remove headlight mounting bracket

1999 Carrera 4 Cab No high beams. Diagnosed as headlight mounting bracket broken. Bought a new one. Figure at most would take 15 minutes to change. An hour later broke 2 15 torx drivers (bit stuck in the mount), removed wheel well liner and tire to get tools that I dropped, and I still am no closer. Anyone know how to remove the mounting bracket?

Quotes source post: 11673893

Having a hard time understanding how the mounting bracket (or platform), the platform upon which the headlight nacelle fits into and which holds the electrical connectors for the headlight can account for a non-functioning headlight. Unless I guess the mounting platform is broken and the connector isn't lining up properly. (I had a connector break in my Turbo's passenger headlight, it broke from the forces caused by hitting a mule deer.) My second hand info is that plate or platform is hard to get out (and harder to get back in right). Be sure you are not turning the adjustment screws. You want to loosen the fastening nuts. The factory says to try to duplicate the adjustment settings of the new platform using the adjustment settings from the old platform as guides then tighten the adjusting nuts slightly by hand then fit the headlight and check for proper fit in the fender opening. Use the other side for a reference. If the adjustment is ok then tighten the fastening nuts to 6 � 1.5 ftlb. Here's some drawings�

The mounting bracket piece that holds the connector at the back is broken on one side and the connector is loose. The only thing that does not work is the high beams. When I take out the connector from the bracket and the connector from the headlight and connect them directly the high beams work. I got one fastening nut loose but I can not figure out how to access the other two.

Quotes source post: 11674156

Well, I've never replaced one. I had one replaced once, along with the fender, as part of an accident (mule deer collision) repair. I do not know if the new platform was installed in the fender *before* the fender was installed or it was installed after. And my car is a 996 Turbo. This platform business might be different for your 996. I should think if you can get a wrench on the fastening nuts you should be able to loosen it, remove it and after doing the 3rd one remove the busted platform. Installation is the reverse of removal. You might have to hold the screw from above with a tool (torx bit?) to prevent it from turning as you loosen the nut at the bottom as shown in the two drawings. Adjusting the platform to position the headlight correctly and ensure there is enough adjustment range to bring the headlight's aim into spec is another thing entirely. When I got my Turbo back from the body shop the headlight was not positioned correctly. Gaps/fits were clearly wrong compared to the other (undamaged) headlight. I talked to a Porsche tech and he said this job is very fiddly and can take some time. I rejected the car and had the body shop do this. I do not know what it took in terms of time or effort. YOu might visit a Porsche dealer parts department to say buy a new bulb and while there question the parts manager about this platform to see what you can learn about removing it. Speak with the service manager and see if he'll give a few minutes with a tech to talk about this. If you get the info you need, or even if you don't, follow up the next AM with a couple of dozen donuts as a "thank you". You'll be eternally welcome, as long as you don't push things and expect to get educated as a Porsche tech for 2 boxes of donuts.

I had that same problem. In my case the replacement connector came with the broken bracket. I didn't have to remove the wheel well for the replacement, just pulled out the light. Before the part arrived I jury rigged it by having my son with a skinny arm reach in and push the connector on fully and I zip tied in place. Maybe your is broken in a different location.

Spent the night looking at the problem. To access the bottom nut, the bumper and wheel well liner have to come off. I have had more pieces off this car in a year plus of ownership than all of my other cars combined.

This is old thread, but it comes up when googling so I think that it's ok to post solution here. If you're just replacing the plastic part, you only need to loosen these 3 nuts on top of the plastic. They were quite loose on my car, but very tight on the new part which had these metal parts already attached. Hold the bolt in place with torx key, while opening the nuts, so the adjustment stays intact. If you need to replace these metal parts, attach them before the plastic, even though the replacement part most likely has them attached already. I didn't loosen them, but it seemed that i would be possible to tighten them down with fingers and then finish it with some kind of pliers.

I replaced one of my trays about 6 months ago. I had a similar issue there the plug was not completely seating due to a broken plastic piece on the back of the tray. I don't remember it being an issue getting the large nuts off. You do not need to remove the entire metal post under the tray to replace the tray. If you try to remove them entirely, you will have to access the nuts on the bottom from the wheel well. The large thin nuts are shown in the persons hand in the post above. The torx studs are used to make height adjustments to aim the headlight.

This thread is very helpful. thanks to all who posted