Interior light switch

[Woo7dy]

Hi all,

Unfortunately I have broken the switch for my interior light in my Octy Mk one. It is the one where you have three options (off, on and on when the door is open!) I must be stronger than I think as it seemed to disintegrate when I tried to move it into the on position the other day and it snapped off falling into my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Cheers

Edited 17 August, 2010 by Woo7dy

[Oet]

did the same to mine, prob is its so fiddly and delicate that i couldnt repair mine so i have (for the last 3months) had no auto door lights on function.

I am going to do the "w8" light mod, which can also be done with the supurb light unit for a green led light instead of the red leds on the w8s.

[mbames]

I keep thinking I want to do the w8 mod, but I can't remember the price for the part now :-(

[Oet]

hi mate, dont buy from ebay, i think they sell them for more than the stealer.

Iirc they are about 28 or 35 for the part from dealer, might be worth buying a premade 'retrofit' loom on ebay to save time when fitting.

Remember vw part is red leds

superb is green leds

[mbames]

How much of a loom do I need to fabricate? I assume the green (or red LEDs) are on when the side/head lamps are on, so it is just a case of getting that +ve feed up there?

[Oet]

Yes thats basically right mate,

A helpful guide will explain all (better than i can anyway)!

W8 Install guide (Foxy's original) - uk-mkivs

Enjoy!

[ExAudiSi]

Just to clarify, in the Superb version, the LEDs that shine down onto the console are still red, just the ones in the switches are green.

[Oet]

No as far as i remember its all green including the leds, this is a common mod in the vw scene hence its name the w8 mod, however i found somewhere someone had posted you could do it with the superb light too as it was the same part but with green lighting.

I will do this at some point and post pics, just doing my suspension first.

[ExAudiSi]

No as far as i remember its all green including the leds, this is a common mod in the vw scene hence its name the w8 mod, however i found somewhere someone had posted you could do it with the superb light too as it was the same part but with green lighting.

I will do this at some point and post pics, just doing my suspension first.

I've got the Superb one in my Octavia and it is definitely only the switches that light up green. I had a Passat W8 light in my Bora and the switches and ambient LEDs were all red.

[Oet]

Cool cheers for putting me straight, i know there are a few people who were selling upgrade led kits (different colour) so maybe it was that i remember seeing.

Do you have a pic of the unit on at night by any chance?

Which did you prefer then the w8 version or the superb version, cant help but think the superb will look more OEM?

[ExAudiSi]

No problem, but no photos I'm afraid.

I went with OEM, red switch illumination for VW, green for Skoda.

Edited 3 August, 2009 by ExAudiSi

[mbames]

I assume the best plan is get a Superb one, and then pop down to Maplin (or similar) and get a couple of green LEDs and replace the LED ones.....? OR do the red LEDs provide better illumination?

[amateurstuntman]

Human eyes are more sensitive to green so for a given energy of light the green will be the most visible.

Red is actually one of the colours we are least sensitive to.

[ExAudiSi]

Human eyes are more sensitive to green so for a given energy of light the green will be the most visible.

Red is actually one of the colours we are least sensitive to.

This is probably why red is used because you don't want a bright green light distracting you when you are driving.

I wouldn't change the ambient light LEDs to green for this reason. The red ones give a nice subtle glow down on the centre console.

[mbames]

So best to use a superb one with green switch lighting, but red ambient lighting....

[ExAudiSi]

So best to use a superb one with green switch lighting, but red ambient lighting....

Reckon so

[Oet]

I agree then, standard superb fitting it is.

Did the loom info help mbames, it looks pretty straight forward.

[Gunswick]

Hi all,

Unfortunately I have broken the switch for my interior light in my Octy Mk one. It is the one where you have three options (off, on and on when the door is open!) I must be stronger than I think as it seemed to disintegrate when I tried to move it into the on position the other day and it snapped off falling into my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem? I have tried taking it apart but it looks fu**ed!! Any suggestions....don't really wanna go the garage and pay them fistfulls of cash but fed up of having a dark car!!

Cheers

search my username, i did a thread on this with pictures and an explanation of how to fix it.

[Turbo120Fabian]

Just got myself one of these, P/N's i got are as follows

3B0972706 Plug Housing 9.40+GST

000979131 Contact (2 reqd) 3.96+GST ea

3U09471052EN Superb Interior Lamp in Gray - Non Sunroof model 164.78+GST

Im just going to cut my original loom as i wont be changing it back!

The prices i got are thru a private importer here in New Zealand, the main dealers wanted more and didnt want to help with a good discount.

Not a cheap mod by any means but i drive a few BMW's here at work and the ambiant lighting is great

[mbames]

I have a sunroof, but assumed the unit slid in next to the sunroof control?

What is the contact? Is that the metal contacts which go into the plug?

I assume that with a little care it might be possible to extract the pins from the old plug and insert them into the new plug?

[Oet]

There is a sunroof version and a non sunroof version available iirc

[Turbo120Fabian]

Sunroof version in gray is 3U0947105A2EN, the contacts go into the new plug as they are a different size to the ones in the car already.

Im getting used to ETKA now!

[mbames]

I must seen if I can get ETKA up and running too.....

Thanks for the info, I think my controls are more "cream" coloured?

[ExAudiSi]

Sunroof and non sunroof versions refer to the W8 light in the Passat and may be the same for the Superb, but for the Mk1 Octavia, the non sunroof (cheaper) version is the one that you need. My Octy has a sunroof and the light I fitted is identical in size to the non-sunroof W8 light that I bought for my Bora.

In the Passat, Golf MkIV and Bora, the sunroof version of the interior light goes around the control for the suroof, whereas in our cars this is a separate panel.

[Jamkaw]

My daughter has just broken my switch. Does the fitting come in black? Ive got a black headliner.