Hi,

Does anyone how easy it is to change the headlights, I am thinking of buying a new yeti but as I live and work in germany I will need to change the headlight for the european type, just wanted to know is it a job I could do myself or is it a job for the Sealers,

I currently own an Octavia and these lights can be changed in 10mins, is it the same for the yeti?.

also the rear fog light will need to be changed to the other side, can that be done.

Thanks in advance for any replies

Headlights covered here http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/163444-headlight-adapters-on-yeti/page__hl__%20yeti%20%20headlights

Fog lights http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/251219-rear-fog-lights/page__hl__+fog%20+lights#entry2949886

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/207484-rear-foglight-fitment-on-both-sides/page__hl__%20fog%20%20lights

Regards

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the link but I need the swap them for european lights, thats why I was asking if its an easy job or a job for the dealer.

From memory, I don't think it will be that easy because you will have to remove the front bumper first.

The Octavia is undo a nut and slide a lever and out pops the light unit from memory.

If you specify the xenon lights then you could use travel mode, makes the beam flat, just tick a box on the maxidot. (even easier than changing the Octy lights!!!)

To change the light unit on the Yeti is a big job.....grille, bumper etc etc. as the fog light and headlight are all one unit.

Changing the indicator bulbs is just as difficult.....

Edited 2 October, 201213 yr by rockhopper

The Octavia is undo a nut and slide a lever and out pops the light unit from memory.

If you specify the xenon lights then you could use travel mode, makes the beam flat, just tick a box on the maxidot. (even easier than changing the Octy lights!!!)

To change the light unit on the Yeti is a big job.....grille, bumper etc etc. as the fog light and headlight are all one unit.

Changing the indicator bulbs is just as difficult.....

As the OP is living there I think the units need changing for test purposes, no? I dislike the restricted ability of the tourist function so would hate to have the lighting that limited permanently. As a convenience feature though for a trip I think its great. Theres no pleaseing some people I guess!

I am in same situation as OP. quoted £800 to replace with euro spec lights. No choice other than get a quote from local dealer in Germany. Can't use maxi dot version as against regs grrrrr. The fog light is a simple wire feed from the right hand fog light so both light up. Satisfies BFG regs.

There is a pair of German spec Yeti headlights on the bay for £79.

The fog light is a simple wire feed from the right hand fog light so both light up. Satisfies BFG regs.

"It might satisfy BFG regs" But it will burn out your rear O/S control module!!!!

Proceed at your own risk. Skoda are very unlikely to accept any defects caused by this VERY ill advised modification. The modern breed of motor vehicle is a very different animal to those of only a year or two ago, when such a modification would have been OK. Please take my word for it - you WILL burn out the transistors and /or the circuit board of the control module resulting in a very expensive repair.

.............Tony

And the solution? Current canbus wired wired VW been absolutely fine.

And the solution? Current canbus wired wired VW been absolutely fine.

Hello Cody.

With the configuration that you propose, the Can-Bus will not report a problem. It is looking for a power drop, such as a blown bulb. It is not looking for an overload, which is effectively what you would impose on the O/S control module. Unfortunately your “answer” to the problem will subject the circuit to double its designed load. Clearly inadvisable!

Modern electronics using transistors etc are designed to a specification which will pass a pre-determined current and dissipate or “sink” a given amount of heat (from the transistors etc). Not much reserve capacity is built in, as the manufacturer knows precisely what powers are involved and the necessity to keep size and costs to a reasonable level. Hence, UK Spec Yetis do not [other countries specs apparently do] have the N/S fog lamp connected to the rear lamp housing – it keeps costs down.

I have observed you posting this solution elsewhere on the Briskoda site and felt [in the spirit of friendship and the wish to help] that I should reply, even though several others had tried to point you in other directions. Their suggestions seem to have been rejected in favour of your own solution. I will try and give you a breakdown of some possible questions and answers that I have been asked on this matter without being too long winded, in the hope that I can dissuade you from this unwise course of action.

Q1

Q. – Will it work?

A. – Probably, for a short period. But the additional load will eventually destroy the transistor and quite possibly burn out the PCB tracks of the control module – Nasty and very expensive. Fog lights are designed to be on for possibly several hours at a time and not just whilst you flip them on to test them for a few minutes. Try touching / holding a 21 watt bulb and you will see just how much additional heat you are subjecting the circuit to – BUT be warned you will burn your fingers if you do!

Q2

Q. – Will the fuse not protect the control module from this overload.

A. – No! A fuse has a fairly large tolerance and would unlikely likely to blow under these circumstances. Even if it did blow, it would take out all the rear O/S lamps and be doing so at a time when you need that rear light system the most!

Q3

Q. – Wire the N/S fog light into the N/S control module.

A. – I would certainly not recommend this as I am not even sure that the N/S control Module has this facility. It could quite conceivably be a different variant to the O/S one and would require a rear end strip-out to get to the module and then be activated by VCDS

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS: (some provided by other Briskoda members)

1 – Cut the wire to the O/S fog lamp and wire the N/S fog in via a switch that toggles the supply between N/S and O/S – Yes that would work if you are able to wire the switch correctly and locate it in a convenient place.

2 – Cut the supply to the O/S fog lamp and wire it straight to the N/S – OK but only one bulb will be working.

3 – Cross-wire the two lights as your suggestion but remove one bulb, leaving in only the one you want to operate. An OK suggestion but will give you problems if someone ever fits the second bulb. For example, at a routine service / MOT etc.

4 – If you have had the car equipped for towing it is possible that an auxiliary electronic module has been fitted that will have an output that could be wired to the N/S fog lamp. This will give you both N/S & O/S lamps under normal non towing conditions. However this Lamp will be on if you are towing and elect to have the rear fog lights on with the resulting glare in your rear window and mirror.

5 - My own personal solution was to design and make a transistorised relay circuit that takes only 1ma [milliamp] from the O/S lamp to trigger a relay that supplies the N/S lamp. This only takes 1 /1600ths of the power from the Can-Bus system that your solution would and is non detectable by the Can-Bus or module. I take its power from a non Can-Bus source and this therefore isolates the control module from the supply. In other words the car does not even know the N/S fog is on. Using a standard relay would possibly trigger some anomaly in the working of the module as has been found by other adopters of similar solutions – documented in other posts elsewhere on Briskoda.

4 & 5 above are the only ones where you can have both lights illuminated safely.

I have successfully used this system [5 above] now for over 12 months and on extended runs without any problems whatsoever. The cost was minimal [under a fiver] and gives me both rear fogs which I prefer.

Should anyone need help with the circuit [diagrams / construction etc] just let me know and I will do what I can. I have been intending to post my own solution in the “Technical Guides” section for some time now, but have had a very busy year moving home etc. I will fulfil my promise [to others] to do that in the near future.

Hope this helps....................Tony

Tony, excellent and thorough response, most of which went over my head, however I would take slight issue with one point:

4 – If you have had the car equipped for towing it is possible that an auxiliary electronic module has been fitted that will have an output that could be wired to the N/S fog lamp. This will give you both N/S & O/S lamps under normal non towing conditions. However this Lamp will be on if you are towing and elect to have the rear fog lights on with the resulting glare in your rear window and mirror.

When the Yeti is "equipped" for towing there is no auxillary electronic module fitted to the lighting circuit. All that is done is the ECU is reprogrammed to accept the additional load the trailer electronics requires., So for example with the rear fogs on the car, these automatically turn off when the towing plug/s are connected, and only the trailer rear fogs will light.

Tony, excellent and thorough response, most of which went over my head, however I would take slight issue with one point:

4 – If you have had the car equipped for towing it is possible that an auxiliary electronic module has been fitted that will have an output that could be wired to the N/S fog lamp. This will give you both N/S & O/S lamps under normal non towing conditions. However this Lamp will be on if you are towing and elect to have the rear fog lights on with the resulting glare in your rear window and mirror.

When the Yeti is "equipped" for towing there is no auxillary electronic module fitted to the lighting circuit. All that is done is the ECU is reprogrammed to accept the additional load the trailer electronics requires., So for example with the rear fogs on the car, these automatically turn off when the towing plug/s are connected, and only the trailer rear fogs will light.

Good Evening Graham.

Having read the installation manual [Erich Jaeger] for the Skoda approved system for towing. An additional small module is installed and connects to the vehicle wiring behind the rear N/S bulkhead adjacent to the rear wheel arch to provide rear light functions via the 7/13 pin plug and the Can-Bus. I believe it is required even if the car is factory "Tow-bar Prepared"

You are, of course, quite correct for normal towing. But the suggestion was to vary from this scenario by incorporating this module to power up the cars rear N/S fog lamp.

It has been suggested [elsewhere] to use this "Trailer/Caravan module" [my terminology, but shown as item No: 12 on the instructions] that provides the additional circuits when Trailers/Caravans are connected, to power the Cars rear N/S fog lamp. Clearly, if you were to do this whilst towing, and turn on the rear fog lamps, the O/S lamp would not operate on the car but power would be transfered to the rear on the trailer and so would illuminate the rear fog lights of the towed unit. However the suggestion was that you can piggy back off this unit, and other non Skoda installations to provide power to the N/S fog lamp on the car - this of course would turn on the rear N/S fog lamp on the car. Hence my statement "However this [the N/S] Lamp will be on if you are towing and elect to have the rear fog lights on with the resulting glare in your rear window and mirror."

Basically I am saying that the car is aware of the trailer and turns off its own [single] rear O/S fog lamp and turns on the trailer - but having connected the trailer rear fog circuit to the cars N/S fog lamp. It will turn that one on.

Sorry if it sounds complicated - put it down to a lousy cold and it is long past my bed time.

Anyone who needs a copy of the instructions for any reason just let me know and I will email a PDF copy

Have a good [quiet] evening Graham.............Nos Da....................Tony

Edited 8 October, 201213 yr by Great Yeti

Well you learn something new every day.

Tony many thanks for the comprehensive reply which as something as a mechanical and electrical biff went right over my head. However, did work out the bit that read expensive. The simple solution given that the car will be traded in after a year for another one will be remove the o/s bulb and then replace in a year and remove wire to go back to being UK spec. Until we eventually get one we are keeping and at that point it can be left in UK spec.

For the record, I didn't ignore the other 'steers' deliberately just never picked the significance of the comments and as I have limited time on the Internet for various reasons, don't often have time to do anything other than scan postings etc.

Again thanks for the reply, and the post taken entirely in the spirit it was meant

Oh, and I'll stop talking bo@@cks on this!

Hi Cody and thank you. :clap:

Glad it helped!.............Best of luck with the Mod.

Tony