At 07:07 AM 5/30/02, Curt Hinchcliffe wrote:
>The light in the instrument cluster for the tail lights won't go away. All of the lights work and my girlfriend said the left side is darker than the right. I figured that was just the shade of the lens. My BMW has the same appearance, one darker than the other. I hear that maybe I should solder the contacts because it depreciates with age, but where do I begin. Getting the tail light fixture out is a pain in the ass. What should I be looking for? Is there something near the Fuse box that I should open and look at? Is there a regulator for the current to the rear lights? Help. Very annoying red light with an exclamation point that will not go away. I did replace the passenger side rear marker light because the lens fell off. But that was just taking the light fixture out and replacing it. Unless the new light is sucking more/less power than the old one creating a different flow between each side? What do y'all think?

The light monitoring unit simply compares the current draw of the left and right sides - if there is a difference, it sets the warning light.

A difference in current draw may be caused by:
Different manufacturer's bulbs may draw different amounts of current. All bulbs of the same type should be identical.
Corrosion in the bulb contacts may cause different resistance, thus different current draw. All bulb contacts should be clean and tight. Bad ground connections may cause different resistance, thus different current draw. All ground connections should be clean and tight.

Wally Plumley
928 Specialists