My driver's side reverse light went out. I thought no big deal, I'll buy some LEDs and replace both of them. Well, got the LEDS in today and put them in, driver's side is still not working. My first thought was the housing that the LED plugs into was actually bad, so I tried the entire working passenger side bulb (housing and LED) in the driver's side, still nothing. I then tried the original driver's side housing with both LEDs in the passenger side and that didn't work either. So what the hell is broken here?
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Reverse light woes
- Thread starter berfles
- Start date
akimmel
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Ipswich, MA
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI AB 6MT
did you try flipping the polarity? some LEDs only work facing one way. This was the case when I swapped my tail light bulbs to LED, don't remember if it affected the reverse lights
akimmel
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Ipswich, MA
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI AB 6MT
did the wires on the harness connector for the housing get messed up? that code is what you get when it senses no bulb, in my experience. Any chance you have a volt meter where you could see if the connector is getting voltage?
Bear with me because I know very little about electronics. Would current only be going there when the reverse lights are engaged? Am I checking the contacts where the housing snaps into?
Also, do t know why I didn't think of this before, but I had my car in for hail damage and since it's been back that tail light gets water in it that comes into my hatch if I open it. They claim they didn't take anything apart in there, but the light also gets condensation in it. Is it possible the water shorted something out while leaving the other lights in working order?
Also, do t know why I didn't think of this before, but I had my car in for hail damage and since it's been back that tail light gets water in it that comes into my hatch if I open it. They claim they didn't take anything apart in there, but the light also gets condensation in it. Is it possible the water shorted something out while leaving the other lights in working order?
akimmel
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Ipswich, MA
- Car(s)
- 2015 GTI AB 6MT
yeah you would see 12 volts there when in reverse i'd imagine, but maybe something different (greater than 0) cause I think the power is pulse width modulated. I'm not too much of a electricity whiz myself. If it were me id put the probes from the volt meter in the connector that goes between the wiring harness and the female connector on the bulb housing, then put it in reverse and see what happens. then try the same thing, but plug the connectors together and leave the bulb out, checking the voltage at the bulb contacts. You gotta work your way along the line to determine where the power is getting lost. could also do a continuity check on the housing, so stick one probe in the bulb contact side and the other probe in the wiring harness side.
I would pull the entire tail light out (2 10mm nuts i think?) and check the seal on it. I've pulled mine out to shake out a dead spider, you just undo the 2 nuts and kinda twist it out. water could definitely mess things up connection wise.
I would pull the entire tail light out (2 10mm nuts i think?) and check the seal on it. I've pulled mine out to shake out a dead spider, you just undo the 2 nuts and kinda twist it out. water could definitely mess things up connection wise.