Just purchased a 2006 997 S Cabriolet after selling my Boxster. Perhaps I'm having a senior moment but the trunk light is not coming on when the trunk is opened. The old bulb appears O'K but I installed a new anyway. No go. Am I missing something here or is there a potential electrical problem?

 

There are a number of possibilities but the first thing I would do is check the fuse. If it's ok, get your hands on a continuity tester and check if there's power inside the bulb socket. If the tester lights, it might be as simple as the new bulb being defective. If not, then you would need to keep going. Pull the socket and pierce the hot-wire with the tester (don't hold the wire with your finger behind where you're sticking the point...stuck myself a few times doing that ). If the tester lights, suspect the socket is shot. If it doesn't light, the problem is somewhere along the circuit. The easiest thing to test first is the switch, which is with the latch, so you would need to gain access to it. If you have power going into the switch but not out, the switch is faulty. If you have power on the outgoing side of the switch, then you may have a break somewhere in the wiring. Running down electrical faults is just a matter of being systematic.

 

Much appreciated Ben. I do have a continuity tester as I do all my own wiring for my off road vehicle and am used to tracking down electrical problems. And yes I have also stuck myself with the thing. Just wanted to make sure I was not missing something obvious. Thanks again for the timely response!

 

Look in the 996 forum. I had this on my 996. It was the latch.

 

You might also try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. Sometime with these cars if the bulb control module senses an error it cuts off power to that light and doesn't automatically restore it, but disconnecting the battery forces a reset. This happens to the license plate lights too.

 

I spent years trying to solve this problem on mine - turned out PIWIS was needed to prompt it back into life - not sure if it was an option that needed selecting or it just needed a 'vehicle handover' which seems to restart various things that can stop working.