High Beam Problem

[Aey]

I have a RHD early 944 n/a and just replaced the whole wiring harness.

My original wiring harness was a mess (many cuts, spice, melt wires) and beyond repair, so I bought a very good used condition wiring harness from eBay. The problem is it’s LHD and my mechanic spent almost 3 months extending the wiring one by one to make it fit my RHD 944. Now everything look a lot better, very neat, and everything works :-) but I still have a problem with the high beam.

Long story short. When headlight is off and in down position, if the high beam stalk is pulled, high beam flash but headlight does not pop up.

Here is the scenario;
1.) Headlight Switch: OFF, Fog Light Switch: OFF —— When pulling high beam stalk: Fog Light flash. Headlight high beam also flash, but headlight does not pop up.
2.) City Light Switch: ON, Fog Light Switch: OFF —— When pulling high beam stalk: Fog Light flash. Headlight high beam also flash, but headlight does not pop up.
3.) Headlight Switch: ON, Fog Light Switch: OFF —— When pulling high beam stalk: Headlight high beam turn ON and stay on until pulling high beam stalk again. Nothing happen to fog light (fog light stay off).

4.) Headlight Switch: OFF, Fog Light Switch: ON => Result: All Light Off —— When pulling high beam stalk: Fog light did not flash. Headlight high beam flash, but headlight does not pop up. I basically have no flash light here.
5.) City Light Switch: ON, Fog Light Switch: ON => Result: City Light On and Fog Light On —— When pulling high beam stalk: No change on fog light, because it’s already on. Headlight high beam flash, but headlight does not pop up. So again I have no flash light in this situation.
6.) Headlight Switch: ON, Fog Light Switch: ON => Result: Headlight pop up and on, and Fog Light on —— When pulling high beam stalk: Headlight high beam turn ON and stay on until pulling high beam stalk again. Nothing happen to fog light. Fog light is already on and it stays on when high beam stalk is pulled.

My mechanic said the wiring from eBay was originally set like this, and looking at how neat of his work, I don’t think he did anything wrong. But one thing to be noted is; there is unused wires at the bumper where the fog lights are. I believe those wires are for another lights, like in the euro bumper?

I want to know how it suppose to be, if I pull the high beam stalk when the headlight is off and in down position. Should the headlight immediately pop up and flash? If so, I think my problem is the headlight does not pop up when high beam stalk is pulled. I don’t think there is a problem with pop up mechanism, because headlight pop up and down normally, when turning headlight on and off.

So what to check? High beam stalk? Wiring? Relay? Thanks for your help.

[fiily]

Mine work the same way, working as designed. Lights off, pull stalk for high beams, my lights do not pop up , they just flash.

[Aey]

Originally Posted by fiily

Mine work the same way, working as designed. Lights off, pull stalk for high beams, my lights do not pop up , they just flash.

Thank you for your reply.

What's about situation number 4 and 5? When the fog light is turned on, headlight is in down position, and high beam stalk is pulled, do you have any flash light?

[DannoXYZ]

I believe the behavior is correct for early 944. There are wiring-differences between the harnesses for different regions of the world. Which one was your eBay harness from?

The component that dictates the AND/OR logic of various lighting-switches behavior is the bridge adapter. Here are some wiring-diagrams with different configurations. First, you need to identify the configuration you have. Then pick the behavior you want and modify the bridge-adapter to generate the desired logic.

[fiily]

Originally Posted by fiily

Mine work the same way, working as designed. Lights off, pull stalk for high beams, my lights do not pop up , they just flash.

Ok justed check on my 1988 US spec 944.

4.) Headlight Switch: OFF, Fog Light Switch: ON => Result: All Light Off —— When pulling high beam stalk: Fog light did not flash. Headlight high beam flash, but headlight does not pop up. I basically have no flash light here.SAME AS MINE

5.) City Light Switch: ON, Fog Light Switch: ON => Result: City Light On and Fog Light On —— When pulling high beam stalk: No change on fog light, because it’s already on. Headlight high beam flash, but headlight does not pop up. So again I have no flash light in this situation.SAME AS MINE

The high beams never popped-up and flashed, then went back to closed in any scenario, so everything from my opinion is working as designed.

What you can do, is turn your fog lights off, and when running either your city/daytime running lights, pull the high beams and your fogs can be your "get outta the way" flash.

I do believe this is porsche's design to minimize the headlight motors constant up down wear n' tear for people wanting to flash people to move lanes without turning on the headlights and highbeams.

[Aey]

Thanks everyone. Good to know that mine is working as designed. I'll study those diagram and change the bridge adapter if needed.