V

Guys, speaking about cheap HID kits, I have an issue that someone might be able to resolve for me.. My '97 C2S does not have the litronic option, and since it was imported from the UK I had to change the lenses so I bought 2 complete light sets (e.g housing with aftermarket HID kit) all-in-one off a German guy on Ebay. I didn't know I only had to change the lenses to get it registered here in Sweden and I was also dumb enough to think that what I bought was a pair of original litronics, duh

Anyways I paid like 800euros for the whole set which was quite a lot. On top of that I had to pay a local Porsche mechanic like 400ish euros to install the whole system and replace the original halogen lamps (with housings complete) which are now lying on my shelf here at home. Fortunately I was pissed off by my own clumsiness and for not checking this out beforehand (e.g what I really needed). My Porsche technician told me that the ballasts were manufactured in china and were litterally "some cheap chinese ****" in his opinion and something he "would never install in a Porsche".

Anyways, my headlights looked good and they worked for about a day or so, then they started flickering. Or to be precise: they Started and the beam was on for like a minute or so, then the right beam failed. But what I started them over again they would both work and the the right beam would fail again after a min or so. It was so annoying going on the long car tour through Europe which I did this summer with my girlfriend knowing that my lights might not do it. A couple of weeks after the install, the lights wouldn't light up at all, and thats the way it has been now for the last haf year. I have my beauty stored now for the winter so I dont have to bother about it but I guess I will have to do something about this soon.. The strange thing is that all of a sudden they work again (although this happens very rarely). From what I understood from reading tons of HID posts here on the forum, the ballasts either work or they dont work. There might be external factors such as temperature etc affecting the lights, but I have not yet drawn a consistent conclusion as to what is causing the lights to f*ck up.. Anyways, getting to the point I guess I have two options:

1. Buy a new HID kit for 219$ and fit that into my existing housings, instead of my current failing kit. Although I have to admit that I have no trust in these aftermarket kits and if I knew I was going to keep my car for a long time I would definately go with the factory litronics, but thats not the case here.. Dont know how long I will keep it. Whats good about this option is that I can sell my Original halogen headlights (complete with housing) on ebay pretty easy.. That will not be the case if I go with option 2 which is:

2. To replace the failing HID kit with my factory halogens. This option would be a tad cheaper but that would first of all mean no HID lights for me and second of all I would be left with 2 complete headlight housings with a failing HID kit. Maybe I would be able to sell to a Rennlister, who would then be able to fit these in his car with a new HID kit for 219$ and then sell his factory Halogen headlights (complete with housing) on ebay..Or I could sell them to a Rennlister for a giveawayprice, just to show a little appreciation for all the future help I will get

Dunno if I got you guys all confused or if I am making any sense at all. Bottom line is I have spent 1000euro++ on these stupid lights so far and gotten abosolutely NOTHING out of it.. I just want to resolve this issue in the most cost efficient way.. And as I said, I am not keeping the car forever, in which case I would have easily gone for factory litronics.. I just need your opinion, which option is the better? How reliable is this 219$ HID kit? Is it easy to install (given that I already have another HID kit fitted, would that make it easier or more difficult?? I suck at DIYs and my local Porsche deal is everything but cheap..)

Not sure if I will get an answer here.. If not I will start a new thread using this text.. anyways, thought I'd try here first.. Thanks guys, really need some advice on thisone, sick and tired of the whole thing...

DJF1

In Europe you should be able to find the CATZ HID conversion kit. We had a group buy on RL about 3 years ago until they got banned in the US. The kit is high quality and the results are spectacular. 3 years in my cabrio and zero problems.
Here is an article I found on the net which has pictures of the kit:
http://www.caraudiomag.com/technical/0305cae_catz_hids/

cabrio993

It sounds like your headlight clips are deformed and not retaining the bulb in place. When this happens the bulb flickers or won't come on. There is a Porsche TSB that fixes it with a $2 clip and bracket.

Here an odler post:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...light+retainer


Here is the TSB info from 1999:
Headlamp Bracket Deformity

Vehicle Type:
911 Carrera (993), 911 Turbo (993) without Litronic headlight option

Model Year:
911 Carrera, as of 1995 (S)
911 Turbo, as of 1996 (T)

Concern:
Bracket for H1 headlamp (low beam) becoming deformed from heat.

Information:

The H1 lamp for low beam operation can become loose if the mounting area becomes deformed from heat. A new H1 lamp spring clip and retaining bracket are available, should this occur.

A repair kit, consisting of a stainless-steel spring clip and a modified retaining bracket should be installed, either as a preventative measure or a repair for deformity or warpage.

Parts Info:
Part Number Description
000 043 204 28 Repair kit, with 1 spring clip and 1 retaining bracket

V

cabrio993, thanks for your input! Is it really that simple? That might be it though, I hope .. Looking at it this way.. If the ballasts were bad I would never get a beam.. Getting the beam from time to time means that the ballasts are prolly ok, and the bulbs too.. I would really put me out of my misery if 2x5$ would solve my problems weee.. I assume this is a DIY installation, but is it, eventhough I suck at DIY's? I would have to get a friend over to help me out.. Easiest is probably to remove the lights, refit the clip and then put everything back in.. Would be too difficult I hope.. We'll see how it works out. Just for clarification: This repair kit can be bought at the local Porsche dealer, and the part number is as you stated: 000 043 204 28 Repair kit, and I need 2 of them.. Thats about it right?
What does TSB stand for anyway? hehe. Ok, enough for now. Btw cabrio993 I browsed some pictures of your can in another thread, you have the targa wheels right? I love it.. Eventhough white is not one of my favourite colours, your can is absolutely stunning!! Thanks again!

V

And Danny, if I decide to go for a new HID kit, I will keep your suggestion in mind.. Thanks

cabrio993

My car was doing the same thing as yours until I bought the clips. The alloy casing arond the light bulb opening deforms with time/ heat and the bulb losens up. When it's lose, it doesn't make the required ground to work right

Porsche realized this and came out with this TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) to fix it. You can go to any Porsche dealership parts department and get 2 of those, one for each light. It is a really simple DIY. Takes less than 10 minutes per side.

My Cab has Turbo 18" wheels as a factory option. Chuck W. has a white cab like mine and I think his has the targa wheels, maybe it was his that you saw. White wasn't my favorite color either but I found a car with all the options and in the price and condition that I wanted and went for it. Now white has become my favorite Porche color. You have one beautiful and rare color C2S.

Let me know if you need help with the clips. I feel that this is your problem based on your description.

Mark in Baltimore

+1 on the Catz HID's. Knock on wood, mine have been working well, although I rarely use my headlights on my nearly track-only car. I mostly turn them on when I'm parking it in the garage.

Good luck,

V

I sure as hell hope that this is my problem, wouldn't be too difficult to fix.. Hope the clip doesn't break easily.. Any tips regarding refitting the clips? Or is it obvious once you have everything in front of you how it is done? Step no.1 would be to disconnect the battery I guess? Can't wait to try this and hopefully resolve my problem..

Thx again

cabrio993

No need to disconnect the battery. Just take your light assembly out as if you were going to change the bulb, then the retaining clip and the bracket is right there.

V

ok cool. I guess that the wires are not too difficult to disconnect. Since I have an aftermarket HID kit fitted with my original housings I dont think the original 'plug-n-play' connector is being used.. But I'm sure it won't be a problem once I get the light out it will hopefully be pretty obvious..Maybe there is also no need to disconnect the wires? I will let you know if I encounter any problems. Since I live in Sweden my Pcar is stored for the winter now.. Its not anywhere close to where I live, so I will be doing this in a couple of months. I will let you know how it went! Thanks for your brilliant input!