Interior light

[jb1999]

Hi folks,
Anyone had problems with the interior lights on A4 saloon B5? I've tried a few searches but nothing I found sounds the same...
Here's the problem: the interior lights do not come on when any of doors are opened, but those in the foot wells do, nor do they come on when the key is taken from the ignition. The interior lights do work if you manually switch it on. They used to work just fine but not any more, in fact this happened before and something happened to get them working but I don't know what!? Have checked the foot wells for signs of water, but all seems fine as do the fuses. Through the summer I didn't really notice it, but its beginning to get annoying with the dark mornings and evenings!:confused:
Not the most exciting of posts, i agree but any thoughts, suggestions would be gratefully received!
Rgds,
J

[Crasher]

Have you had water in the passenger’s foot well? Check under the carpet to see if it is wet.

[jb1999]

Thanks for quick feedback! I had the carpets up a few weeks ago when hoovering, but didn't notice anything - how wet does it have to be? Damp, soaked, swimming? Also, should I be looking for anything else? I'll have a look again when it daylight...

[Crasher]

If there is no sign of water getting into the convenience unit under the passengers carpet then I would suggest a fault code scan to see if there are any problems.

[jb1999]

Tried to take a look earlier today but stumbled at the first post!? After some scabbling about, I now thinking I've never taken the carpets out, and they look very well fitted - how do I get underneath without ruining them? Does it require removing the passenger seat?

[Crasher]

It involves removing the sill strip and the skin from the back of your hands.

[jb1999]

OK, I'll take a look, though a task for the weekend I'm thinking...
... and thanks for the warning

[jb1999]

Just finished tinkering about in the passenger foot well - made some progress but not yet solved the problem.

Turns out I didn't have to lift the carpet as the connections were hidden behind a panel on the side of the foot well just next to the door sill. All I had to do was pop off a small cover and then undo a couple of screws to reveal a whole host of wires and connectors - see attached picture.

I tried wiggling some of the wires and managed to get the interior light to come on - result! :)
However, I couldn't get it to stay on and by the end it wouldn't work at all, so a loose connection me thinks. :boggled:

Next challenge is, firstly, to make sure I've got the right connection (think its the gray one in the middle of the bottom row) and secondly then work out how to unplug the socket without damaging everything else and re-attach the loose wire. Sunday will therefore involve a trip to the local car maintenance shop...

(I did end up peeling off one sill and checking under the carpet just in case, but all was dry with no sign of water having got in :D )

[Crasher]

The convenience unit is under the carpet and you may still have a problem there.

[kenney]

I think u need look for a brown-white wire on the 17 pin orange connector, contact (2) this wire comes from the convenience control unit and goes to the interior light

[jb1999]

Despite the dark and wet evenings, I tried cleaning up some of the connections and made sure that all the plugs/sockets were all pushed in properly but still no joy. Think it will require further investigation at the conv. unit as Crasher suspected.

A few (more!?) questions then; is it necessary to remove the passenger seat to get to the conv unit? If so, how do I do remove the seat? And, what should I be looking for in/at/around the conv. unit?

I'm keen to try and fix stuff like this myself, but am a definite novice with these things guys - any indication of how tricky these things are would also help!

Many thanks in advance for any help you're able to give.

J