Weird Yeti boot light problem

[speedsport]

Boot light switch (located within the boot catch) failed exactly as you describe on my Yeti last year just before warranty ran out. Back to the dealer, new boot catch assembly fitted under warranty. Problem solved.

I'd leave it to the dealer - the catch is a very expensive bit of kit if you do something wrong & they notice!

[Kenny R]

Do the interior lights in the car illuminate when the boot is open? if not suspect boot catch switch as per above, take it back and tell them to fix it.

[vRS G60]

Do the interior lights in the car illuminate when the boot is open? if not suspect boot catch switch as per above, take it back and tell them to fix it.

Yes.

[lfc958]

Bulb ?     has this been checked

[vRS G60]

Tried 3 bulbs. All checks point to a bad earth, the earth is the switch in the boot latch.

[cppgr]

Same issue for me 1 year ago.

Doing all these weird tests for an hour.

Finally, we changed the boot catch assembly.

Somehow rain water or rear window washing fluid was reaching the catch.

There was rust on it.

[Gnomeface]

Right, 1st off the boot light isn't working.

 

Now the fun begins, bear with me.

 

If I disconnect the light module and put a Volt meter across the wired connector I get 12V showing.

 

If I close the boot with the Volt meter connected it then shows 0V as expected.

 

If I connect the light module to a spare 12V alarm battery it lights up.

 

If I connect the light module back to the wired connector bugger all happens.

 

If whilst the light module is connected to the wired connector I put a wire to earth on the car from the -ve side of the light module it lights up.

 

 

I'm not thick by any means and I've done electrical work on cars for years but I can't fathom this one.

 

Also posted in Tech forum.

I've just picked up this post.  Surely the boot switch is eliminated as a culprit by your first test (voltage 12v drops to zero when the boot is closed)? If the bulb lights up when connected to an independent 12v supply, then the implication is that wiring loom and bulb unit are both OK but the earth contact within the connector that joins them is faulty.

 

These bulb units are rubbish and I've taken mine out at least 10 times to get it working again.  The problem is that the bulb hangs down and isn't held tightly and any movement or vibration can separate the contacts on the bulb from the contacts in the holder.  I've tried bending things to give a better contact but the d*mned thing always stops working after a while.  I suspect that the only way to make mine work properly is to mount the unit upside down so that the bulb "sits" on its contacts rather than "hangs" from them, but the wiring loom isn't long enough.

 

Having said that, yours may be a different problem - but I'd still suspect the light unit itself, and the LED replacement is likely to be perfectly OK.

[vRS G60]

The bulb lights when connected to an independent EARTH supply.

I suspect the volt meter works because it doesn't draw as much current as the bulb hence a dodgy earth connection. It was this that throw me initially. No earth at all wouldn't even operate the volt meter but a slight earth contact may.

[lfc958]

I admire your persistance 

 

Frustration would have gotten the better of me by now 

 

Car on dealer doorstep asking nicely to sort 

[vRS G60]

I've not touched since I 1st tried to sort it. Booked in at the dealer tonight.

[muddyboots]

Where is the rear washer fluid jet on a Yeti - is it in the end of the wiper arm (like many other VAG cars) ?

If so, the flexi washer fluid pipe connects to the back of the wiper motor, and travels through a (stationary) thin tube right through the centre of the moving wiper spindle.

 

I've had an Ibiza and two Passats which have this arrangement, and on all 3 I've had related problems.

Either: the washer fluid pipe pops off the motor (usually in winter when fluid freezes), either completely or partially, and when you operate the rear washer, the fluid just pees into the tailgate, and falls onto the boot catch assembly which is usually directly below it. Result - the catch plays up, I got random "boot open" warnings, alarm going off, etc etc

Or: The small metal pipe, through which the washer fluid travels through the spindle, starts to corrode and attach itself to the rotating spindle. Eventually the pipe breaks, and yes you guessed it - fluids ends up peeing into the tailgate and falling onto the boot catch, causing havoc again. Early symptoms of this are that the washer nozzle starts, to some degree, to try and rotate with the wiper instead of staying still.

 

The problem is prevalent enough that you can buy repair kits, to replace the thin metal tube, rather than replacing the whole motor assembly. That's what I did on both Passats.

On the Ibiza, the pipe kept popping off, I ended up gluing the damn thing on and fastening a tie-wrap as tight as I could around the pipe & nipple.

Trouble was, removing the tailgate panel wasn't easy - needed a worryingly hard tug to get off, it was held on with loads of really tight clips. 

 

Of course, if the Yeti washer design is different you might as well ignore what I just said

[vRS G60]

To draw a line under this, I picked my Yeti from the dealers last night and the fault was a broken earth wire.

I don't know where, they didn't say.

Time to fit my Super Skoda LED lights now 

[lfc958]

To draw a line under this, I picked my Yeti from the dealers last night and the fault was a broken earth wire.

I don't know where, they didn't say.

Time to fit my Super Skoda LED lights now 

 

You did mention about possibly a faulty earth wire 

 

Good news is it is sorted & hopefully another happy driver manufactured  

[KBPhoto]

I've got the same problem.

No boot light but Maxidot shows boot open.

Have tested bulb and holder with a battery. That's all OK.

Looks like I need to get hold of a multimeter and start testing the wiring.

[KBPhoto]

Update on mine: it worked for about 30 seconds the other day!

I did have the D-pillar trim off at the time. Coincidence?

Possibly because I went searching for faults whilst I was fitting a towbar and had all the trim out. But found nothing.

Looked through the paperwork I have from the previous owner (I'm the third) and there is mention of some warranty work on the boot light.

This might explain why a lot of the trim had been previously removed.

No idea what the outcome was, but I think I might follow it up.

[KBPhoto]

Followed it up and the dealer that did the work under warranty said they replaced the whole housing and that rectified the problem.

For less than £10 I might give it a go.

It flickered briefly the other day in normal use.

I do wonder whether this issue is related to the boot not always auto locking when opening (from locked) with the middle key fob button...

[weasley]

I don't know if this helps. but the boot latch has a microswitch built into it.  No idea if this serves as a switch for the light, or 'door open' warning, or both or neither.  Here's a link to when I dismantled mine...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/356063-boot-lock-busted/#entry4255540

 

£26 for the parts and an hour of my own time.  It is a straightforward job to get it off, but a bit of a faff getting the boot trim off.  First remove the rubber pull-down handle.  Then the worst bit is getting started on getting the trim off - I happened to have some thin plastic wedges from when I did some laminate flooring a while back - these were perfect for tapping into a thin opening until the nearest catch popped off.  Once I had a few done I could see underneath to where the others were and reach in to lever them open.

 

Once this was done it was a 2 minute job to disconnect the wiring plug, unbolt the latch and replace it.  Then bash the trim back on, refit the pull-down and the job's jobbed.

 

Attached are two pictures showing the boot (latch removed) and the trim panel, so you can see where the trim catches are.

 

 

[KBPhoto]

Thanks. I've exited the idea that it might be the boot latch micro switch but, as the Maxidot always shows the boot open/closed correctly, then I've dismissed it for now.

As there has been a previous 'repair' by replacing the whole light unit I'll give that a go first.