I put on my rear euro lenses and am noticing that the turn signal part (orange) lights up with the red when my lights are on.

When I hit the brakes the red light up brighter. Turn signals, the orange gets brighter.

Is the wiring different on the euro cars? Do they drive around with the orange lights on all the time?

I don;t really drive at night but I have been pulled over for this before when I owned my MG with euro lenses.

Big secret: The European lenses are made for use with, wait for it: ................................................... European tail light housings! Just as the front buckets are different, so are the rears. They have an additional separator, I believe, and the side marker bulbs are wired differently. This seems to be one of those nobody talks about ............. And, no, the lenses are NOT legal for use on the street in the US. I had the same problem with my 1990 Audi 20v Quattro.

The Cap'n

hmmmm.....this sux. Yes BIG secret. Never seen Euro rear buckets listed.

So I have to figure out a way to cut off the turn signal filament when the lights are on...the side marker needs to stay on for light...orange light I guess.

Too much to deal with for the little night driving I do.

I guess most of you guys drive around with the orange on all the time and hope for the best?

in the 70's, US vehicle codes called for side view facing lamps which were yellow at the front and red at the rear. . having yellow show at the rear is the legal infraction. . so changing bulb positions will do nothing to make Euro lens' legal in the US. .
and that's why we have front fender warts also. . taking them off is also an infraction

factory front turn buckets; sorry - I can't find pics of my rear ones. If you look closely you can see the divider/reflector that the North American ones don't have. The rears are similar.

After 40 years of owning at least one 914 continuously, this is the first I've heard of the different rear light assemblies. Thanks for sharing - you learn something new every day.

Hopefully someone can post a picture for us to see!

I seem to remember someone doing a modification to the housings a long time ago. Have you tried searching for euro tail light conversion?

Remove the bulb.

So for the LED turnsignals I've been working on when done in amber, the LED array should be off when just running lights are on. I've had the array dimly lit when just running lights are on.

here's a picture of the inside of my (euro) taillight
there's no reflector piece near the side marker bulb, there's also no bulb or connection to the holder on the far sides.
Not much exciting going on, should be straight forward I guess.

Click to view attachment

For euro spec: Blinkers should not be on at the same time as the driving lights, and should also not get brighter when you brake. Probably a wiring issue.
There's some minor differences in the euro and us spec wiring harnessess, but not at the rear lights, only at the fronts because of the side marker lenses.

Cheers,
Jacco

There you go. I knew there was a difference, and so there is. Just not exactly what I thought. Thanks for the clarification!

The Cap'n

This is a bummer, I have been planning going with Euro rear lenses ever since I bought my teener.

Something tells me I saw a thread where someone covered the US lense bucket separator with aluminum foil to produce the correct lighting using the euro lense?

Wouldn't this work?

Post #36 here:

EuroFoil

Just did it myself

Thanks Scott.

I like the foil idea.Maybe a one sided red LED. i think I have seen those somewhere; they project 90 degrees, or 180 degrees...in red.

Separator should be easy.

I did this on the front since I don't have the correct buckets....but i knew the front were different.

The separator is made from thin roof flashing...snipped. Actually holding the bulb in place:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=236137

I'm not near my car for awhile so can't look at the bucket but looking at the other thread and seeing the inside of the US buckets; it looks like changing the reflector to a red reflector and changing to a red bulb would mitigate the marker lights issue.

Then maybe to block out the orange driving filaments; file down the contact on the bulb so the one filament doesn't light? Talking about incandescent bulbs.

I am guessing the wiring is in the bucket; if not just kill power on the orange driving wire.

There are no differences on the “Euro” tail light housings: they just simply omitted the side-marker bulb and its holder, and the reflector piece. The Euro lenses have the prism effect all the way round; the USA ones have a flat, clear (but still red) section at each end that the side marker shines through. Other than that, they are identical. There are certainly no wiring differences (other than the omission to the side marker).

Why not use the attached (or similar) to paint the side-marker bulb red? It’s commonly available in artist’s materials or graphics supplies, a clear translucent (but coloured) paint, for painting glass. I don’t know how it stands up to heat, but the amber version is invaluable for painting clear bulbs to be amber flashers behind clear lenses: that 5w marker bulb should be no problem, and showing red should satisfy the most anal vehicle inspector. Showing red through an amber lens should look quite funky too.