LED tails quad ring VCDS mod

[DkN]

THOSE WONDERING HOW TO GET LEDS IN YOUR INNER TAIL LIGHTS

Since actually reading this thread appears too difficult for so many people, I'm just pointing out here that THE INNERS DO NOT COME WITH LEDs. You could find the bits and modify the inners yourself, or you can PM buckets:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/member.php?u=19499 <== THIS MAN

ALSO NOTE:
If you would like the quad ring effect, meaning that you DO NOT WANT A SOLID CIRCLE for your outer lights (which is what this VCDS procedure is about), you must wire the inner lights to PARKERS ONLY, not parkers + brakes. This would mean your inners will NOT glow brighter upon braking, like the video / pics below will show. For more information on wiring the inner tails go to my wiring thread:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149564


ONTO THE VCDS PROCEDURE...

Okay so this is a followup to my OEM inner LED wiring DIY. The VCDS for a ring effect is as per this thread (kudos to Craig aka buckets for linking me).

It's interesting to note that the long coding that was standard here in Australia was a mix of US and Euro coding. From bits 9-13 the codes in Central Electronics Module were:

14 00 00 14 00

Apparently 14 is the US standard brightness level and is quite a bit brighter than the OEM Jetta 0F value - IMO 14 is the right amount from the looks of things, OEM would be rather dim if that were true.

Anyway similar to the modification in the linked thread, just change bit 9 to 00 and you'll have a ring for your outer parkers but still have the brightly lit middle circle when you brake:

00 00 00 14 00

Pics & video of result below.

Parkers:

Parkers close up:

Brakes:

Brakes close up:

Video - apologies for this one, the lighting was doing something weird to my phone's camera and making it go in and out of focus, but you should get a fair idea of how they look:

 

[TDI_DSG]

nice.

"...rushes off to the garage with vag-com cable in hand......."

Jason

 

[wokwon]

I don't have the inner ring but I did change that setting on my Jetta to just have the outside ring. I found that the car became almost invisible from the side without the smaller circles/brake lights lit so I turned them back on again.

So park outside and check from the side. The golf has different shaped lights so you might be ok.

 

[NahbutsGTI]

Looks very cool, very cool indeed.
This has spurred me on to complete my inner ring mod, should be finished soon! just modifying the standard lights though as I dont want led tails. Will be using T10 bulbs and have seen that they match almost perfectly to the standard outer tails colour. Sweet!

 

[iluvbrownale]

so just to be clear, when lights are on you now have 4 rings of red? Cos if that's the case it looks HOT.

Now i'm tempted with the LED rears!

 

[buckets]

Looks like I might be getting busy in the next couple of months then.....:lol:

 

[TDI_DSG]

Bugger !

I just tried this mod. Won't work on my car,
Because I have my inners wired up to function as
Brake lights too.

If I set bit 9 to zero, it basically turns off my inners.
Turns them into brake lights only.

I would have to rewire them to be tail lights only.
Then this mod would work.

I'm not sure I wanna do that.

Jason.

 

[DkN]

so just to be clear, when lights are on you now have 4 rings of red? Cos if that's the case it looks HOT.

Now i'm tempted with the LED rears!

That is correct.

Looks like I might be getting busy in the next couple of months then.....:lol:

At this rate Craig your play money's gonna buy you some serious toys :wink:

Bugger !

I just tried this mod. Won't work on my car,
Because I have my inners wired up to function as
Brake lights too.

If I set bit 9 to zero, it basically turns off my inners.
Turns them into brake lights only.

I would have to rewire them to be tail lights only.
Then this mod would work.

I'm not sure I wanna do that.

Jason.

I forgot about that - because your inners are on the same circuit as the middle circle on the outer lights.. Sorry to hear that mate.

Well to wire the inners to parkers all you'd need to do is cut the positive wires at your outers' plugs and crimp them to position 3 instead of 2 (or the other way around on the right side). Up to you which look you prefer but the switch itself shouldn't be hard.

 

[buckets]

Was actually considering this mod and found what Jason did. To overcome this, I was thinking about running an additional positive to the inners with a diode inline for the brakes (to prevent current "backflow") which, theoretically, should make this mod possible. i.e. inner rings working as BOTH parkers and brakes.....:happyanim:

 

[TDI_DSG]

top idea Craig.

i might look into doing that mod this weekend.

a diode on the brake line wire would in theory drop the brightness a tad,
but i think in reality the small voltage drop across a diode wouldn't matter much.

and best of all, i can achieve this mod without having to run an extra wire all the way into the hatch.

ill just do the mod with a short wire and diode at the tail light plug end.
dead simple to do.

thanks for the idea !

Jason.

 

[Tensixty6]

Looks like I might be getting busy in the next couple of months then.....:lol:

What about my spotters fee?

 

[buckets]

Fortunately for me, that was rolled into your pricing!! :lol:

 

[TDI_DSG]

Was actually considering this mod and found what Jason did. To overcome this, I was thinking about running an additional positive to the inners with a diode inline for the brakes (to prevent current "backflow") which, theoretically, should make this mod possible. i.e. inner rings working as BOTH parkers and brakes.....:happyanim:

i thought of a safer way to do the mod, no diodes needed.

i was a little concerned about what might happen if the 4v from the tail light is added to by the 12V from the brake. i didnt want to risk any damage to anything.

anyway, ive figured out a way to get the 4 circle mod to work using a switchover relay. there would be a fraction of a second when the inner tail light is un powered before it's switched over to the brake line, and vice versa when it's switched back to tail mode.

i think that the switch over would happen so fast, that you wouldnt be able to see it.

im gonna have a go at this mod over the long weekend.
if it works as expected, ill post up a how to and a schematic.

Jason.

 

[raygti]

wow that looks amazing !

does anyone have a set of these sitting here in brisbane or aus... Am in the market just after reading this thread !!!!!!

 

[jsof]

:eyebulge: can this mod be done with stock tail's?
if so who has a vagcom in melbourne that can help me out with this! :bow: