bulb out warning light

[davidbird]

Been doing my head in for a month or more ,Normally if it comes on i look round car and replace a failed bulb and hey presto light goes out , This time couldnt find a bulb out but over the month a couple have failed so me got thinking oh it must have been on its way out and possibly causing warning light but no replace bulb and it stays on .If i put full beam on warning light would go out after a few secs returning sometimes if ignition was turned off so had to do same again full beam to get warning light to go out . I cant get warning light to go out now even putting ful beam on . Just today i noticed the high level brake light has 1 segment not lit its an estate car it looks like LED but not sure it is ,can one of the segments being unlit cause warning light and are they just small bulbs it looks awkward to get at.

[TobyMTDI]

I think a bulb blown on the high level brake light probably will cause a bulb out light. As far as I know they're a sealed unit, so will be difficult to replace and require some skill with a soldering iron! 

 

I think the part number is 1Z9945097A

[langers2k]

Get a scan done, it'll tell you which bulb it isn't happy with...

[Anddenton]

I have an led out in the high level brake light and no warning so this might not be the culprit

[davidbird]

is it def LED on an 05 , my mechanic had the snap on computer on car this morning to correct some problem with steering after doing clutch - dont know why it affected steering apart from the fact he removed wishbone to gain access.Sounds like he could have identified the faulty bulb . Just changed my headlight today but replacement has a sidelight out ,took healamp unit out and couldnt fathom how to remove sidelight bulb without doing damage ,the hard to get to bulb holder seems flimsy and i didnt want to force it,

[skomaz]

if it has been going out when you've been using the main beams check for corrosion on the connectors to the main beam bulbs.

 

The car runs a diagnostics check on start up at low voltage to determine if any bulbs are failed, looking for a current within defined parameters.  If the current doesn;t sit within those parameters the bulb failure ligt comes on.  However, if you then use the bulb causing the problem and the system detects a current flow during use at the full 12v then it knows the light is actually functional and the bulb warning goes off.

 

Corrosion on the connectors would be sufficient to cause the initial low voltage start up check to fail.

 

Alternatively have you got 50w HID's fitted in the dipped beam as that can cause the same issue (been there done that) or have you ever had a leak from the rear wash wipe pipe that can again cause corrosion in the rear left area of the boot.

[davidbird]

no HIDs as i know and no known leak on tailgate everything seems bone dry ,Car is due taxi plate soon and i dont want any warning lights showing , everything else works on car even after 215.000 miles and 11 years 2 being as a taxi and the tough life that brings for a car .reversing sensors had not worked for me up untill last week when i had some accident damage repaired and now even they work fine.

[silver1011]

The high level LED brake light on the estate is not monitored by the blown bulb warning system. They are a sealed unit.

 

As mentioned earlier the best thing to do will be to scan the car, there will be a fault code directing you to the exact bulb causing the issue.

 

Considering the age and mileage for the sake of £30 I'd replace all the bulbs for brand new. When swapping them out check and clean the contacts and pay close attention to the wiring checking for faults.

 

Common bulbs to miss are the number plate lights and the W5W bulbs that make up the 'C' shape of the tail/night lights...

 

[UdayP]

I have found that my rear left light cluster is the cause of this.

I have sometimes noticed that the bulb fault light comes up on the dash and after circling the car, nothing!

Then one day I spotted it. Two bulbs, the single filament 3w in the rear cluster were out. I gave the cluster a tap and they came on.

I have not had the time to identify the cause thoroughly. I have already removed the bulbs, given it a blow of air cleaner, put them back tightly, but sometimes they go out.

The wires for these do not go into the main loom for the rest if the bulbs which can be removed from the large holder.

I seem to think either the contacts are dirty, the filaments are bad, the wire to contact is loose, the contact to bulb is loose.

Either way, I will probably get my needle nose pliers out to give them a small squeeze and change the bulbs.

[hrvrs]

Common bulbs to miss are the number plate lights and the W5W bulbs that make up the 'C' shape of the tail/night lights...

 

To clarify, these should be W3W bulbs as per the photo you posted

 

Not sure how much brighter 5W bulbs would be...

[davidbird]

all abit confusing it seems as though you can put a bulb that works ok but may be wrong wattage

[hrvrs]

all abit confusing it seems as though you can put a bulb that works ok but may be wrong wattage

 

Not an uncommon situation, if every wattage had to have its own fitting there'd be a lot of different fittings

[silver1011]

Good call, they are of course W3W.

 

I did try W5W bulbs on my 2007 vRS hatch, they worked but didn't last long and soon blackened and blew.

[UdayP]

Interesting that they blackened and blew out. I would have expected them to just be duller.

[davidbird]

i wonder if thats my problem having 5w where 3w are supposed to be.

[hrvrs]

i wonder if thats my problem having 5w where 3w are supposed to be.

 

A higher wattage bulb will draw a higher current, it can upset some bulb monitoring systems...

[davidbird]

i seem to remember on attempting to change bulbs that the rears have both capped and capless is it the capless that should be 3watt or the globe shaped bulbs

[hrvrs]

i seem to remember on attempting to change bulbs that the rears have both capped and capless is it the capless that should be 3watt or the globe shaped bulbs

 

It's the pair of wedge bulbs that illuminate the outside centre section of the red "C" shaped light...

[davidbird]

found another post that says the w3w bulbs dont affect the bulb out system so if thats correct i need to look elsewhere

[langers2k]

found another post that says the w3w bulbs dont affect the bulb out system so if thats correct i need to look elsewhere

 

It certainly does on the FL, not sure about the pre-FL.

 

Anyway, rather than guessing find someone local with VCDS, it will tell you exactly where to look.

 

There are a few local VCDS owners in the Manchester area:

- http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224376-vcds-owners-map/

- http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/262215-list-of-vcds-owners-previously-known-as-vag-com/

[Anddenton]

Drop me a pm, I work in Chadderton and have full VCDS