would drive them properly. This would have been the cheapest option by far - about $15 and some effort - but the Hella light bar thing worked well so I didn't do it.

Chip

Malibusteve

Thanks for the info Chip. I couldn't tell the difference from a candle, LED or OTC bulb. I referenced them as LED's as per what my local Porche parts person indicated they were with similiar reference by local parts guys (i.e. NAPA) and Radio Shack. Seems these bulbs pose a problem for many. I can see how these will continue to be a problem unless modified as you have indicated. Where did you get your light bar?

Enjoy the weekend,

914und993

Steve -

I used a Hella 96201 LED 3rd brake light. You can see it in this product catalog here, under the brake lamp heading:
<a href="http://www.hellausa.com/maineng/lev1b/lev2bb/lev3bbf/catalog02/LEDLtg.pdf" target="_blank">Hella Brake Lights</a>

The local Autozone ordered it for me.

I used a Dremel tool to cut off the mounting flange, then attached it the the Porsche's brake light "bridge" with epoxy. Like I said, it was a bit of a hack, but the result is good. The 96201 is a little bit shorter than the original light bar, but its hard to see it unless you are looking for it.

Chip

Malibusteve

Chip, Great info. I off to Autozone in the morning. None of the Dealer's I chekced with had the bulbs in stock. Don't want to wait or go through same hassle again.

Regards,

Ray Calvo

Had similar situation on mine when I needed a bunch replaced. Had a big Radio Shack catalog; went thru it trying to find replacements. SOL!!!!
So got them at a local dealer; $2.01 each a year ago.

Also to my Mechanical Engineer's eyes, these are incandescent bulbs, not LEDs.