Rear high brake light stays on

[kabooooooom]

Hello I noticed tonight that when I locked the car the third/high rear brake light stayed on. No amount of turning the lights on / off, ignition on / off, brake pedal pressing , locking/ unlocking has resolved the issue. When I lock the car the light dims a little so I'm hoping the battery wont drain. And when I open the boot the light goes out. Having done a bit of a surf online seems it may be a leaking washer pipe. Any other ideas please or instructions on how I could fix this myself (wouldn't really know where to start)?

[KevTrem]

I would start with checking your earths for the rear lights, I seem to remember Golf's had an issue with a bad earth putting high level brake light on. Also check your bulbs in the rear clusters have a good connection.
If you can check the wires that go from the car to the boot as one or more of those could be failing.

[UMEL]

This topic came up a while back.

3rd Brake light, Constantly lit up.

This was the resolution...

Well after much more messing around we discovered that the cause of the issue is the Volkswagen Connect dongle that vw connected up after a recent service. Maybe a nice freebie but money spent by my dad and lots of time lost by us both.

[kabooooooom]

No VW connect dongle used on mine, no water leaking either, no fault codes and no boot catch out of alignment. Been with my local VW independent garage for nearly two weeks now and they can't find anything wrong. Looks like an expensive trip to main dealer beckons

[UMEL]

Well, it's still the 'open boot and light goes out' forces me to think hinge loom.

Googling reveals how common this problem is across the entire motor vehicle range.

It can be the switch (brake pedal) third light connector(s) in the loom, hinge wiring and even a warning that another brake light bulb is faulty (even when it works...)

[kabooooooom]

Thanks for replying and I should have updated. Car still at garage and I'm going to call tonight but I'm guessing they can't solve it. The high level brake light is no longer staying on but the darned alarm keeps going off every now and then.

[aduffer]

Hi guys, I'm having exactly the same issues with my 14 plate Bluemotion estate.
Symptoms - occasional boot open warning while driving. Upper break light permanently on goes off when boot opened and LEDs dim when car is locked.
Reading around seems leaking rear washer pipe may be to blame. With all the salt on the road at the mo washer has been having quite some use so it makes sense.
Can anyone suggest where I start looking for the leak. In tail gate or boot?

All help gratefully received!

[kabooooooom]

Mine was broken pipe in the end and new wiring loom needed too
Luckily local independent charged less than £300 for the parts and several hours labour

[UMEL]

I noticed my leak when looking in the rear view mirror. I could see the water dripping from the roof lining. Local indy quoted me £60 + VAT. So it was a no brainer to have done. It took the guy 5 hour with most of the time spent getting to the leak in the bundle that passes the hinge and then getting the repaired pipe back inside the bundle. I realised they had under quoted but the manager would take no more money.

[aduffer]

Thanks for the info - having not used the rear wash for a week now light has gone off.
So I'm 99% certain it water leaking from the pipe. Looks like I'll be taking the roof liner off!