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License plate error even though bulbs are working?

AmalgamGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NC
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
I purchased my car (2017 GTI) last week, and it had a license plate light error on the dash. This morning, I went to replace both bulbs with new incandescent bulbs, and one of the bulbs was missing. That explains the bulb out error (or so I thought). I went to drive my car afterwards, and the error code was still on. Odd thing is that I've went on 6 drives today, and of those, the code was on for 3 of them, so this code is intermittent for some reason. I confirmed that both bulbs are working when I saw the codes. Anybody else experience this issue?
 

toothofwar

Autocross Champion
Location
KY
Car(s)
2018 Golf R
I hope some one has a remedy for this, I have a 15 gti s that does the same thing. Error will come on, I'll get out and look, and the plate lights will both be working.
 

VW Vroom

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Maryland
I has this on my '15 SE and it was also intermittent. My solution was to install LED bulbs. That was about a month or so ago and the error never returned. I used the deAuto bulbs.
 

pbilog

New member
Location
US
I purchased my car (2017 GTI) last week, and it had a license plate light error on the dash. This morning, I went to replace both bulbs with new incandescent bulbs, and one of the bulbs was missing. That explains the bulb out error (or so I thought). I went to drive my car afterwards, and the error code was still on. Odd thing is that I've went on 6 drives today, and of those, the code was on for 3 of them, so this code is intermittent for some reason. I confirmed that both bulbs are working when I saw the codes. Anybody else experience this issue?

I have the same exact issue on my 2017 GTI. Sometimes the light is on and no error on the dash, sometimes the light is off and error shows up on the dash. I have yet to replace the bulb. Planning to swap them with LED but I heard there are extra steps you have to do to clear the warning on the dash because the car won’t detect the LED bulbs. Still researching here in the forums..
 

edrex

Ready to race!
Location
NorCal
Planning to swap them with LED but I heard there are extra steps you have to do to clear the warning on the dash because the car won’t detect the LED bulbs. Still researching here in the forums..
It’s just a quick simple coding procedure with obdeleven if you have one
 

AmalgamGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NC
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the responses (keep them coming!), and I'm glad that this is not an isolated incidence. I'm still searching for a solution, but it seems like searches in all forums are flooded by threads with error codes due to LED's, and I want to stick with incandescent bulbs if possible. Many LED's produce way more light than what I would want for the license plate area.
Coded for led by previous owner?
That's certainly a possibility. My car is stock with no signs of modification, but I guess I can't know for sure. I have no idea how to check at the moment. This is my first VW, and I'm still educating myself on VCDS and OBDEleven before I make a purchase. Although, if this is hardware-related and not software-related, I'm pretty stumped since the lights actually do work.
I has this on my '15 SE and it was also intermittent. My solution was to install LED bulbs. That was about a month or so ago and the error never returned. I used the deAuto bulbs.
Thanks for reporting your experience with switching to LED's while having this intermittent error code issue. Glad things worked out for you. I'm entertaining the idea of switching to LED's, but deAutoLED's bulbs for the license plate are way too bright. Maybe the VW OEM China-market LED license plate lights or an average Phillips 194 LED bulb coupled with coding would fit the bill, but I'd still like to stay with incandescent bulbs for the time being.
Remove the bulbs, clean the contacts, replace the bulbs.
I didn't notice any corrosion in the bulb housing, but I'll double check!
 

JC_451

Autocross Champion
Location
NJ, one of the nice parts.
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
I got this after my car was hit from behind.

After it was fixed (the accident damage)I had the error.

The replacement bulb worked, but it was the wrong voltage.
 
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AmalgamGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NC
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
I got this after my car was hit from behind.

After it was fixed (the accident damage)I had the error.

The replacement bulb worked, but it was the wrong voltage.
That’s odd. Did you ever get the right bulb and the error code fixed?
 

Carlosfandang0

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
Car(s)
2016 3Dr GTi DSG CSG
Just code it so that the cold diagnostic check on the number plate lights doesn’t happen, easy!
 

toothofwar

Autocross Champion
Location
KY
Car(s)
2018 Golf R
Just code it so that the cold diagnostic check on the number plate lights doesn’t happen, easy!
Can you share the procedure? I'm new to obd11 and haven't coded anything myself yet.
 
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