mk5 tdi electrical problems

[veedub76]

Hi,
My tdi has no boot light, no glove box light, and the brake light on the boot doesn't work either... Could this be a relay, or are they all running off the same relay/fuse?
The car has had a sat nav/stereo fitted and a GTI steering wheel and the stereo only works on the left hand speakers and sometimes intermittently on the right hand

Any advice or help would be appreciated!

[radox]

Someone recently had almost the same problem and he discovered a broken earth wire inside the rubber grommits within which wires pass between the car body and the tailgate. Might be worth checking that.

Hope that helps,
Stuart
Stuart Dalby - 2005 Volkswagen Golf Mk 5

[veedub76]

ok cheers i'll check this. Anybody else had this problem? the third brakelight issue is a bit of a worry especially when cars behind aren't concentrating and realise i haven't a high level brake light and nearly rear end me!!

Could the boot light, glove box light and third brake light thing all be related?

[radox]

I think they could all be related. Do you know if all the problems started around the same time?

The boot light and third brake light circuits will certainly have wires passing into the tailgate. As for the glove box light, I wouldn't have thought so.

However, looking at my Haynes manual, pretty much all lighting circuits originate from a single "Onboard Supply Control Unit". I imagine if this control unit gets a strange signal down one wire it could confuse it resulting in a number of different lighting circuits being shut down. I'm guessing there but a scan of that control module for fault codes might reveal something.

Hope that helps,
Stuart
Stuart Dalby - 2005 Volkswagen Golf Mk 5

[bob b]

I also lost the boot light and the high level brake light on my Mk 5 Golf. It was indeed broken wires which were routed through the rubber conduit from the body into the top of the boot lid. It was the left hand conduit as you look at the rear of the car. Two or three of the wires were broken and a number of others were showing signs of damage to the insulation.

I managed to get a replacement rubber conduit from my local breakers and also a short length of wiring loom. It appears that the loom is too short in that particular area and is under 'stress'. As I had a replacement, I just cut the old conduit off and slipped the new conduit on and then replaced the broken and damaged wires. I also lengthened the rest of the loom by soldering in about three inchs of extra cable.

That cured the problem and its been fine ever since. I should add that I got the answer to this particular glitch from members of this forum.