DRL fault code appearing.

My wife informed me that she is starting to get a fault code related to the DRL and parking light. This is on a 2015 Golf TDI. I used VAG-COM to read the codes and came up with this:

19210 - Right LED Module for DRL and Parking Lights
B12ED F2 [009] - Voltage Supply Open or Short to Plus
Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 3
Reset counter: 198
Mileage: 129818 km
Date: 2020.07.09
Time: 13:47:04

At this point, I am just starting out trying to figure out the cause - there was no accident, no change in parts or bulbs or anything else. I did a visual inspection of the front, and on the surface it looked like everything was OK (i.e. the DRL seemed to be on for both sides).

On the date/time in question it wasn't raining all that hard, but the clock on the car was off by exactly one day (it thought today was the 11th, not the 12th). If I apply this correction to the fault code above, then the fault would have actually happened on the 10th, and on that day it was pouring (catching the edge of a tropical storm).

So I am not entirely sure what to make of this - even though it doesn't say that it is intermittent, I am tempted to just clear the code and see if it comes back - the thinking being that moisture from the heavy rain caused a glitch.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Sounds like it could have been a loose connection especially if everything looks fine. Is there a fault right now?

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dwu.048 said:

Sounds like it could have been a loose connection especially if everything looks fine. Is there a fault right now?

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Yeah. I cleared the code, and it came right back.

If it wasn't so damned hot in the garage right now, I would have been tempted to trace the wiring, and see if anything was loose.

ericy said:

Yeah. I cleared the code, and it came right back.
If it wasn't so damned hot in the garage right now, I would have been tempted to trace the wiring, and see if anything was loose.

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Is it still under warranty? They might tell you that they will do a diagnostic. If they can't find anything, you'll get charged. If they do find something and it is under warranty, then they'll waive the diagnostic fee and fix it for free.

dwu.048 said:

Is it still under warranty? They might tell you that they will do a diagnostic. If they can't find anything, you'll get charged. If they do find something and it is under warranty, then they'll waive the diagnostic fee and fix it for free.

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I don't recall what the warranty was when we got the car, but probably not. I think it has about 86k on the odometer right now.

My wife tried calling the dealer - of course they never got around to calling back

ericy said:

I don't recall what the warranty was when we got the car, but probably not. I think it has about 86k on the odometer right now.
My wife tried calling the dealer - of course they never got around to calling back

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My wife went by the dealer to ask them what they thought. They didn't have any time to do any real diagnosis, but they said that it would be 1700$ to replace the DRL module on the right hand side. Their advice was to just live with it.

That's terrible advice. Have you tried another dealer?

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I have a similar code for my left "cornering" light. No lights are out, and the code comes right back when cleared. Only happens when I turn to the left and the fog light would come on for cornering (I have it programmed in VCDS that way). Interesting that the light itself is not out, but the cornering function is causing a light on the dash.

ericy said:

My wife went by the dealer to ask them what they thought. They didn't have any time to do any real diagnosis, but they said that it would be 1700$ to replace the DRL module on the right hand side. Their advice was to just live with it.

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That is truly insane.

MSRP on the whole headlight can't be more than $500, and replacing it shouldn't be more than an hour of labor.
But more than likely, the LED driver is just cooked - which should be a user-replaceable part for maybe $100. Removing the bumper cover to get at the headlight isn't all that difficult, although it is scary because you're pulling pretty hard on plastic and getting loud POPS and CRACKS as tabs release.

From where I am it's easy to get a pair of halogen headlights. I see it on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace all the time. I saw a pair for $150 a pair! The bumper is easy. I took it off to install LED turn signals. I'm glad I did as I would have never got them installed properly. It's such a tight fit!

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Did you replace the turn signal part itself? Or just the bulbs? On the bi-xenon lights, replacing that turn signal bulb is dead simple - just pop off the rubber cover, pull out the BAY9S bulb holder, twist out old bulb, twist new one in, re-insert bulb holder in housing...done.

Nuje said:

That is truly insane.
MSRP on the whole headlight can't be more than $500, and replacing it shouldn't be more than an hour of labor.
But more than likely, the LED driver is just cooked - which should be a user-replaceable part for maybe $100. Removing the bumper cover to get at the headlight isn't all that difficult, although it is scary because you're pulling pretty hard on plastic and getting loud POPS and CRACKS as tabs release.

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That's my sense of it - possibly an LED driver. I could do it myself, but I would want to wait until October when the temperature in the garage is tolerable. Right now it is brutal.

Back in the day, we had the Bentley manual that had incredibly detailed repair instructions. But they no longer publish those for newer VW, and I haven't been keeping up with what if anything might have taken its place.

dwu.048 said:

That's terrible advice. Have you tried another dealer?

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That's just one of course - one that I would regard as more competent. She didn't have time to let them actually attempt diagnosis, so the 1700$ is really a worst case, I guess. Since I don't have anything in writing, I can't tell what it is that they contemplated changing.

Unfortunately that dealer is 3 hours away. The nearest one to where we live now is still an hour away, and I am somewhat less impressed with their skills.

$35 gets you 24hr. access to erwin.vw.com, which lets you download any/every manual for any make model VW sold in North America (ever).
e.g., (some of) my collection of mk7 manuals




And while there, be sure to hit the dropdown to get the wiring diagrams (not immediately obvious that "electrical" does not include wiring.

Nuje said:

MSRP on the whole headlight can't be more than $500, and replacing it shouldn't be more than an hour of labor.
But more than likely, the LED driver is just cooked - which should be a user-replaceable part for maybe $100. Removing the bumper cover to get at the headlight isn't all that difficult, although it is scary because you're pulling pretty hard on plastic and getting loud POPS and CRACKS as tabs release.

Click to expand...

I finally got around to looking at this more closely.

The dealer quote was to replace the *entire* headlight assembly. Part number 5GM-941-754-D. From the dealer, the part itself is 1300$, and then toss in some extra for tax and labor. Best I can for the part alone find by googling is around 900$. Used/damaged even less. So that's why the dealer quoted price for repair was so insanely high.

The basic headlight assembly has the basic bulbs and optics, and there are also three small control modules bolted to the bottom that can be replaced independently:

4G0-907-697-F LED DRL Module. eBay about 70$.
5N0-941-329 Headlight control module. eBay 50-80$.
8K0-941-597E (Mitsubishi). Xenon control ballast. eBay 20-30$.

I imagine that there is sort of a miniature wiring harness inside that connects these things to the spot where the headlight assembly itself is plugged in to the rest of the car.

Based on the description, I went out on a limb, and replaced 4G0-907-697-F. Which unfortunately made absolutely no difference. My inclination now is to just replace the other two. If that's not it, then it must be wiring harness related, I guess. It isn't 100% obvious which module is generating the fault code - a module where the voltage supply is open isn't going to be capable of generating anything, really...

I did get the complete wiring diagram from the car for erwin (along with a number of other things for that car, as well as my ID.4). I will probably spend time studying that before I go too much further. Mainly to try and make sense of how it might be that central convenience would have awareness of a headlight DRL issue.