Brake lights stay on

ricaroo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Location
new hampshire
TDI
2011 jetta sportwagen
The glow plug light keeps flashing,the brake lights stay on however the car runs great plenty of power good fuel mileage.

I took it into the dealer and they replaced the brake light switch, i don't have any codes, but the glow plug light still flashes and the brake lights still stay on all the time.

Dealer says they are going to contact VW as they are stumped as to the cause of this problem. They didn't charge me fo the new switch or it's installation

My ac stopped working also

Any ideas?

The jetta tdi

wagen has 59,000 miles and is a 2011


Thanks
Rick
 

BarnyardsTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Location
Sacramento California
TDI
2010 Golf w/DSG, Malone Stage 2 (all emissions intact), HID's, Sunroof, Dynaudio, NAV
Ive heard of this being a bulb outage related. The flashing glowplug has me suspicious though....
 

ricaroo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Location
new hampshire
TDI
2011 jetta sportwagen
My Glow plug light blinks, my cruise control doesn't work and my brake lights stay on and my ac switch lights up and the fan works but no cold air.

dealer installed a new brake light switch, I installed new brake light bulbs and nothing has changed. dealer says no codes?

Please help...:(


2011 DSG TDI Jetta sport wagon 59,000 miles

Any advice?
 

ricaroo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Location
new hampshire
TDI
2011 jetta sportwagen
A/C was low and needed to be recharged, they did a presure test and could not find a leak. They used a dye so they can check to see where the leak is in a few weeks. They dought they will find anything...

Glow plug light, cruise control and brake lights were all related. They found that a wire was not making conection at the fuse block under the hood next to the battery.

They had also changed the brake switch thinking that was the problem.

59,000 miles and out of warrenty, however VWOA covered everything except the A/C recharge

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:D:D:D:D:D

Thanks for asking
 

Jethro

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Location
Los Alamos, NM
TDI
2003 Jetta 1.9
How very interesting. My glow plug light is flashing and my brake lights are stuck on as well...
 

bendbiker

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2012 TDI Sportwagen, 6sp manual, panoramic sunroof
I have the opposite problem, and have spent 4 hours searching this Forum and Bing. My car is 2012 TDI JSW: I added trailer lights and connected left rear brake light wire (black/red) to trailer brake lights ( two normal 1157 bulbs) and both car brake lights and trailer brake lights worked for part of a day, then that left brake light of car stopped working as well as the trailer brake lights. Also, dash waring light is on and says "check left rear brake light." The bulb is fine and I double checked the bulb connector by applying 12vdc from spare battery and it lights. I contacted local VW dealer (Carrer Motors in Bend Oregon) and they were kind enough to print out fuse diagram since none comes with these new body styles. But no fuse is listed for any exterior lights except HID light lights!!! Dealer can not check car until next week. I tried all kinds of tricks like stepping on brake pedal 10 times, disconnecting battery for 10 minutes, etc. But still the "computer" will not send brake voltage to left rear brake light. Any ideas?
 
Last edited:

bendbiker

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2012 TDI Sportwagen, 6sp manual, panoramic sunroof
My problem is solved. I disconnected the battery for an hour, and that allowed the diagnostic computer to clear what it thought was still a left brake light bulb/wiring issue. Apparently, 10 minutes of battery disconnected was not enough.
 

copbait

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Location
Johnson City TN
TDI
97 Passat TDi, 13 Passat TDi SEL
Ricaroo - do you have anymore info about what the dealer did to correct your problem. My Passat appears to have a similar issue
 

MONTANAJSW

New member
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Location
Montana
TDI
2011 JSW
Have same problem

Anyone else had the issue with the bad wires under the battery? I have the same condition: brake lights stay on, glow plug light flashes, and cruise control disabled. VCDS is giving me a code indicating the brake switch, wiring, or lamps. The dealership told me it is indeed the wiring; said it's somewhat common. I'm only at 48k. They want $400 to fix it since I'm out of warranty. Anyone replaced said wires? Thanks!
 

Auslndr

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Location
Florissant, CO
TDI
2012 Golf TDI, 2009 Golf Variant TDI
No flashing glow plug light (it's MY 2009 so maybe VW added that in later revisions?), but I did have the other two symptoms back in late 2010. Mine was broken (cut) wires coming out of the brake light switch. They weren't under the battery, but I had to pull all that out to get to them. I ended up repairing the wires myself, which are still working fine to this day. Wish I had taken pictures...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3232558&postcount=770
 

MONTANAJSW

New member
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Location
Montana
TDI
2011 JSW
Thanks! The mechanic at the dealer did make a note that it was rodent damage. This would make sense to me. I haven't had a chance to dig in, but when I do I'll take some pictures. Seems like I'll just be replacing some wiring.
 

Tinman265

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Location
Oswego, IL
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagen Sunroof/Nav Platnium Grey Metallic, Titan Black Interior, 6 speed manual. Took the buyback 1-6-17 - Loan payoff 1-17-17
If it's animal damage your comprehensive insurance will cover the repair. Might be worth looking in to.
 
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