bulb failure

[scots356]

hi all

new to the forums here and wondered if anyone could shed any light on an issue i seem to have;

I have an 07 altea xl 2.0tdi (140) stylance and recently i have noticed that the dash lights up showing i have a faulty bulb... having checked all the lights etc to find that they all are indeed working ...im puzzled...is this an electrical glitch ? or a pre-warning to show one is about to fail?

in addition to this , the warning light on the dash is intermittent !!!

arrghhhhhh...can someone help?

Ta muchly

 

[jurkas]

Have you checked foglights?

 

[scots356]

yes as i said in earlier post all the lights including fogs seem to be working a-ok.... this has got me puzzled.......

 

[Toxic]

the Altea uses a CAN-BUS system. this passes a low voltage around the lighting circuit to check if a bulb is out. have you any HIDs fitted or LEDs fitted?

 

[scots356]

no mate...the car as is the original spec... as i mentioned the warning light on the dash comes on intermittently also .... im so hoping this isnt the start of possible electrical gremlins !!

 

[andyj]

Did you check your side indicators and reverse bulb?

The rear side light bulbs are also the brake light buls, as they've got dual-filaments.... might be worth double checking them.

 

[Viking]

Did you check your side indicators and reverse bulb?

The rear side light bulbs are also the brake light buls, as they've got dual-filaments.... might be worth double checking them.

The rear side light / brake light bulbs are single filament / dual voltage. They come on low for side light and kick up to high for brake light.

 

[andyj]

Ah, interesting. You learn something new every day

 

[scots356]

will check these anyway guys.... appreciate your help...

 

[jurkas]

The last shot. Maybe it is problem with electrical socket for towing trailer.

 

[markirel]

I had the same warning on my dash and I mis-took it for an engine light and so called out seat assist (who send the aa). The chap fiddled with the tail light bulb which wasn't working when he arrived but the bulb was ok. It worked intermittently at first and then permanently such that the fault hasn't occurred again. The aa man gave me a slip desribing the fault and advised that I took it to the dealers. As I had a service recently I asked the dealer to look at this and they hooked it up onto their machine but no faults were reported. I have no idea what it was or if it will happen again, it's been 9-months and no repeat.

Hope you get yours sorted. Could be something like a dry joint on a circuit board but until you can see which light is not functioning when the dash light is on you'll have difficulty pin-pointing it.

 

[scots356]

hmmm thats defo a possibility ....i have my car booked in for a 40k service soon so will update on any news.....cheers

 

[Big Ejit]

Dont forget your number plate lights...

 

[klawit]

Hi mates,

there is a known issue with the bulb sockets of the tail lights (afaik, modelyears up to 2009 might be affected):

both bulb & socket contact kind of encrust within the socket and suddenly you'll get the intermittant error ...

if experienced once, you need to clean the contacts every once in a while to prevent from corroding, or you order a new socket (5P0 945 257) and hope, it will stay clean.

greets ... Klaus


btw: reading out error messages often won't show intermittend failures, as they are deleted as soon as function comes back to normal ...
thus dealers erroneously tend to rely upon their machines instead of remembering old virtues like using their brains

 

[scots356]

brilliant ,, thanks klawit...... as i say the car is in for a 40k service soon , and as its still under warranty i will get the stealers to sort..... by the way does anyone think £212 is dear for a 40k service? .....just a thought.

 

[markirel]

...thus dealers erroneously tend to rely upon their machines instead of remembering old virtues like using their brains

Quite. Once mechanics used to wear greasy overall's and carry a box of spanners (or an adjustable and a hammer where I work) but now they wear white coats and sport a laptop and a cable.

 

[altea phil]

Had this problem on mine since I changed the o/s/r/ bulb. I kept getting the warning light on intermittently saying that the o/s/r/ brake light bulb had gone, but after several brake applications it would go off, and whenever I got someone to check the bulb it was working !!!
Eventually got round to changing the bulb again last weekend, and it hasn't occurred since
. Total cost....32p x 2 = 64p

 

[Toxic]

lol my bulb failed the other night. got a bulb failure the day before, then turned off and back on the ignition and light went out, and stayed out until the next evening when bulb went totally. guess the canbus system has predictive failure warning

 

[scots356]

just thought i would give you guys an update....low and behold had my lights on last night (as you do in the dark LOL) and guess what..... a blown brake light bulb..... so either the warning system is intuitive and knew it was gonna fail.....or just sheer luck....!

I will check the housings for rusting etc whilst changing the bulb...but thanks anyway for your help.

 

[CrispDust]

the canbus measures the voltage/current across the system and is quite sensitive. A bulb that is about to blow will have different characteristics - flourescents do that dim/flicker. incandescents tend to burn brighter as they expire.