fryed earth wire, no dash lights - help!

[voo51 0]

I have been trying to sort out why my dash lights and headunit have not been working. I managed to sort out the headunit but my dash lights still wouldnt work, so i have taken my dimmer switch and light switch out and i have found a completely fryed earth wire, well i assume its the earth wire as it used to have a brown sheath over it and now that has been fryed onto the other wires a bit. It is fryed right down to the end and then just dangles around my fuse box.

 

Could this be why i have no dash lights? my headlamps/taillamps work fine.

 

Should i put a new wire in or will this one be ok to just re-earthed to the bodywork?

 

And now i pushed my headunit into its place and that wont work now, grrrrrr!!!

[boost monkey 0]

If the wire has fried to the point of the insulator sleeve melting then it definitely needs replacing imo.

[voo51 0]

I have just been searching through posts and found that the dash lights are the third fuse along not number 21 which i thought and sure enough that is broke.

 

Could the earth wire have broke it though? This is the first time i have really tackelled car electrics so sorry for the questions.

[boost monkey 0]

Ah cool, glad you found the right fuse.

 

Not sure about the earth lead, but it sounds like it's something which will need replacing either way.

[Supercharged 2]

If you have a search this has happened to a few of us now after the headlight switch has failed and shorted internally... you'll need a new switch but you can repair the loom using repair wires from VW.

[Jim Bowen 1]

happened to me not long ago, yep sounds like the switch has broken and shorted that wire out, probably taking out your dash light too

 

do your headlights work?

[voo51 0]

Yep the headlamps and taillights work fine. I will replace the switch then and the wire and see if that helps.

 

Thankyou :)

[Jim Bowen 1]

does the switch illuminate at all?

 

thats what that wire does, earth supply to the light, i think...

 

switch is about £55 from VW

[voo51 0]

The switch itself illuminates when the lights are off but when i turn them on the switch light goes off. Also when you slightly push the circle light emblem on the button the light goes off.

 

I have put a post on for a second hand one.

[Jim Bowen 1]

well thats all normal

 

prehaps it broke in the past and someone just changed the switch, i don't really know

 

are you going to change the wiring? the whole clump unplugs each end, worth adding an extra inline fuse too

[voo51 0]

Yep, going to change the earth wire and a fuse is a good idea, won't be done for a few days though, ill update once it's done.

 

Thanks again

[Z dub 0]

I'm having the same problem right now. Got a new switch today but still not working. How did it work for you? And where does the clump of wires go to within the dash?

[Jim Bowen 1]

the clump of wires from the switch runs to the back of the fuse box, (which is next to your bonnet release handle)

[Jim Bowen 1]

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=65708&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=headlight&start=15

 

thats when it happened to me, some pics on page 2