When I press the unlock button, none of the lights - headlights, interior lights etc are lighting up. They don't even come on when I open the door. It usually happens when left for a period of more than a few hours. If I get in, switch on and start then engine, the headlights (on auto) come on. If I then switch off, lock up and then unlock again, the leaving home function then works fine, and continues to do so until left overnight again.

 

Anyone else had this problem? Any ideas please? 

I've had this before on the same age and spec superb as you. If I remember right, I reset to factory conditions in the maxi dot then re-enabled all the bits I like, like the coming/leaving home lights.

Interestingly, I've noticed that the leaving home lights sometimes don't come on. I re lock the car with the remote, and then unlock again and all is well. This is rare though. Maybe a glitch in the programming?

I've certainly noticed that the lights don't always come on when unlocking in the dark.  It hasn't bothered me enough to post - more a curiosity about why.

I've had this before on the same age and spec superb as you. If I remember right, I reset to factory conditions in the maxi dot then re-enabled all the bits I like, like the coming/leaving home lights.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

 

 

I've certainly noticed that the lights don't always come on when unlocking in the dark.  It hasn't bothered me enough to post - more a curiosity about why.

It's not just the headlights. The interior lights don't come on either. Not even when you open the door. I've made sure the switch is in the correct position. 

Time for a scan with VCDS.

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Time for a scan with VCDS.

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Yeah. Unfortunately I don't know anyone and Awesome charge £60 an hour for diagnostics. I was hoping it was a recognised, easy to remedy issue. 

Yeah. Unfortunately I don't know anyone and Awesome charge £60 an hour for diagnostics. I was hoping it was a recognised, easy to remedy issue.

Look at the list in the VCDS/diagnostics forum and see if there is anyone near you, I'm sure there will be someone.

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Look at the list in the VCDS/diagnostics forum and see if there is anyone near you, I'm sure there will be someone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Thanks for that. There are a couple but none have been active for months. If a factory reset doesn't fix it I'll drop them an email. 

Just check if the lights will come on, when You press open button on remote again.

Just check if the lights will come on, when You press open button on remote again.

Yeah, they don't come on until the lights have already been on, ie, after I've switched on. 

Oh, I forgot to mention. A couple of times when I've started up (after the leaving home lights haven't worked) there has been 3 high pitched warning beeps, one after the other, which I haven't heard before. 

 

Linked? 

Did the car start ok when you got the beeps? How old is the car and is it the original battery.

Definitely need to get the car scanned for faults rather than guessing as to the cause.

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What sort of mileage are you doing in the car?

 

It sounds like battery charge is dropping, the car will then turn off no essential luxuries (interior lights etc) to make sure the car starts.

Sorry for the late reply - I've been away for a couple of days.

 

@trundlenut - It started fine. The car is 4 years old and nearly 60k miles. New battery about 4 months ago. Car was scanned at Awesome GTI for another (sorted) engine light problem a month ago, and they never mentioned anything that could be related to this problem. Turned out it was the thrust boost pressure sensor (? something like that.)

 

@Gizmo - you could be onto something there. I think I have the Columbus battery drain problem. I can hear hard drive activity for ages after switching off, which stops when I remove the radio fuse. I only realised It was draining my battery after the local car shop said my battery was goosed, and I had a new one fitted. The only thing is, if I start car and then switch off after the lights have come on, then restart - the leaving home lights work again although it's only been running for a few seconds, not enough to increase the charge enough to stop it doing what you suggest I wouldn't have thought?

 

Is the 3 beeps a recognised code for battery/charge problems? 

Edited 29 December, 201312 yr by deek72

3 beeps does indicate a power supply problem, my car did it when I turned off the ignition together with the ESP and steering lights coming on,a new battery sorted it though.

 

Low batteries tend to through up a random assortment of fault codes sometimes.  I would have expected that at least one code would have been logged but these things can be a bit random.

 

Is the Columbus a retrofit?  If so it looks like a new CAN gateway may be needed or some tweaked firmware.

No, it's original fit. Like I said though, it's a new battery, although I suppose the Columbus drain issue could just be starting to affect it again. I might take it back to Awesome, although at £60 per hour it's not cheap, especially when all these types of fault and codes seem to be so vague and inconclusive. 

 

Thanks for your input anyway. 

You shouldn't have the battery drain issue if it is original fit.

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@Gizmo - you could be onto something there. I think I have the Columbus battery drain problem. I can hear hard drive activity for ages after switching off, which stops when I remove the radio fuse. I only realised It was draining my battery after the local car shop said my battery was goosed, and I had a new one fitted. The only thing is, if I start car and then switch off after the lights have come on, then restart - the leaving home lights work again although it's only been running for a few seconds, not enough to increase the charge enough to stop it doing what you suggest I wouldn't have thought?

 

Hi,

Have you carried out any firmware updates on the Columbus unit as there is an issue that does cause a battery drain issue with certain units / firmware combinations? Just a thought

Regards,

Kevin.

Hi,

Have you carried out any firmware updates on the Columbus unit as there is an issue that does cause a battery drain issue with certain units / firmware combinations? Just a thought

Regards,

Kevin.

 

 

I did have something done to enable the full postcode. Would that have to be a firmware update? It only had 4 digit input originally but it was about 3 years ago and can't really remember tbh.

Edited 30 December, 201312 yr by deek72

I did have something done to enable the full postcode. Would that have to be a firmware update? It only had 4 digit input originally but it was about 3 years ago and can't really remember tbh.

 

Yes, a firmware update did give full post code.

 

If it was three years ago the problem may not be the gateway battery drain issue but it might be worth a look here for some info - Fix for old CAN gateway.

Yes, a firmware update did give full post code.

 

If it was three years ago the problem may not be the gateway battery drain issue but it might be worth a look here for some info - Fix for old CAN gateway.

Haha, I'm getting precisely nowhere, fast I d/l the fix but wanted to check that my FW was >2660. I can't access the setup menu to check without VCDS

Your firmware is above 2660 or you wouldn't have the 7 digit postcode searching....

Your firmware is above 2660 or you wouldn't have the 7 digit postcode searching....

Ah, right. Thanks for that. I'll give it a go then. Is it just a matter of burning the iso and then 'playing' it? 

 

I left the battery on charge overnight last night and lo and behold, this morning it was fine. All lights, interior, arriving/leaving home working perfectly. So it definitely looks like a battery issue, which then naturally points to the Columbus drain problem. Hopefully if I can get that fixed it will end my problems. 

Yes use the battery drain iso in "creating a disc from an image" using appropriate software (eg imgburn). Burn it to a good quality cd and stick it in....

Yes use the battery drain iso in "creating a disc from an image" using appropriate software (eg imgburn). Burn it to a good quality cd and stick it in....

Thanks. I was thinking about updating my firmware while I'm at it to 4024 here http://www.my-gti.com/3354/volkswagen-rns-510-firmware-upgrade-to-version-4020-4024-4026-4028

 How do I know which revision mine is, A, B, C, D...etc? And would I do the battery drain fix before or after updating the firmware? 

 

Edit: Just thinking about this. Is there any point to updating the firmware when it does all I want? It has the 7 digit postcode, the speed limit on the maps etc. I don't really need much more as I don't use it very often. I'm more concerned with the battery drain issue being fixed. Incidentally, this is all very confusing for me, but is it updating the firmware in the first place that caused the battery drain issue?

 

Finally , is this the correct file that I need? http://dfiles.eu/files/a523wbwxf

Edited 3 January, 201412 yr by deek72