Headlights

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
I hate headlight switches. I have been driving Subarus for 15 years, and the headlights and running lights on those all turn on with the engine. It is impossible to leave them on, unless you hit the "newbie" switch, which turns on the running lights. Once you know about it, it is great.

My 2003 Jetta has a light switch which turns on the running lights, and the headlights if the engine is running,. Kind of like the Subaru newbie switch, but you need it for the headlights too. Really dumb system, it has the worst aspects of both systems: No headlights unless the engine is running, and it is easy to leave the lights on and run the battery flat.

Which is what I did the other day. It is on the charger now. I hope the demobilizer and radio won't give me any grief.

Is there any way to rewire the lights so both the running lights and the headlights come on with the engine, and cannot be left on by accident? Can it be done by rewiring relays, or by playing with the configuration with VCDS?

If someone can tell me the relevant pages in the Bentley manual to see all the headlight wiring, I would be very grateful. I have a scanned PDF version of it, and it is not easy to get around.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
1st world problems right?
key goes in, ignition wire to radio and other devices gets power. Add relay and connect it to your lights. add an extra ground to the body of your stereo if it makes some background noise after you do so. Common issue on most cars when adding things to the ignition wire, even a relay. You kinda just answered your own question. PDF's are searchable in acrobat, the only software you should be using for PDF in this application. very easy to search. THis is why a PDF is what it is and not a jpeg or bmp or whatever.
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
I hate headlight switches. I have been driving Subarus for 15 years, and the headlights and running lights on those all turn on with the engine. It is impossible to leave them on, unless you hit the "newbie" switch, which turns on the running lights. Once you know about it, it is great.

My 2003 Jetta has a light switch which turns on the running lights, and the headlights if the engine is running,. Kind of like the Subaru newbie switch, but you need it for the headlights too. Really dumb system, it has the worst aspects of both systems: No headlights unless the engine is running, and it is easy to leave the lights on and run the battery flat.

Which is what I did the other day. It is on the charger now. I hope the demobilizer and radio won't give me any grief.

Is there any way to rewire the lights so both the running lights and the headlights come on with the engine, and cannot be left on by accident? Can it be done by rewiring relays, or by playing with the configuration with VCDS?

If someone can tell me the relevant pages in the Bentley manual to see all the headlight wiring, I would be very grateful. I have a scanned PDF version of it, and it is not easy to get around.
My headlights are on if the headlight switch is in the ON position and the ignition is in the ON position, whether the engine is running or not. I also have the Euro light switch so maybe that is it, but if i recall correctly, that's the way the regular switch works too. In fact, the method to temporarily turn off the headlight DRLs (when the headlight switch is turned OFF, but the engine is running)is to pull up on the parking brake lever.

There is a warning sound that is made if you leave the headlight switch in any position other than OFF and the driver door is open, so I don't understand your analysis. Maybe your driver door latch module has a bad micro-switch not letting the car know the door is open. In that case, you would not get a sound.
 
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Caddy 16v

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Location
Hazelton, BC
TDI
2000 Jetta, 2000 Golf
Sounds like someone put a euro switch in your car and or disabled the daytime running lights, the headlights should come on as soon as you turn the key, unless your e brake is on.
The headlight switch only has one position either on or off.

My car is currently patiently waiting at the airport in Terrace for me to return on the 12th, if you can wait that long I have a spare original headlight switch in the trunk you can have!?
 

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Caddy: Thanks for the offer. However, it has a stock switch, 2 position NA spec, and the DRL's work normally. So do the headlights. Problem is I don't like "normal."

I want the headlights and running lights to turn off with the engine, even if the headlight switch is on.

As for this being a "first world problem:" Caddy and I live right on the ragged edge of the "first world". Cell service is poor, the weather is worse, the roads can be "interesting", and one might have to wait hours to get a jump start from a passing motorist, or get CAA out. The Subaru model of headlight operation makes way more sense, and I would like to make this happen on my Jetta.

And there is no warning chime to remind me the lights are on. I am not sure what happened to it.
 

Caddy 16v

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Location
Hazelton, BC
TDI
2000 Jetta, 2000 Golf
Ahhh OK makes sense now, our Outback does it too and it's quite an useful feature. Not sure if it's doable on the Jetta though.

As far as no warning chime, does your interior light come on when you open the driver's door? Or unlock the car, open the driver's door and wait for 30 sec, if it locks itself again you have a faulty door lock module / micro switch and hence no chime for leaving the headlights on.
 

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Caddy: Thanks very much for this. I can't help but think there is an easier way. There must already be relays on these lights. Getting the power to the running light relay from the same source as the headlight relay should do the job.

I guess I will have to sort through the scanned manual, and print off all the relevant pages, so I can see them all at once to figure out how this works. It may be as simple as a jumper on the switch connector.

Oh, and the interior light seems to work fine, although maybe not on all doors. Is this car supposed to auto lock? It doesn't, which is good.
 
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20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
I hate headlight switches. I have been driving Subarus for 15 years, and the headlights and running lights on those all turn on with the engine. It is impossible to leave them on, unless you hit the "newbie" switch, which turns on the running lights. Once you know about it, it is great.

My 2003 Jetta has a light switch which turns on the running lights, and the headlights if the engine is running,. Kind of like the Subaru newbie switch, but you need it for the headlights too. Really dumb system, it has the worst aspects of both systems: No headlights unless the engine is running, and it is easy to leave the lights on and run the battery flat.

Which is what I did the other day. It is on the charger now. I hope the demobilizer and radio won't give me any grief.

Is there any way to rewire the lights so both the running lights and the headlights come on with the engine, and cannot be left on by accident? Can it be done by rewiring relays, or by playing with the configuration with VCDS?

If someone can tell me the relevant pages in the Bentley manual to see all the headlight wiring, I would be very grateful. I have a scanned PDF version of it, and it is not easy to get around.
Like the MKIII's? It depends if there is a Swedish version of the switch that does this.

Don't you have DRLs?
 

Caddy 16v

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Location
Hazelton, BC
TDI
2000 Jetta, 2000 Golf
Caddy: Thanks very much for this. I can't help but think there is an easier way. There must already be relays on these lights. Getting the power to the running light relay from the same source as the headlight relay should do the job.

I guess I will have to sort through the scanned manual, and print off all the relevant pages, so I can see them all at once to figure out how this works. It may be as simple as a jumper on the switch connector.

Oh, and the interior light seems to work fine, although maybe not on all doors. Is this car supposed to auto lock? It doesn't, which is good.
There might be an easier way or even with VCDS which I have but I'm not the best with wiring.
Yes it is suppose to auto lock at around 20km/h or if it doesn't detect that a door has been opened, could very well be programmed out as well.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Your chime isn't sounding because your door lock control is likely faulty. Dash lights on. Chimes ringing. If I were to leave my lights on with all this going on I would feel that I should check myself in for early(?) stages of Alzheimer's.

According to this post:

For the record there is no relay for the headlights on any VW up to the mk5, all the power goes through the headlight switch.

If this is true then it would be a simple matter of moving the power wire off of the existing constant 12v terminal on the power bar to the switched-ignition post. But! I have no idea whether that switched-ignition terminal can support the added load from the headlights, in which case the safe way would be to use the switched-power to power a [new] relay's trigger input and pull the power off of the constant power post.
 

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Doors autolock at 20 km/h, except for the driver's door. I am not sure if this "feature" has been removed with VCDS or not. No chime. I will see if the chime can be triggered by a different door being open? That might tell me something, I don't know what.

UhOh, thanks for the link to that headlight thread. Lots of good info there. Quite a complex system, with 6 fuses protecting the head light and running light circuits. It is interesting that the low beams use bigger fuses than the high beams. Perhaps there is room there for the running lights. I will pull the switch out and see if I can get some decent current measurements.

Or bite the bullet and put in a relay.
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
Doors autolock at 20 km/h, except for the driver's door. I am not sure if this "feature" has been removed with VCDS or not. No chime. I will see if the chime can be triggered by a different door being open? That might tell me something, I don't know what.

UhOh, thanks for the link to that headlight thread. Lots of good info there. Quite a complex system, with 6 fuses protecting the head light and running light circuits. It is interesting that the low beams use bigger fuses than the high beams. Perhaps there is room there for the running lights. I will pull the switch out and see if I can get some decent current measurements.

Or bite the bullet and put in a relay.
Your driver door lock module is faulty. The motor that moves the pin has gone bad in some way so it keeps the door from locking despite the system telling it to.

Replace it and it will also fix the other thing bad with it, not knowing if the door is open. Both issues are part of the door lock module.
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
Your driver door lock module is faulty. The motor that moves the pin has gone bad in some way so it keeps the door from locking despite the system telling it to.

Replace it and it will also fix the other thing bad with it, not knowing if the door is open. Both issues are part of the door lock module.
Ding ding!!!!
 

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
But the "door ajar" indicator does work. And it locks if I use the key fob. They don't have 2 ways to lock this, do they? One "automatic" on vehicle speed, and another with the RF key fob?

It is the "headlights on" chime I am missing. The rest works just fine, and suits me OK, although I could do without any auto door locking.

And it turns out the fuses are downstream of the headlight switch, so it is likely there is lots of capacity in the circuit that feeds the headlights.
 

robm2

Active member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Terrace, BC, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
So, I took the afternoon off and figured it out. It turns out to be quite simple.

1. There is a large black/red wire that supplies power for the headlights on terminal #1 of the headlight switch connector. This power comes directly from the "on with the ignition" relay, is good for something like 70 A, so a couple more amps for the running lights is not going to be a problem. All fusing is downstream of the light switch.
2. There is smaller reddish orange wire on pin 15 that supplies "always on" power to the running lights.
3. I cut the red wire on pin 15, and with extra wire, butt splices, bullet connectors and a T-tap, jumpered power from the black/red wire to terminal 15. I left it set up so I can unplug a bullet connector and reconnect it the way it was, if I ever decide I want to go back to "normal".

It works just fine. I can leave the light switch on, and the headlights and running lights go on and off with the engine.

As a bonus, I now have a spare "always on" pwoer source, if I want to add some electrical accessory.

The headlight switch is shown on wiring diagram 51/13 in the Bentley manual.
 
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