986 Vanity Light Repair

For such a small item to repair, this was a real PIA!

One of the bulbs had burned out in the vanity light on the driver's side sun visor.

Opening up the vanity assembly is pretty straightforward. There are two plastic tabs that clip on the top, one on each side, and another at the bottom. I used a small screwdriver to pry the cover off. CAUTION: Once you get the cover loose, the bulbs will get launched out of the assembly and end up who knows where. Both of my bulbs ended up under the right side rail of the driver's seat and I had to loosen the rails to retrieve the bulbs.

Here are the bulbs. You can tell which one is burned out......



I looked for a replacement bulb at a couple of parts houses and could not find them There are some similar bulbs available, but the Porsche bulbs are smaller - anything to reduce weight, I suppose. So I had to buy the lamp from a dealer.



Now it is time to reassemble everything, and be prepared for multiple attempts. It is not easy or intuitive. Here are the two parts of the vanity. The cover is on the bottom where I am holding it below the visor. Note that there is a metal conductor in each part of the assembly. The trick is to get the bulbs to sit in one side of the assembly while you position the other side and push the whole thing together so that it snaps in place.



After numerous attempts here is what I finally did to get this thing reassembled:
1. Lower the convertable top and push the seat fully forward and pull the seat back forward. Stand on the floor of the car behind the seat.
2. Move the visor with the lower portion of the vanity into a horizontal position
3. Place both lamps in position in the lower assembly in the visor
4. Hold the cover just slightly above the visor with your left hand (I am right handed, so you may want to do this the opposite way if your are a southpaw) and position the left bulb into the metal piece in the cover with your right hand, then move the left side of the cover closer to the visor side (the right side of the cover will be tilted up slightly to the right).
5. With your right hand position the right bulb into the metal piece on the cover
6. Push the whole assembly down and snap it into place.
7. Make sure that everything is in place and that the cover of the vanity closes fully and the light goes out.

Be prepared to make several attempts at the reassembly process. Sorry that I couldn't take pictures of this process, but I did not have an extra hand.