This is what I did not know about turn signals
 

Yesterday I replaced my turn signal lamp on the back when I noticed that my parking lights were on.

Only on the other side...Whatta...lights are off, power is off, everything should be off.

Must be a ground problem somewhere....I stared at the electronic blueprints for a while...10 minutes and checked all the wiring...all OK.

What on earth is going on. Then I grabbed the steering wheel aaand...click...the turn signal thingamob entered the center position.

What? Hurry to back of the car and check lights, no, its not lit anymore. I switched turn signal switch to the opposite side this time and voila, the lights burn on that side.

Wow, new feature :) This is something I did not know.

(Later on I heard this kinda setup is used on some European countries -> They leave the road side lights on if the park the car at night.)


Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with your car :) But I just suspect the worst all the time.

You are not the first to have this problem. BTDT....almost the same exact scenario, although I had not resorted to the schematics before I "fixed" the problem.

A friends 968 does something similar when the fog lights are on, the left rear tail light burns stronger in this mode. I have seen this on some Volvos and Audis as well.

Tom

Yep same for me,

took me a while to figure that one out.

Thought it was a really cool feature on a 21 year old car

Jakes

Hey Jakes,

How's your car coming along? back on the road now I hope!?

Cheers,

Tim.
____________
1983 SC Targa

This is used in the big cities in Europe often. The parking spots are almost non-existant in most cities and so people go to a resturant and "double park" while having dinner by parking in the street but next to a parked car.

With everything turned off they put the turn signal to the right or left, which turns the light on to let people know that there is a car parked in the of the street where you normally drive.

Takes very little electricity and helps on safety. Took some getting used to and if your car is blocked you just come out, honk the horn and whoever is blocking any cars while eating will move their car and return to the resturant... sounds interesting but you get used to it.

Joe

And racemor's comment is actually the rear fog light.
On Audi's, you can selectively turn it on/off provided that the front ones are on.

Correct, it's European regulation to have a reward facing fog...

if you put your fog lights on in the UK and mainland Europe, the rearward facing fog will also come on...it makes slower folks REALLY super easy to see in the fog as you come up on them.

sjd

Tim,

yep cars back on the road, I had a couple of mot points to take care of as well.

Funnily enough, I was missing the rear fog light and had to find the wires etc for it. Apart from that it was just rear tires (borderline) and rear torsion bar spring plate covers.

But all is well, the 964 windscreen and seal look great and driving in the storm last week there was no leak from the windscreen

I am in the process of putting together a web site with all the restoration work that was done.

Cheers Jakes

MY 911 does the same thing. If you left the turn signal at right or left and shut off the car, the rear light will stay on. If you center the turn signal switch, the light will go off. It does not bother me.

My 87 does the same thing, and the Volvo has the single rear fog light too.

Brand new Porsches do this same thing.

With other makes (VW, Audi, etc.) the US versions don't seem to, as it confuses the Americans. :)

-Boyo

the general rule is that if your car is doing something odd, you just say "they all do that" - problem solved!

This is too funny! I took my car to work a couple of weeks ago, and glanced out at it while I was walking past the front door. I thought I saw the taillight glowing, but assumed it was the sun hitting it just right.

Then, about 2 hours later, I saw that it was really lit. I literally ran outside as I assumed I left my lights on. When I got to the car, and saw just the one light lit, my heart dropped thru my stomach, as I assumed I had some kind of electrical gremlin! I opened the door and sat down, noticed the turn signal switch in the RH position, centered it, and saw that the light went out.

I actually viewed my car in a whole different light, like she was tarnished, or something because I thought there was a glitch in her wiring. Now that I know it is actually a feature... WOW!!!

pretty cool!
am trying it tonight.
thanks for the heads up!

Maurice
'80 SC Coupe

Whtat is the official term for this parking light feature? I don't think it's described in the owner's manual.