Dipped beam not working

[digital-des]

Hi can anyone say whether the Fabia Mk2 5J  has a relay for the dipped headlamps?

I have full beam but no dipped, checked/ renewed both bulbs , checked fuses nothing there.   
iI assume i will have to check the steering column stalk sooner or later but does anyone have any other simple likely causes / solutions please ? 

[sepulchrave]

It's more like to be the rotary switch than the stalk.

[digital-des]

Ok , I suppose I had ruled this out because the main beam is working fine , so are the sidelights.  Any how I’ll check it out next then. 

Thanks

[chimaera]

16 hours ago, digital-des said:

Ok , I suppose I had ruled this out because the main beam is working fine , so are the sidelights.  Any how I’ll check it out next then. 

Thanks

You could have bad contacts on the dipped beam position. Have you checked for continuity across the terminals in that switch?

[digital-des]

Hi thanks for your response.  To date I have only tried spraying elec contact cleaner into the base of the stalk.  
unfortunately when it comes to electrics I have to restrict myself to my very basic skill level , I don’t feel confident in dismantling switches at steering column so I will have to let the experts do that !   

[chimaera]

The dipped beams are controlled by the rotary switch on the dashboard to the right of the steering column (assuming your car is RHD). That's the one you need to concentrate on first.

[digital-des]

Hi sorry just to clarify , do you mean the small dial that raises/ lowers headlamp beam , or the main light switch on far right ?    As we have another 5J Fabia I can swap switches over to test or eliminate . Thanks

Edited 20 February, 2022 by digital-des

[sepulchrave]

The main rotary light switch, NOT the stalk or the load levelling dial.

 

Simply rotate the switch anticlockwise and pull it out.

 

Just to be doubly extra clear, the stalk ONLY switches main beam on and off, it has nothing to do with dipped beam.

Edited 20 February, 2022 by sepulchrave

[nige8021]

36 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Just to be doubly extra clear, the stalk ONLY switches main beam on and off, it has nothing to do with dipped beam.

 

The wiring diagrams on ElsaWin disagree with that statement,  the supply comes out of the rotary light switch on pin 4 (White/Black wire) to the Hi/Lo switch on pin 41 then out on pin 40 (Yellow/Green wire) then onto to the fuses 57 & 58 and finally to the headlights 

[digital-des]

Ok thanks all , I will update the post when I find out what it was.

[sepulchrave]

53 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

 

The wiring diagrams on ElsaWin disagree with that statement,  the supply comes out of the rotary light switch on pin 4 (White/Black wire) to the Hi/Lo switch on pin 41 then out on pin 40 (Yellow/Green wire) then onto to the fuses 57 & 58 and finally to the headlights 

 

So how does main beam flash work when the lights are off then?

 

Voodoo magic?

[J.R.]

20 hours ago, digital-des said:

does anyone have any other simple likely causes / solutions please ? 

 

I am surprised that everyone is looking for (and disagreeing over) a complex solution, mention has been made of fuses 57 and 58, the one for dipped beam should be the first thing to check.

[sepulchrave]

3 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

I am surprised that everyone is looking for (and disagreeing over) a complex solution, mention has been made of fuses 57 and 58, the one for dipped beam should be the first thing to check.

 

Because the OP said he'd already checked the fuses. It's always the bloody switch on VAG cars, that's why.

[J.R.]

Sorry, I missed that despite reading it again.

 

He should try disconnecting the battery 🤣

Edited 20 February, 2022 by J.R.

[Breezy_Pete]

7 minutes ago, J.R. said:

mention has been made of fuses 57 and 58, the one for dipped beam

They are both for dipped beam, 57 left, 58 right. Unlikely that both blew.

[nige8021]

22 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

So how does main beam flash work when the lights are off then?

 

Voodoo magic?

 

No Voodoo involved !!  The main beam flash has a separate 30 (Live battery supply) on pin 38 of the Hi/Lo switch and uses different contacts from the normal Hi/Lo switching that get the supply from the main light switch 

[nige8021]

@sepulchrave from the wiring diagrams

The other arrow is the output to the Main beam fuses 

 

[sepulchrave]

2 hours ago, nige8021 said:

 

No Voodoo involved !!  The main beam flash has a separate 30 (Live battery supply) on pin 38 of the Hi/Lo switch and uses different contacts from the normal Hi/Lo switching that get the supply from the main light switch 

 

Are you taking the ****?

 

Is that not what I said, main beam is independent of the dipped beam circuit?

 

Am I taking crazy pills here, the stalk makes NO difference to dipped beam function.

[nige8021]

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Are you taking the ****?

 

Is that not what I said, main beam is independent of the dipped beam circuit?

 

Am I taking crazy pills here, the stalk makes NO difference to dipped beam function.

Obviously you can't read a circuit diagram, if you could you would see there are two contacts inside the stalk switch that are the current path to the dipped beam fuses, therefore the stalk switch does have an effect on the operation of the dip beam circuit  and the main beam normal circuit is powered by the same source as the dipped beam it is only the main beam flash that is separate from the Hi/Lo beam function of the stalk switch 

[sepulchrave]

4 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

Obviously you can't read a circuit diagram, if you could you would see there are two contacts inside the stalk switch that are the current path to the dipped beam fuses, therefore the stalk switch does have an effect on the operation of the dip beam circuit  and the main beam normal circuit is powered by the same source as the dipped beam it is only the main beam flash that is separate from the Hi/Lo beam function of the stalk switch 

 

No I get that Nige, obviously you don't want main beam if dipped beam is switched off but the OP has already said main beam works so you're putting the cart in front of the horse.

[nige8021]

If the main beam is working it blows your theory that it's the main light switch out of the water as it's the same supply that feeds both dip & main only the "Flash" uses a different supply and from experience of many VAG models the contacts in the stalk switch are the most common fail item 

[sepulchrave]

33 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

If the main beam is working it blows your theory that it's the main light switch out of the water as it's the same supply that feeds both dip & main only the "Flash" uses a different supply and from experience of many VAG models the contacts in the stalk switch are the most common fail item 

 

There will be two separate poles, one for dipped beam and one for main beam. The pole for dipped is probably dead whereas the pole for main will work just fine.

 

Obviously.

[nige8021]

7 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

There will be two separate poles, one for dipped beam and one for main beam. The pole for dipped is probably dead whereas the pole for main will work just fine.

 

Obviously.

So it can't be the main light switch as it supplies the feed for both dip & normal main beam, there are two poles one for dip/main and the other for main "flash" 

[sepulchrave]

32 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

So it can't be the main light switch as it supplies the feed for both dip & normal main beam, there are two poles one for dip/main and the other for main "flash" 

 

Ok, we shall see, OP's gonna swap out the switch from his other car.

 

I don't care about being right or wrong, I'm just trying to help someone out.

[nige8021]

The above is the normal current flow for the dipped beam

 

 

The above is the normal current flow for the Main beam (note the same supply as the dipped beam)

 

 

The above is when the pull for "Flash" the Blue line is for the Main beam & the Green line is if the main light switch is selected to headlights there is also a supply then to the dipped beam as well as the separate supply to the main beam