No headlights on the way home tonight - dipped beam that is

[skinnyman]

Evening folks,

I've had an interesting journey home, both headlights have lost full beam! I've checked the fuses and bulbs - both okay. I had to drive with the sidelights on and then the fogs to get any light on the road. Rural North Yorkshire is very dark without lights on the car and I'd appreciate any pointers to help on this one. Is there anything else to check before I start to panic?

Thanks in advance,

Andrew.

[kentphil1]

Has it lost full beam or dip as well?

[mbames]

relay (if there is one - not sure), but my money would probably be on the stalk.

[kentphil1]

Have you checked the 110 amp fuses in the battery fusebox?

[skinnyman]

Has it lost full beam or dip as well?

I cheked this about ten minutes ago and it still has full beam. It's just the dipped beam that's gone.

relay (if there is one - not sure), but my money would probably be on the stalk.

The stereo - aftermarket unit - turned itself off then on again earlier, Are they somehow linked by a relay?

[skinnyman]

Have you checked the 110 amp fuses in the battery fusebox?

No. I wan't aware there were any. I'll go and have a look now....

[mbames]

The stereo - aftermarket unit - turned itself off then on again earlier, Are they somehow linked by a relay?

mmm, that sounds dodgy, not quite sure how that could relate to the light issue, but shouldn't be ruled out. I was going to suggest a power surge and maybe the stereo shut down and a fuse blew..... have you checked *all* of the fuses?

[skinnyman]

Not all, no. I've pulled out the relevant fuses according to the handbook. It's getting a bit late to do too much now, I'll have to wait 'till daylight to check them all.

[skinnyman]

Have you checked the 110 amp fuses in the battery fusebox?

Just been to look. They seem okay and everything in the fusebox seems like new. I'll look again tomorrow when I get a chance at work. Thanks for the advice so far.

One last thing before I sign off for tonight. If the stereo turning off and on has blown something, would it all go back to the battery fusebox?

[kentphil1]

I would just make sure in the daylight that the black cable in the battery fusebox hasn't come loose on the large fuse nut, also check if it looks grey in colour rather than silver. You may have a terminal failing under heavy current demand, maybe the stereo was the first "casualty" to indicate this.

If all is well, I would tend to agree about the possibility of it being the column switch. When the aftermarket radio was fitted did it use an ISO loom, or were connections made individually to the vehicle loom - thinking more of power and vehicle lighting feeds?.

Sorry cant be more help, but wiring faults are difficult to diagnose without being there to check certain things.

[skinnyman]

I'll have a look at the black cable in my lunch hour today. As for the stereo, it is a Becker unit which just plugged straight in with no fiddling required at all. I'll get back to you on this one. It'll be tonight after work as the server blocks Briskoda for some reason - must be full of bad influences.

[mikey vrs]

Have you recently fitted the radio? i know when you fit aftermarket radios you need to swap the power feeds over,if not done this causes problems with the diagnostics,i had a problem with my mk1 octy vrs lights,they used to go off randomly as you drove along,it was a faulty main light switch. When your headlights went off did the dial illumination go off as well?

[skinnyman]

Have you recently fitted the radio? i know when you fit aftermarket radios you need to swap the power feeds over,if not done this causes problems with the diagnostics,i had a problem with my mk1 octy vrs lights,they used to go off randomly as you drove along,it was a faulty main light switch. When your headlights went off did the dial illumination go off as well?

No, the radio has been fitted for about five years. It has on occasion gone off when I've been listening to it whilst the engine is switched off, as though it was drawing too much power. This is the first time it has dione this whilst the engine was running. As for the dash lights, everything is fine and the dipped beam light shows on the dash as normal. The sidelights work fine as does the high beam when I pull it back as if I was flashing another car.

I've put some photos of the battery fusebox below. This is the first time in six years I've needed to take the cover off!

I take it that the lights have something to do with the black lead in the pics?

[Raf_]

Black one is feed from the alternator m8

[kentphil1]

From that picture all looks ok there, the one's that i have seen with a fault tend to blacken the copper strands by the crimp terminal.

Think you are now at the stage of backtracing the feed fom the main round switch ending at the indicator switch with a voltmeter to lock for gremlins. Suppose its worth checking the earth feeds from the headlamp units too, but I would have thought you would have no full beam if that was faulty in some way.

You are starting to move into some reasonably technical checking, and if you don't feel comfortable it may be wise to call an auto electrician. I hate saying that as it sound condascending, but it's sometimes wise to quit while you're ahead  

[skinnyman]

Black one is feed from the alternator m8

Right, thanks for that. It seems okay then, best look elsewhere then.

You are starting to move into some reasonably technical checking, and if you don't feel comfortable it may be wise to call an auto electrician. I hate saying that as it sound condascending, but it's sometimes wise to quit while you're ahead

You're not being condescending at all, I know my limits and this is probably way past them now. Not having working headlights is a bit of a bugger and I'd rather get it sorted by someone who knows their stuff and not cause more problems. The advice so far has been great, so if anoyne has a flash of inspiration then post it up and I'll see if it helps.

[mbames]

Just looked at my Haynes wiring diagrams. That suggests there are a total of 5 fuses:

F34 - 110A

F18 - 10A - RH dip

F19 - 10A - LH dip

F20 - 15A - RH full

F21 - 15A - LH full

The dash lights are driven from the F18 and F20 (ie. RH circuit), so that means if the lights on the dash come on for full/dip/flash then the ignition switch, headlight switch and stalk are working and a wiring fault must be after the the fuses.

I would give the stalk a blast with some switch cleaner to start with - I wonder if the contacts are dirty and not passing enough current.

Your post confuses me as I can't work out if you had lost full or dipped beam or both. Subject line says "dipped gone", elsewhere you say "lost full beam" and "had to drive my sidelights & fogs to get any light on the road"....

[rwbaldwin]

It's either the stalk (most likely) or the White/Green wire from the stalk (unlikely).

The headlights share a common earth so if that was the problem, you would lose both dipped and full beam.

As described above each has it's own fuse but they all share a common feed right to the stalk switch so you know it's getting power or you would have no headlights.

There is no relay.

[skinnyman]

Your post confuses me as I can't work out if you had lost full or dipped beam or both. Subject line says "dipped gone", elsewhere you say "lost full beam" and "had to drive my sidelights & fogs to get any light on the road"....

I know, I confused myself. It was dipped beam that had gone. Full beam, sidelights and fogs all work.

It's either the stalk (most likely) or the White/Green wire from the stalk (unlikely).

The headlights share a common earth so if that was the problem, you would lose both dipped and full beam.

As described above each has it's own fuse but they all share a common feed right to the stalk switch so you know it's getting power or you would have no headlights.

There is no relay.

I started to go down the route of looking up an automotive electrician, but thought I'd have a look on the MKIV Golf forum. I found this thread,

http://uk-mkivs.net/...33/2075863.aspx

Thinking that there was no way it could be as simple as that, I looked at the bulbs again. The pic below is as close as I can get with our camera. They look okay, but tell me what you think...

Anyway, I replaced them with some spares I had in the garage and would you believe it, they worked.

Sorry to have taken up your time as I normally manage to sort things without asking daft questions. Neither bulb looks particularly knackered, but there you go.

The only question I have left is why they both blew at the same time? I'm ordering some more just in case it happens again.

Thanks for your help folks, again Briskoda proves to be a cracking forum.

[mbames]

I would get your alternator checked - I wonder if the regulator pack on it has failed. A voltage spike might have blown both bulbs, and the HU might have shutdown (ie. turned off) when it detected greater than 12vdc in order to protect itself.

Good job you rechecked the bulbs, as per your first post you told us the bulbs were fine

[Raf_]

Would of thought a voltage spike powerful enough to blow the bulbs would atleast blow a fuse somewhere? Is there a canbus system fitted for bulb failure warning that's not enabled on normal spec dashes ? Just wondering as some cars came with mfd that tells of a bulb failure and I've seen them retro fitted.

[mbames]

I would be interested to know about bulb failure, as my 2001 doesn't seem to do it (or at least have it enabled).

I imagine the bulb is a weak point in the circuit, not the fuse. The fuse would be more likely to blow if the live shorted to the bodywork or something like that, but in a voltage spike suitation the bulb would blow first, imho.

[mikey vrs]

Evening folks,

I've had an interesting journey home, both headlights have lost full beam! I've checked the fuses and bulbs - both okay. I had to drive with the sidelights on and then the fogs to get any light on the road. Rural North Yorkshire is very dark without lights on the car and I'd appreciate any pointers to help on this one. Is there anything else to check before I start to panic?

Thanks in advance,

Andrew.

Doh!! glad you got it sorted!

[skinnyman]

Having looked at the bulbs again in daylight, it's hard to see that they have failed. I don't own a camera that has a good macro setting to show how intact the fillament looks. I imagined that there'd be an obvious burned out section, but there isn't. Anyway, it's all good and we're supposed to learn from these things.

[N.Wood]

Hi guys, sorry for the bump but I thought I'd recycle this topic.

I am in a similar situation as the original poster, my dipped beams started to flicker off for around half a second before coming back on again. They then would not work at all after the main beam has been used. My foglights, main beam and sidelights are all working as normal.

HOWEVER

I have tried just now, the morning after the night before as it were, and they work as normal? Flicking on and off the main beams yesterday would kill the dipped lights, but just now they were fine.

In my limited knowledge, I'd guess that:

Fuses are fine

Bulbs are fine

Possibly faulty stalk?

Does that sound right? I literally know nothing!

Any help appreciated, I will be taking it to a mechanic but any pointers would be great. Thanks!