Bulb failure reports wrong side

[No Waiting]

I've had two instances recently of my maxidot reporting the wrong bulb had failed -

Firstly it reported the right hand trailer indicator, when it fact it was the left hand one that needed replacing

And yesterday, I was told that the left hand reversing light had failed, when in fact it was the right hand one!

Has anyone else noted this behaviour?

[andrehj]

Regarding the trailer: This might be a wiring error in the tow-bar wiring or the trailer itself. If you have VCDS you can do an output test and check the working of each individual output of the trailer electrics (at least if you have the original Skoda tow-bar electrics module, I don't know if this also works with aftermarket electrics).

Regarding your reversing lights: I haven't got a clue...

[rabmurray121]

Is possible that the towbar / trailer wires have been crossed over during fitting, as your maxdot was right that the indicator had a fault only that it was the wrong side

[No Waiting]

If the towbar wiring is wrong, that means that my caravan, 2 trailers, boat trailer, and previous two cars are all wired incorrectly, as are others who tow the boat also! So I think I can rule that out

But thanks for the thought guys.

[shoes4pigeons]

Hi Sorry to drag up an old thread,

did you get anywhere with this? i am having a similar problem with my reverse lights, the MFD is saying its the left bulb that is blown when its the right that is not working and vice versa. when i check thebulbs on a bulb tester they are working fine. if i put that bulb back in the cluster it came from it still wont work, however if switch the 2 bulbs over they both work! if this was happening once a year i wouldn't mind but its happening almost once a week!

thanks in advance

[Danny 57]

I experience this just after I got the car and only in hot weather (when the sun was on the rear of the car) and only on the boot lid lights (outer lights are LED). The dealer could not find why it happened although it did happen to them so they ended up replacing the inner light glusters which seems to have solved it some 8 months later.

My theory was that as the sun heated up the rear of the car the fittings expanded/moved and broke contact.

[CombatWombat]

Whilst it doesn't explain the MFD calling the wrong bulb out, it is worth noting that two of the factory installed rear 18w bulbs in my Superb have failed in an unusual manner.

The filament detaches internally as the bulb heats up with use, only to spark/weld itself shut a few moments later, when they work correctly for hours. But by then the bulb failure is logged and is not reset until the ignition is turned off/on.

For me, this went on for days. I eventually saw this happen with the bulb in my hand. The new bulbs supplied from dealer were a different brand (Hitachi £4 IIRC), the problem has never returned in the 10 months since these were fitted. I tried reseating the bulb, applying WD40 etc. before replacement, but to no benefit.

HTH, Mike.

[Mart Vrs]

I've had this once with the reversing lights after repairing the broken wiring loom in my twin door, I put it down to my incompetence joining two wires incorrectly, but perhaps not...

[shoes4pigeons]

I was wondering if it was the type of bulb I was using, maybe the resistance on the generic bulbs I had got from my local motor factors is lower than the Skoda bulbs?? but again that would not explain the wrong side being reported.

Mart Vrs, this has only started happening to my car since the lower section of the twindoor has been replaced after I was rear ended in February, I assumed that the repair centre had wired the boot incorrect but they have stripped it down and assured me that the loom can only be plugged in one way and that its all fine. the repair centre currently have my car and they are investigating it as I type this. I came on here to see if anyone has had the same problem and if there was a known repair for it, as this has been going on since February!!

as it stands I think maybe the reverse bulbs need to be from a skoda dealer to stop the reports of a faulty bulb, but as for the wrong bulb being reported I have no idea?????

thanks for your input guys I will let you know what the problem is, if I ever find out.

Edited 18 June, 2013 by shoes4pigeons

[shoes4pigeons]

just a thought,

as I don't have my car here ATM, dose anyone know if the light cluster has a direct earth feed (in the loom) or dose it take it from the boot lid? just a thought, maybe that could be part of it?

[shoes4pigeons]

Hi Guys/Girls.

 

just got my car back from Skoda regarding the light fault. this is just a quick post as i don't have much time, if anyone needs a more detailed explanation i will be happy to do so.

 

long story short, its broken wires between the boot lid and the glass in the twin door. see piccys below

 

[Supurbia]

I had the same thing with an Omega, the loom to the rear door had micro wires in it and either the constant open and shuting broke them or someone accidently hoofed the loom getting out,

 

With my Superb 1 the maxidot used to do funny things also, sometimes I'd get the outline of a Sharan rather than the Superb.

Edited 10 July, 2013 by Supurbia

[shoes4pigeons]

its just frustrating, that the garage that has carried out the repairs had suppose to of replaced the loom and when it has been back in 4 times for the same fault they claimed to have stripped the boot and checked all the wires!! but i think i can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel now!!

 

as for the Sharan on your maxidot supurbia, i have no idea?? have you tried re tuning it to see if you can get BBC1?

[Supurbia]

as for the Sharan on your maxidot supurbia, i have no idea?? have you tried re tuning it to see if you can get BBC1?

 

 

 

I sold it 3 years ago so it's someone elses problem now, wish I hadn't tbh I could've held that one for another couple of years and even driving 250 miles to get the replacement Passat (wish I hadn't) I had naggings in my head to blow the deal out and turn around and head home, I went very early morning to arrive 6 ish and avoid traffic and it ate the motorways up, it was a tub of a car but a very lovely tub with it.

[markmoran87]

I recently had similar problems with the rear fog light in my '09 Superb Twindoor. It started with a warning that the left rear fog light was out so i replaced the bulb then it said the right rear fog light was out so I took that one out to test it and it was fine, after putting it back in the maxidot then said both left and right rear fog lights were out.

I started remove panels inside the bootlid to trace the wiring back and found that the same wiring loom as mentioned above was broken in a similar way (see the attached photo).

I don't understand how skoda ever thought that this would last, it's a wiring loom that bends back and forth by about 60 degrees over a square metal edge every time you open and close the boot lid!

I am sure that this will happen to many of the Superb II hatchbacks over time just depending on how often you open the boot.

I have temporarily fixed mine by soldering the broken wires back together but this will not last long. It needs the loom replacing and a strain relief fitted to spread the load over a larger area when it's bent over the metal edge. Unfortunately it looks like it won't be very cheap to repair properly but I think that this should be covered by Skoda even if the cars warranty has expired, it's clearly broken down to poor design.

Does anyone agree or is this really just wear and tear?

[Tech1e]

There is a repair section available from Skoda for the twin door to join into the main harness (there isnt a natural connection point believe it or not, the loom is all one bit).

[jmt]

Looks like I'm having this twindoor harness issue as well in my 2009 sedan: faulty rear fog light bulb from the "wrong" side -message, and the trunk lid buttons quit working. I can only open the smaller lid with a remote.

 

Based on the good pics in this thread it looks that the harness will break around in the hinge area and in order to get access to there you also need to open the "large trunk-lid" (twindoor?). I removed the smaller lid inner trim and all cabling seemed good there.

 

My question is: How can you open the whole twindoor if the twindoor buttons are not working? Is there some kind of "service opening procedure"?

[Mart Vrs]

Hi, sorry I didn't get around to posting pics of my experience fixing this fault, I will do it in the next couple of days. As for the wrong light messages the plugs do only fit one way but I assumed I had incorrectly joined the two brown earth wires also my wiring fix is only temporary and I'll buy the loom repair section next time there's a fault.

[slywacht]

Hi,

 

I have the same problem. It was showing info to check the "wrong" reversing bulb...

I have got it out but the fixing caused a couple of wires too short :-( Enough to say that my soldering skills are far from good...

Does anybody have an update if there is a fixing loom available? Is there an expert in East mids willing to fix mine? I have used in-line crimp connectors but I don't think this will last :-(

 

Cheers