MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
No, not the person who carries my golf clubs....
2009 VW Caddy van.
Offside dip headlight bulb (H1) went, warning light came on. Bulb removed - filament had broken. Replaced with fresh bulb, still no headlight. Swapped bulbs around side to side, nearside worked with all bulbs tried so know it's not another duff bulb.
Checked fuses, did find one in under bonnet box that had gone, a 15 amp, though the handbook gives no help in identifying what does what. Changed fuse, no change.
Have since tried a matching pair of new bulbs in case a voltage/current draw difference was confusing matters and re-checked fuse. Still no dip beam. Have also tried flicking the ignition on and off lots of times, with lights on and off to try and get the system to reset (this had to be done for a rear light) to no avail.
Any ideas?
Broken connection, failed relay. Who knows? Time to break out the multi-meter and start to work backwards from the bulb holder.
If that's not your cup of Darjeeling, look up your local mobile auto-electrician.
By complete chance, My 2015 Caddy is in at my local VW specialist, having exactly the same issue inspected! I will report back when I hear from them.
The hi and low and the left and right lights are all fused seperate.
Thus I'd try harder how to find out what fuse is which and test/change all related to that light even if if it looks good.
Countless times I've heard"the fuse looks good" only to change it and voila it works.
Start at simple end.
After all these VW's have far superior electrics to any other car on the market apparently 😉
The fact the bulb had definitely blown, and having had a similar experience with a new rear bulb not instantly working, I'm inclined to think the bulb going has tripped out/confused something and it hopefully just needs resetting. A friend has a basic code reader, will try that first perhaps.
But, I suppose something else going and knocking the bulb out is a possibility.
I just thought there might be a trick that the VAG crowd (75% of STW readership 😆 ) know as these vehicles seem to have a few interesting quirks and idiosyncrasies that require some specialist knowledge to sort very basic issues.
Edit: the cigarette lighter also appears to have stopped working, but I haven't tested it with anything other than the USB adapter that's already in there yet. Hope that's not related.
I've just had a call about my Caddy. Turns out it was just the bulb! It was a bulb with a double element - one element was working, one wasn't. I replaced the bulb myself and was still getting the same element not working, so thought it was an electrical problem. Turns out I just can't replace a bulb properly!
Oh, odd that, glad you're sorted though.
Dipped beam on my Caddy is provided by a single filament H1 bulb so rules your issue out. Have also tested all bulbs in other side and all working.
Yeah, so, er, I changed the wrong bulb....... But the filament was definitely in bits.
So, ignore me. Plank.
Top work.
You really didn't want it to be anything other than a bulb or a fuse. Bcms and even light units are bloody expensive on them.
Don't know how I didn't realise I was changing the full beam bulb. Guess I just removed the first one I got to, and the filament could have gone as I removed it if I was a bit rough.