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Follow the wiring. I suspect you'll find corroded insulation causing a short. You're not having problems with a draining battery or weird faults, are you?
Follow the wiring. I suspect you'll find corroded insulation causing a short. You're not having problems with a draining battery or weird faults, are you?
No battery draining. The lights under the drivers and passenger seats will turn on then eachflash once and shut off. Theres 2 codes for that in the comfort control module saying short to ground but obviously they work so it isnt shorting to ground. Seems like a weitd fault to me.
There's a short list of things to cause your issue. Bulb, connector, wire, or fuse. Bulb has already been eliminated as a cause, so on to the other stuff. For your seat lights, them coming on for a moment doesn't rule out a short, but as a guess, it might mean it's downstream from the lights there.
Did they work for you at one time and suddenly quit? Asking in case you just bought the car and maybe the previous owner messed something up with a wacky modification. Such as the old "I wan't my car to look like a newer one and replace incandescant bulbs with LED's" etc.
Did they work for you at one time and suddenly quit? Asking in case you just bought the car and maybe the previous owner messed something up with a wacky modification. Such as the old "I wan't my car to look like a newer one and replace incandescant bulbs with LED's" etc.
No they havent worked since I bought it. He didnt seem like the guy to do that sort of a mod but any ideas?
No they havent worked since I bought it. He didnt seem like the guy to do that sort of a mod but any ideas?
Even the more virgin D3's are probably on about third owners by now, and some could be six +. Hard to know on many the real history once you get to having owner(s) before last one. Or frankly flood cars that have been "washed" further at some point in their past, or ... ?
Meanwhile, have you checked the obvious fuses? All of them--front panels, rear side panels?
Low percentage: any sign of old trailer use?--hitch, connectors, wiring splices, hacking of bumper cover, etc. Might have been removed, but remnants could still be there. Or, any sign of prior rear body damage--overspray, differential paint fading, something a little out of order underneath, etc. Doesn't help directly, but may say to look hard at wiring back there.
Checked for power in the power wire near the module and in the trunk lid . no power in either spot
Tried clearing the code in the module but it comes right back along with 3 other non related codes...
why must the license plate lights be controlled through a computer... Any ideas on where to go next?
I'm also experiencing this issue - I replaced the original incandescent license plate bulbs with LEDs and for a while they worked great, but they were prone to corrosion due to the moisture. Long story short - they both eventually failed (fairly recently actually and I was pulled over for them being out) hence my renewed interest in determining the best course of action.
I believe there may be VAG/VCDS options to correct the circuit issue. I read that if the systems is recognizing a low amp draw (or virtually zero amp draw) that the computer will turn off that circuit to conserve power. Either way, I believe the ECS Tuning LED pods would likely be the best option, but I would check the system for faults on that circuit.
*I'm fairly new to the scene, bought my '07 D3 in December of last year and it's been a great car thus far. Minus having to replace a strut and then this license plate issue.
On mine I replaced the bulbs with Osram/sylvania LEDs and they did not light up. Replaced the incandescents, no go. Then I replaced the same LEDs and they did light up! (Edit: I marked the polarity on the bulbs and noted it on the holders, so it was not a polarity issue). After a lot of head scratching, I figured out the trick; the car's energy management evidently checks for the right (wish I knew how to make an Omega on here) resistance and if not within spec, it does not provide power to the license plate bulbs. So after you've installed your bulbs, turn the car off, lock it, and try again. Probably overkill but locking the car does affect the energy management. With the Sylvania (P/N forthcoming, but auto zone @ $20/pr) The resistance is similar. These get hot! So, no energy savings, as I was after. But they do in fact keep the housings dry. I wonder if VCDS lets us have parking lights w/o LPBs? Hmmm...
Left bulb is dirty old OE, right is the LED.Not much brightness difference:
09-26-2016, 02:44 PM
license plate lights
