Boot lights...Very short wiring problem

[rawcas]

Both boot lights were dead when I bought my estate last week, with the nights now completely drawn in and the requirement to take the dog out in the evening I need to get them sorted.

 

I've ordered some LED's to replace the rubbish standard bulbs, but my question is about fitting.

 

I've had a real job removing the units on both sides, and after a bit more applied force on the drivers side last night it finally came free, the cause was that the wiring seemed be really tight in behind the light and there was no spare that allowed me to pop the lamp out easily along with some slack wire.

 

I'm now left with the lamp removed which is what I need, but without taking the trim off I'm really not sure how it is going to go back in as there is no way of getting hold of the plug to put it back into the lamp.

 

anyone else experienced this? Is it simply that I will have to remove the plastic trim panels or is there a clip for the wiring that I can get to that will give me some slack?

 

All this has been done in the dark so far with a only a head torch to guide me so apologies if I'm missing something obvious!

Edited 30 October, 2014 by rawcas

[Huskoda]

I remember when I changed the boot light bulbs it was exactly the same. Had to be very careful not to drop the plug down the back and it was a real PITA to put it back in.

[rawcas]

Yeah, it's not looking easy to get it plugged back in I have to say...plug has not dropped down but there is no wiggle room to get pliers or similar in place to hold the plug whilst the lamp is plugged back in. I'm sure it must have save Skoda a few pence on wire when they were being built

 

I think it may be panel off unless someone has a better idea ?

[MattHunt]

Hi

There is a thread on here somewhere...maybe under LED lights...In which a few people said the wiring for the boot lifts seemed to never have been connected.

Mine have never worked since we got it from second hand from Skoda Winchester and when I have daylight and no child to help I intend to check.

Matt

[zeffania]

I gently pulled the cables, I believe they are taped lower down. Got enough to swap them over.

[rawcas]

Thanks guys. Interesting to know that the lights may never have been wired in, any idea why that would be? I'm now second guessing myself because neither of the bulbs looked blown!

 

Think I'll test it at the weekend with a meter before taking the panels apart.

[trundlenut]

To take the side panels off in an estate you need to:

Empty boot

Fold down back seats.

Remove variable floor (if fitted)

Lift boot carpet thing and remove spare wheel.

Remove central plastic panel that goes into the wheel well.

Remove the plastic bag hooks and all other visible bolts.

Remove the piece of the back seat which doesn't fold down (it sort of slides up then lifts off).

Remove bolts thus exposed.

Prise the side panel off.

There are a lot of bolts/screws.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[trundlenut]

Oh and you can't completely remove the panels from the car without disconnecting the two outer rear seatbelts.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[rawcas]

....Why cant it ever be as simple as replacing a couple of bulbs

 

Thanks guys. I'm actually thinking of making up a small extension for the wire with some new plugs so that I don't have this problem in future. I've not explored whether the wire will give any more yet as suggested further up this thread, if it does it might not be an issue.

 

I'm hoping that there is no issue with the boot lock. I checked carefully when I bought the car for washer fluid damage and failure, I couldn't see anything....there are no issues with the locking or the rear lights either, so hopefully it's not that.

 

I'll find out more on Sunday when I finally have time to look at it in the daylight!

[trundlenut]

There is a lip on the rear floor behind the side trim which tends to stop washer fluid getting into the wheel well. It is also far enough under the edge of the trim that you can't slide your hand under the edge of the trim and reach it.

Additionally there is a drain hole immediately behind the rear wheel arch which can allow any leaking fluid to drain out through the back bumper, thus making it very hard to spot. Any fluid ends up running down the back of the wheel arch liner.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Gti Jazz Blue]

Even a very cheap Digital Test Meter is a great tool when investigating this sort of issue.

 

For example if you have a Toolstation close by you can pick one up for less than £6 http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p11867

 

"other tool outlets are available" 

[brad1.8T]

I pulled mine out & pivoted them down & twisted so that half the light went back in the mounting hole.  Changed the bulb, pulled the holder back out a pivoted it back into place.

[rawcas]

Just in case anyone else has had the same issue with the light cabling, I've now found a fix after looking at the wiring run in the daylight on Sunday. The wire for the boot interior lights runs from the main rear light cluster, but there is plenty of spare on the light cluster side. Tracing it back through behind the trim panels I could just about feel that the wire was sandwiched in between two plastic trim items.

 

Working from  the outside I simply ended up loosening what I assume are luggage net hooks just below each of the interior lights....and hey presto, the wire came loose and I was able to pull some spare through. Putting the hook back in place then pinched up the panels again to hold the wire in place so it doesn't simply slip back down.

[rawcas]

Okay...back to square one. Having freed up the wires I'm now not able to get the lights working, I've tried new bulbs, standard and LED and no joy. I know this is a known issue so I'm going to have to go through a load of checks at the weekend.... Frustrating, not something I really thought to check when buying either!

[brad1.8T]

fuse?

time to get the test light & multimeter out.

[rawcas]

fuse?

time to get the test light & multimeter out.

 

Fuses will be checked during lunch hour today....multimeter will be next port of call after that

[rawcas]

Boot lights are not separately fused.  They are controlled by the central electronic module.  You have a switching problem somewhere.  Mike

 

Mike, you mentioned in an earlier post about everything running off the boot lock. I ran through some rough tests last night and the MFD displays correctly when the boot is open so I know that is okay, all the rear lights are working, the alarm and central locking are fine including the separate boot unlock on the remote. Rear washer seems to be working fine and I ran it for a while to see if anything was dripping into the boot lock.

 

Could the boot lock still be faulty and only affect the interior boot lights and none of the other items that are run from it?

[rawcas]

Well it's in for a service tomorrow, I'll ask the garage to have a look at it, if they cant tell me then I'll try and check it all myself at the weekend. Failing that i have a car electrics specialist down the road from me, they will have to take a look.

[jaskat]

Hi , I'm having exactly the same problem both boot lights are not working . New boot lock in place still no lights .

I have power there 11.5 volts when the boot is shut but open the boot and no power to the light holders I'm baffled and annoyed I've paid £40 for a pointless new boot lock can't understand the wiring have checked all connectors and can't see any corroded ones !

HELP HELP HELP

I'm going to put a seperate sensor light in there it's cheaper a Duracell under cabinet light is about £20 a pair on Amazon

[rawcas]

Hi , I'm having exactly the same problem both boot lights are not working . New boot lock in place still no lights .

I have power there 11.5 volts when the boot is shut but open the boot and no power to the light holders I'm baffled and annoyed I've paid £40 for a pointless new boot lock can't understand the wiring have checked all connectors and can't see any corroded ones !

HELP HELP HELP

I'm going to put a seperate sensor light in there it's cheaper a Duracell under cabinet light is about £20 a pair on Amazon

 

This is exactly what I am worried about. I'll be getting the multimeter on it at the weekend before looking to replace the lock, hopefully that will be able to tell me where in the line the fault originates. At the end of the day it's not stopping the car from functioning but I am still amazed that with the technology packed into these cars, even at 8 years old as mine is, that something like this can be such a problem.

I've got to get an airbag switch replaced in mine (yet another gremlin, but this one I knew about) so if all else fails it will go to the car electrics place to check the boot lights at the same time.

[jaskat]

Like you say its not a major problem just an irritating one 

I've stuck with my one from amazon.

I've just serviced both my occty and fabia vrs and now have an exhaust light on after swapping the spark plugs ? if its not one thing its something else !

[CSC24UK]

I had the same issue recently and ended up pulling part of the interior trim away next to the light as its held in with a spring clip. Just enough to get two fingers behind to hold the clip whilst reconnecting the bulb holder from the front.