I know ..
the volvo system is the same..
( though of course the engine will start with a tail light out !  ... a
question that assertion a little...
about engine-dissable due to just a tail light out on the porsche ) ..

the device that detects it is simple..not a computer for sure ..
it just compares current flow ..
and when the cars are old.....of course things don't match perfectly , so
the warning light is on. I see it as a handy remimder that the lights are
on.

There is one system I think's pretty clever ...think it's  on some older
corvettes ..
flexiclbe light-conducting tubes go from the tail light assembly to the dash
..
showing a bit of real tail light light right there.

re
I detest having to alter my
> behavior to fit in with what some engineer has decided "most people" will
> need.

Ditto on that !
( like automatically locking cars as soon as you drive ..
I dream of having a  business that de-arms those. )

I always remove key buzzers from my vanagons too.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2011 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: The deal about the Tail Light Fairy

>  I hope the VW "Tail-light warning system" is not so stupid as the Porsche
> one that was in my "Flagship of the Porsche line" the 928...What a
> stinker!   Almost every stupid warning system in the car was
> 'problematic'...to put it kindly.   For instance, the tail light warning
> system....It would  not let you start the car with a tail light out....and
> it thought the bulb was no good if it detected a different draw....so
> every
> bulb had to be exactly the same make, sometimes even the same age......If
> you were in, say,  Tonapah, Nv and a tail light burned out, of course you
> couldn't find a 'proper' German bulb to put in....and a gas station
> replacement caused the computer to give you a "Warning!" and a no start
> condition.   Until you swapped all the bulbs, in pairs, and got sets with
> all the same exact draw....Of course, the bulbs were pretty rare and
> usually
> a station would have....3, not the 4 you needed....It took me about a year
> to find that little factoid in the 14 Volumes(!) of shop manuals I had on
> that one vehicle...
>
>  Checking the lights on a Vanagon....I do it.  I like doing things on my
> own, not having the vehicle tell me...I've spent waay more time and energy
> fixing so-called  "convenience" or "automatic" or "power ____ (whatever)"
> systems that I would rather do without.  I detest having to alter my
> behavior to fit in with what some engineer has decided "most people" will
> need.  I sometimes like to leave my doors wide open and walk away....I
> often
> leave my windows wound half way down and the vehicle unlocked.  I  like,
> sometimes,  to leave my ignition key right in the vehicle's ignition....
>  Lots of vehicles of recent vintage won't allow that kinda
> stuff....without
> extensive modification and extra work...They force you to do it like the
> engineers decided most people "should want to" do it.....
>
>  I had to look for a while to find a Vanagon with power nothing...Glad I
> found one.  I'll check my own stuff, thanks.
>  Don Hanson
>
> On Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 6:25 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
>> The deal is, there isn't one.
>>
>> I have a pretty nice vanaogn here that belongs to to intellegent educated
>> people and only one of the 6 rear running lights was working ..
>> all the rest, long, long ago corrodded or burnt out.
>>
>> And the car had recent work to the tune of too many dollars for not that
>> much ..
>> but no one ( ? ? ) ever checks the tail and rear running lights ?
>>
>> There is a technician named 'No Body' ..
>> that's who checks things like brake lights , tail light, side markers,
>> back
>> up lights , license lights ...
>> No Body ..that's his job, and who takes care of it usually .......No
>> Body.
>>
>> and the Tail Light Fairly is a myth...
>> though not everyone realizes that yet.
>>
>> and since there is no Tail Light Farily anymore...modern cars have
>> warning
>> systems for that..
>> just like my 88 volvo does ..and Volvo  had that warning system years
>> before
>> that.
>>
>> the bottom line ..
>> like Tire Pressure ...SOMEBODY'S got to check it .
>> ( well,   now there's a gov enforced electronic Tire Pressure Monitoring
>> system on all new cars ......
>> so I guess the gov gave up on the Tire Pressure Fairly too. )
>>
>> be safe.
>> Check rear lights ...might keep you from getting stopped by the poh-lease
>> or
>> being run into.
>> The bulb and wire contacts  corrode like so many things on 25 year old
>> vanagons can.
>>
>> be safe !
>> scott
>>