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HID intermittent problems

JeffEsh

New member
Location
Illinois
Car(s)
Mk5 GTI
Hello everybody! Newbie here with a very frustrating issue. Just bought a 2007 GTI for my daughter's first car. Really fun car that I enjoy as much as she does. The problem I am having with the HID headlights is very confusing and I am not sure where to start troubleshooting. When the car is started the daytime running lights come on and everything seems normal. After awhile either the left light goes out, or the right light goes out, and sometimes they both go out. When they are out if you turn the headlight switch on nothing happens, the fog lights won't come on nor will the brights or flash to pass. I have noticed that when they are not working that you can put the emergency brake on and then release it causing the lights to come back on. Also turning the car off and then restarting it seems to get the lights working again. The one other odd issue is when we first got the car the inner halogen worked with the flash to pass but now when activating flash to pass the HID lights just flash. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Find someone that has Vcds and do a full Auto Scan and see what Dtc you have. In stock settings the HID Bi-xenon inner lights will not work unless you have the parking brake on which extinguishes the HID and then FTP will function(inner lights). When your HID are on the FTP is done by the moving the shield away in the HID and actuating the high beam pattern. It seem VW did not want to fire up the HID repeatedly unless for FTP if they were not already on. Next time when nothing functions see what happens when you remove and disconnect the wiring harness from the rear of the light switch, normally this will cause all the exterior light to come on, a safety feature because if the Cecm J519 does know what the switch is signaling it turns the lights on.

May also want to check the coding for headlights and revert to stock for diagnoses, a lot of these car have been recoded for different functions and it can make it difficult to sometimes figure out what is happen. Some good info for function & coding https://www.golfmkv.com/forums/inde...ped-function-and-settings.60887/#post-1459188
 

Cmikul

New member
Location
Houston
Car(s)
2007 GTI Mk5
Same problem here. I'm new and just need to get the lights operable to sell the vehicle.
I was told by a VW specialist shop that i just needed to swap out the head lights to all new ones.
I'm up for that just need to know where is the best place to get them, read cheap and functional. Just need to sell it.
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Same problem here. I'm new and just need to get the lights operable to sell the vehicle.
I was told by a VW specialist shop that i just needed to swap out the head lights to all new ones.
I'm up for that just need to know where is the best place to get them, read cheap and functional. Just need to sell it.

Why? What is the exact issue that you need to change both HID housings? Internal wiring issues and nothing else??
 

Cmikul

New member
Location
Houston
Car(s)
2007 GTI Mk5
Why? What is the exact issue that you need to change both HID housings? Internal wiring issues and nothing else??

The driver's light does not work.
We've changed the driver side housing.
We've changed the driver side bulb twice
We've changed the socket on both sides once.
When the driver's side does work it fails withing a week.
There is a parasitic drain on the electrical system. We've gone thru 5 batteries.
I took it to a specialist shop and told them to fix it at any cost.
They said the issue was the internal wiring inside the light for the DRL's and that it was melted which was causing the drain constantly.

They said the only real fix would be to replace both lights completely at the same time. $1200 from the dealership. They suggested i look to forums for help since it's a common problem with this model.

So...the car has been sitting because we can't get it inspected because the lights don't work.

Due to the DRL's the passenger light is ALWAYS on so even when you drive it during the day time it's obvious your driver's light isn't working.

Just need to get it fixed so i can move on.

i read thru what you posted previously but i dont' know all the acronyms you used. I'm not a VW guy. This is my son's car, need it out of my driveway.
 

Mk5Steven

New member
Location
Temecula
Car(s)
2009 PZEV GTI
Ive been dealing with this issue and I have noticed a lot of flaking and cracking on the wire casing, I went ahead and wrapped the wires with electrical tape to prevent shorting where the wires touch and now my lights are working but I am looking for a replacement harness as a permanent fix, hope this helps.
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Ive been dealing with this issue and I have noticed a lot of flaking and cracking on the wire casing, I went ahead and wrapped the wires with electrical tape to prevent shorting where the wires touch and now my lights are working but I am looking for a replacement harness as a permanent fix, hope this helps.


Never have seen a complete replacement harness for the internal wiring only a partial one from China http://www.oemxenonshop.com/Volkswa...riginal-Ballast-Bulb-Igniter-Replacement.html
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
The driver's light does not work.
We've changed the driver side housing.
We've changed the driver side bulb twice
We've changed the socket on both sides once.
When the driver's side does work it fails withing a week.
There is a parasitic drain on the electrical system. We've gone thru 5 batteries.
I took it to a specialist shop and told them to fix it at any cost.
They said the issue was the internal wiring inside the light for the DRL's and that it was melted which was causing the drain constantly.

They said the only real fix would be to replace both lights completely at the same time. $1200 from the dealership. They suggested i look to forums for help since it's a common problem with this model.

So...the car has been sitting because we can't get it inspected because the lights don't work.

Due to the DRL's the passenger light is ALWAYS on so even when you drive it during the day time it's obvious your driver's light isn't working.

Just need to get it fixed so i can move on.

i read thru what you posted previously but i dont' know all the acronyms you used. I'm not a VW guy. This is my son's car, need it out of my driveway.

So did you swap out the DS housing completely or just swap with PS to test for function. If its the wiring in the DS side you can try to make repairs, or try the Depo https://www.headlightsdepot.com/200...ft-headlight-assembly-sku-341-1124l-ush3.html
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Find someone that can scan the car with Ross Tech Vcds and do an Auto Scan and see what trouble codes it shows you. In the meantime you can take out the rotary light switch and disconnect the wiring harness on the backside what does the drives headlight do? You can find a few DIY on YouTube how its done.
 
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