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rear lights stopped working

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
okay so here is the case, yesterday morning i get into the car and see the light warning that the rear right brake light/turn signal is out as well as the license plate bulbs.

I think its odd that all bulbs went out, but decide anyways to buy some new bulbs.

I installed them they are still out:frown: , the wiring near the lights all seems fine, and i went through every fuse in the fusebox and everything is fine.


Any input? anyone have this happen to you.
 

JetTurbo

geezer
Location
South Florida, USA
Car(s)
2018 GTi Autobahn 6M
okay so here is the case, yesterday morning i get into the car and see the light warning that the rear right brake light/turn signal is out as well as the license plate bulbs.

I think its odd that all bulbs went out, but decide anyways to buy some new bulbs.

I installed them they are still out:frown: , the wiring near the lights all seems fine, and i went through every fuse in the fusebox and everything is fine.


Any input? anyone have this happen to you.
Sounds like your wiring harness has been damaged on the right side of the car.
The license light connections are part of the right side harness.
That harness starts at Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519,
runs through the dash, down the right A-pillar to the floor, under the carpet
inside a tunnel down the right side, and on a 2-door behind the side panel in the back seat,
to the rear of the car.
These pic should give you an idea where to look.

Junction where the tail light wires split from the license light wires.
If nothing else has failed, right above that would be the place to start to look.



behind here, to the right of the plastic side cover


Getting in there is a bitch of a task if you do it 'by the book'.
(i.e. I followed the Bentley Repair manual procedures
to get to the point where the first / wiring picture was taken.)





Pic below - pretty sure the wires running off toward the center under the carpet (which is under the seat bottom normally)
are the fuel pump wires, so your damage is likey aft of here, where they emerge from the floor channel


BTW All of the above is removed anyway to get to the junction shown in first pic when doing it by the book.
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
ahh god. this is gonna be pain to do,


i guess a weekend project for me


thanks for the input , very much appreciated even if its not the problem (fingers crossed it is)
 

JetTurbo

geezer
Location
South Florida, USA
Car(s)
2018 GTi Autobahn 6M
After posting I thought about this some more.
I am pretty sure the right tail light and the license light share a common ground point.
Does your trunk light still work? (different ground point, power in the same master harness)

I culled my picture library for pics of that ground point,
best I could find is

the lower one in these pics


For identification, both the taillight ground and the lighter gauge license light ground are solid brown wires.

left lug is the license light ground - right lug is the tail light ground (pretty sure)


It is a single point common to the two items that have failed,
I think I would look there first. :wink:
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
the light works, but the black clip that goes around that grounding point was not attached , i found it lying at the bottom ( as i dropped the screw/nut for the taillights all the way down and it was down there as well)
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
some more crappy news, i need the car for university tomorrow, and i have 15km range lol... i would fill up but looks like the power is out for the gas cap opener as well....

any way to open this without breaking it... or am i just going to have to get the car towed.
 

JetTurbo

geezer
Location
South Florida, USA
Car(s)
2018 GTi Autobahn 6M
some more crappy news, i need the car for university tomorrow, and i have 15km range lol... i would fill up but looks like the power is out for the gas cap opener as well....

any way to open this without breaking it... or am i just going to have to get the car towed.
Then you have bigger problems that a single loose ground point,
you might want to get it towed.

The fuel door release actuator rod is visible (barely)
in the overview pic in the above post about ground points,
it is a rod from the actuator to the release that can be pulled by hand.
The actuator is behind the C-pillar trim, the rod extends down to the fuel door,
and it passes through the recess just forward of the C-pillar / hatch harness in that pic.
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
Then you have bigger problems that a single loose ground point,
you might want to get it towed.

The fuel door release actuator rod is visible (barely)
in the overview pic in the above post about ground points,
it is a rod from the actuator to the release that can be pulled by hand.
The actuator is behind the C-pillar trim, the rod extends down to the fuel door,
and it passes through the recess just forward of the C-pillar / hatch harness in that pic.

thank god for smart phones! out of fuel in the parking lot managed to read what you said, got the gas cap off and topped it up.

dropping the car off tomorrow , im ready for my out of warranty bill :yikes:
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
delaer took a look and have worked for 11 hours on the car. changed the modules, and checked all the wiring and still cannot find the fault:thumbdown:
 

MoparShaha

Ready to race!
What have they done? Have they tested the continuity of the wires from the tail lights all the way to the CECM under the dash? If that checks out, sounds like the CECM is busted.
 

JetTurbo

geezer
Location
South Florida, USA
Car(s)
2018 GTi Autobahn 6M
... the black clip that goes around that grounding point was not attached , i found it lying at the bottom ( as i dropped the screw/nut for the taillights all the way down and it was down there as well)

Did you remove the carpet in that area when you discovered that?
Did the problem start when you dropped the screw/nut for the taillights?

Did the dealer remove the carpet in that area?
What did the dealer do related to the problem you observed, did they fix it?
 

Mlochab

Ready to race!
Location
Toronto
Did you remove the carpet in that area when you discovered that?
Did the problem start when you dropped the screw/nut for the taillights?

Did the dealer remove the carpet in that area?
What did the dealer do related to the problem you observed, did they fix it?



Did you remove the carpet in that area when you discovered that?

yes i removed the carpet because i thought it was the bulb out, but nothing was there only noticed the part when i got the screw out

problem was before i dropped the screw/nut thought at first it was a bulb out

did not remove the carpet where i got the part
 
Last edited:

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
Wow man, what a mess. Hate to hear stories like this, but I guess that's VW for you. Always known for their electrical gremlins. I bet it ends up being something with your can-bus wiring for that module. Either that or the actual can-bus board is damaged some how. Hopefully they can get this all figured out for you soon.
 

suthan

New member
Location
brampton
hey

did you end up finding out what happen after. did u find the problem
cause i have the same problem but with also no sunroof or the front wiper blade
but when i remove the A connector from the j519 module i get a little bit of power to the light but very dim but other then that nothing its wierd and the gas tank lid wouldnt open so i had to do the same thing use a long needle nose plier and push it to release it
 
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