HELP needed asap! headlight switch UPDATE 4: Fixed!!!

[Jim Bowen 1]

You should be able to find where it plugs in once it's dropped down - you need to 'unlock' the fusebox to remove these plugs - you will see a black tab to do this, it slides across...

 

thanks for that tip btw, i would never of figured that out :lol:

[Jim Bowen 1]

i'm having trouble sourcing the replacement wiring loom, i refuse to pay £90 at VW and kinda desperate for this part.

 

2 folks on here have offered me them for £10 but i not heard back from them.

 

the scrap yards don't seem to have a clue, the local place said they have a 16v they are breaking. Do i need the wires from a certain year and model of corrado or are they more or less the same.

 

in VW it wasn't just the wiring loom, was about 4 or 5 parts in total he said i needed????

[Jim Bowen 1]

No-one has _anything_ to say?

[mariojoshi 1]

This is a common 'rado problem it would appear. Clearly the same thing had happened to mine in the past.

 

Apparently it could be due to the fact that the (same?) switch as used in the golf which is mounted vertially (and has room for heat to escape) was mounted horizontally in the corrado.. where the heat can't go anywhere.

 

As far as I could tell.. the loom from the fuseboard to the headlamp switch is a single unit, and that's all you need to replace. Just make sure it didn't burn any other wires out!

[paul20v 0]

mine fell apart when cleaning the dash back in the summer......i walked back into the house, opened my spares box, took out a mk2 golf headlight switch, stuck it in - job done - not one prob, and it dosn't heat up like a b'stard either....anyone else using one of these? much better quality, and o.e. - can't ask for more! blow paying for a new crappy one from vag

hi what mk2 golf year did the switch come from and did it fit straight on the plug of the c and in the dash nice if its better quality i will get one if its a straight swap

cheers in advance

[fla 9]

Yep it will fit straight on - i've replaced mine as well with a Mk2 one. Loads better. Have a look on Ebay, there are usually a few there.

[paul20v 0]

Yep it will fit straight on - i've replaced mine as well with a Mk2 one. Loads better. Have a look on Ebay, there are usually a few there.

thanks excuse my ignorance but are all the mk2 switches the same as far as the year of the car goes

[Jim Bowen 1]

i've already paided for the corrado one from VW, still waiting for it

 

got another bits of wiring coming.

 

do i really need an auto electrician to come out and take more money off me? or should i just plug everything back together?

 

is it likely to of damaged much else? where should i keep? if the fuses are ok would that suggest everything is alright in the fusebox?

 

thanks for any help

[Jim Bowen 1]

went to see an autoelectrican, he said just plug it all in and should be ok, car wasn't with me so he couldn't look

 

where is there likely to be any more damage done and how likely is it that something else is buggered?

 

has anyone reading this had it happen to them?

 

just don't want to connect it all back up and something else start burning

[Supercharged 2]

It will be fine as long as you are using a brand new / known good switch and the wires all match up to the old loom.

 

I would however stick a 3 or 5 amp inline fuse on that thin earth wire... will stop it happening again!

[Jim Bowen 1]

i asked the electrician about that and he didn't seem too enthusiastic about doing it, it is hard to do, where would you get the bits?

[coolrado 0]

the reason these switches get so hot is mostly down to the small filament lamps they use for illumination, the heat also causes the plastic parts to go brittle and fall apart, even after fitting the uprated loom the switch was still very hot, there is just nowhere for the heat to escape, best thing to do is swap the filament lamps for LED's as they run virtually cold and you can get 12v ready (dont need a resistor) 3mm LED's in pretty much any colour you want so they are a straight swap.

[Jim Bowen 1]

so its down to the bulb?

 

i don't like the fact it gets so hot, couldnt' touch it for ages until it cooled down.

 

so i can swap the led in the switch? might practice on the broken one

[Jim Bowen 1]

right, nearly two weeks without the car now, trying to get it fixed this weekend

 

found this info

 

"A further precaution during loom repair is to fit a 3 amp blade fuse like the rest of the Corrado’s fuses in an in-line fuse holder in the earth wire (see photo) to protect the earth wire in the event of the switch internally shorting and the messy consequences. The actual current for the small internal switch bulb powered by the ignition is 80mA, so any type (such as glass cartridge filament & holder) of fuse about 0.5 to 1.0 amp is adequate to stop the earth wire being fried. If it blows, the little ignition power lamp symbol on the switch will stop working but the sidelights & headlights will not. If the fuse blows, do not refit a fuse until the switch has been checked out as there has been a short inside the switch, either permanently or momentarily which needs to be corrected. "

 

 

what fuse do i fit? it says 3amp, then says 0.5-1.0 amp????

[Jim Bowen 1]

will either of these be fine?

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... &U=strat15

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... &U=strat15

 

do i need to solder the connections or just use tape and twine them together?

[fla 9]

Yep it will fit straight on - i've replaced mine as well with a Mk2 one. Loads better. Have a look on Ebay, there are usually a few there.

thanks excuse my ignorance but are all the mk2 switches the same as far as the year of the car goes

 

Not too sure, tbh. There are a few pics of the Mk2 one floating around. Its a similar shape to the normal corrado one, with the top of the switch being curved downwards as opposed to being square and straight - i know its not a good description, but if you see one you'll know what i mean.

[dinkus 10]

I believe that the Mk2 headlight switches look the same as early Corrado ones.

 

The late Corrado headlight switches aren't like anything else (the Mk3 Goofs had a dial-type switch).

 

I'm not sure about the early switches, but the late ones I'm fairly sure have a different connector on the back to the early and/or Mk2 ones. But if you've bought the right part for the job, go with the pukka Corrado one :)

 

Fuses - the purpose of the fuse is to be man enough to take day-to-day current, but to pop if you stick something silly through it.

 

According to that quote (from where?) the only current that should be flowing through the thin earth wire is the current for the little bulb inside the switch, which is 80mA (0.08A). This is a car, so it'll be lumpy and fluctuate, so you don't want a fuse that's exactly 0.08A, you want something a bit bigger so the fuse only pops when something goes really wrong. In this case, the only thing that could go really wrong is the switch shorts out inside - in this situation you're dumping pretty much all the current the battery can supply through the wire! :lol:

 

So in this case, you can use anything from a 0.5A fuse (I think they're the smallest blade fuses you can get) all the way up to 10A or something silly. So TBH, I'd wop whatever you've got to hand in and use that :)

 

Oh and the fuse holders - yup, either type of those is fine. The rating is just for the holder itself though (15A is more than enough) so you'll also need a fuse of the right type to go with it. Personally, I'd go for the first one, because it's blade-type so the same as all the rest of the car fuses and thus only one set of spares you've got to have. Also worth keeping always keeping a bunch of spare fuses in the car, just in case :)

[Jim Bowen 1]

fab stuff, think i have this sorted now, cheers guys

 

will make another donation to the forum once car is back on road, seeing as forum has saved me some £££ 8)

[Jim Bowen 1]

got these bits at lunch, not quite what i was after, but the only blade style one they had was the size of a pack of cards!!! :shock:

 

[paul20v 0]

blade fuses only go down to 3.5a so if you want lower it has to be a glass fuse

[paul20v 0]

I believe that the Mk2 headlight switches look the same as early Corrado ones.

 

The late Corrado headlight switches aren't like anything else (the Mk3 Goofs had a dial-type switch).

 

I'm not sure about the early switches, but the late ones I'm fairly sure have a different connector on the back to the early and/or Mk2 ones. But if you've bought the right part for the job, go with the pukka Corrado one :)

 

Fuses - the purpose of the fuse is to be man enough to take day-to-day current, but to pop if you stick something silly through it.

 

According to that quote (from where?) the only current that should be flowing through the thin earth wire is the current for the little bulb inside the switch, which is 80mA (0.08A). This is a car, so it'll be lumpy and fluctuate, so you don't want a fuse that's exactly 0.08A, you want something a bit bigger so the fuse only pops when something goes really wrong. In this case, the only thing that could go really wrong is the switch shorts out inside - in this situation you're dumping pretty much all the current the battery can supply through the wire! :lol:

 

So in this case, you can use anything from a 0.5A fuse (I think they're the smallest blade fuses you can get) all the way up to 10A or something silly. So TBH, I'd wop whatever you've got to hand in and use that :)

 

Oh and the fuse holders - yup, either type of those is fine. The rating is just for the holder itself though (15A is more than enough) so you'll also need a fuse of the right type to go with it. Personally, I'd go for the first one, because it's blade-type so the same as all the rest of the car fuses and thus only one set of spares you've got to have. Also worth keeping always keeping a bunch of spare fuses in the car, just in case :)

i got a switch from a late mk2 there nothing like early corrado ones and are far better than the late corrado ones which frankly are rubbish , they feel course and horrible even from new ,the mk2 golf switch is a perfect fit all terminals on the plug are the same numbers and positions and it plugs straight on its identical plug wise and feels a much better quality and does not get hot , my mum has a 88 mk2 gti still with its original switch , there is a definate flaw with the design and longetivity of the corrado switch to only last a couple of years or so ,and as for the price, corrado switch 50 ish pounds and the mk2 golf switch 17 pounds whats goin on there

[Toad 0]

The Mk 2 switches don't look like early rado ones AFAIK, and my vr switch runs lovely and cool. The valver was always ok too, I have just put a headlamp loom on it now anyway.

[Jim Bowen 1]

right, got all the wiring back together, headlights work, nothing melted

 

but i can't start car now, the start motor turns over, but it won't kick into action? Just keeps turning

 

could this be one of the wires i noticed un plugged behind fuse box, was quite a few not connected up to bits and assumed they were just unplugged already, i may of knocked them?

[dinkus 10]

I've knocked the fuel pump relay loose before when fiddling with stuff down thar. just give all the relays a good push to make sure they're all seated properly.

 

Also worth checking all the fuses are in place and haven't blown.

[Jim Bowen 1]

check the relays, pushed them all in and checked fuses but didn't make any difference :(

 

think i'll get the fuse box out again and work out what these wires are that aren't plugged into anything

 

was some black wire behind the speedo area with a tiny plug on it that had 3 pin sized holes in it? is this something important

 

its got to be a wire unplugged or the immob has cocked up :(