Rear Light Assembly/Bulbs

[exitwound]

I decided to replace the dim bulbs in the rear of the car only to find that it's a little more difficult this first time.

My first question is this. Look at the picture below. The Reverse Light, Brake Light, and Blinker all state 21W bulbs should be used. The Rear Headlight Indicators (the furthest towards the sides of the car) are stamped with 5W on the metal bracket the bulbs attach into.

The reason I'm concerned is that I could not remove the driver's side bulb in this position without destroying it because it seemed to have melted the surrounding portal into which the bulb is pushed. The black plastic hole had shrunken slightly and the bulb could not be removed without a little bit of cutting of the plastic. The passenger side bulb was removable however without any melting noticable.

Questions

• Should the rear headlight indicators be the same bulbs that the other holes use (the 21W P21's)?
• Why isn't there anything in the 5th slot?

[toolboy62]

no, those are your taillights, if you used 21W bulbs people would think you were braking all the time. they're only supposed to be bright enough that people can see that there's something there.

there are no bulbs in the positions indicated on a US spec car. A euro-spec car should be arranged differently: (below is my lame ASCII attempt to show the driver's side taillight of a Euro-car)

Directional--Reverse
--P21W------P21W------Rear Fog
-------------------------P21W
--Brake-----Taillight
--P21W------R5W

Apparently a rear fog light was never offered on a US-spec car. Also the US spec cars have a red sidemarker light that the Euro cars don't have. There's nothing stopping you from rearranging the bulbs as above and adding a rear fog (driver's side only) if you so desire, save for the difficulty of finding the switch and wiring it up. I've rearranged my taillights as above, found the switch, but haven't gotten around to wiring it up yet.

nate

[exitwound]

That's exactly my thoughts. I believe someone had stuck in a 21W bulb where the 5W should be and it began to melt the plastic around the bulb. As a result, I couldn't get the bulb out without destroying it. I will have to look around for some 5W bulbs.

Thanks!

[toolboy62]

see here for the numbers you'll actually be able to find at your FLAPS:

http://members.cox.net/njnagel/files/GermanBulbCharts.pdf

Definitely if a 21W bulb were used as a taillight, and a PO did a lot of night driving, that cluster could get pretty hot. Those are intended to only be used occasionally - and notice how the only 21W bulb that *is* used for more than the length of a red light (the rear fog) has a space twice as great as the rest of them.

Your post reminds me of prepping my car for its state inspection after I purchased it Some PO's "do it right" and some just shove in any bulb that will fit and light up.

nate

[exitwound]

That's exactly what I needed. Thanks!

[onZedge]

nate - The Osram/Sylvania catalog indeed shows the 5008, 10W bulb as your .pdf file indicates. I use it with no overheating problems. Not too bright for me - too many stories about Porsches being rear-ended - every little bit helps.

[toolboy62]

I respectfully disagree, I was using the R10W bulbs for a while as well, until one night when I was following the girlie home from somewhere (probably the local Porsche repair emporium) and said to myself, "self, those taillights are too goshdarned bright!" At some angles they were just as bright if not more so than the brake lights. Of course this was after I rearranged the lights to the euro pattern; I think the reflector portion lets more of the bulb's light through at some angles than the outside one, but I prefer to keep it stock.

Also, to prevent corrosion, you might want to smear a little silicone grease on the base of each bulb after cleaning the socket, if necessary.

nate

[onZedge]

...does anybody know where one can get extra or replacement sockets? The PET does not show it as a separate part number. I even looked on a few (gasp) VW websites.

[toolboy62]

I just bought a used taillight on here, easier than any other way.

If you have a good junkyard, might try that too.

nate

[exitwound]

I bought R10Ws today as that was all AdvanceAuto had in stock. they were all sold out of the normal 5Wers. From what I've seen, they don't look toooo bright, but then again, I'm driving and not following myself home.