Sallyanne 10 Posted October 15, 2019 Hi all My sidelight/headlight switch on my ‘95 VR6 is getting red hot when I put the lights on. Does anyone know if this suggests a faulty switch or something more sinister? If the switch itself is likely to be the culprit, any ideas where I could get one? Do VW even still make them? Thanks in advance for any help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fendervg 30 Posted October 15, 2019 Available new from VW Classic Parts and VW Heritage, and a member on here used to sell a Chinese version that had an LED bulb instead of a filament, so would not heat up that much. They all run a bit hot, due to the centre bulb being on all the time, and because without a separate headlight loom they carry a lot of current. They can also fail in a nasty way when the switch toggle tracks come out of alignment and melt one of the earth wires, posing a fire risk. I'd say replace yours as soon as you can. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sallyanne 10 Posted October 15, 2019 Many thanks, that’s brilliant. I’ll track down a new one straight away! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keyo 47 Posted October 15, 2019 Many thanks, that’s brilliant. I’ll track down a new one straight away! Here is a link. Call up Heritage and give them the part number and they will be able to ship it over for free or a hell of a lot cheaper then ordering direct from Classics. Its a mystery why Heritage do not stock these. Be warned could be a six week wait. Might be worth calling your local VW dealer as they might stock them. https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/en/catalog/product/view/id/39790/s/schalter-2997eb/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cressa 44 Posted October 15, 2019 Hi all My sidelight/headlight switch on my ‘95 VR6 is getting red hot when I put the lights on. Does anyone know if this suggests a faulty switch or something more sinister? If the switch itself is likely to be the culprit, any ideas where I could get one? Do VW even still make them? Thanks in advance for any help! 8vmatt has the led version which certainly looks original and works fine. As mentioned lots of time before on the forum, check the wiring to this... pull the switch out and have a good look at it. Some have put an inline fuse on the negative to prevent the risk of overheating- melting- fire. So most importantly, keep a 10mm spanner to hand in case you need to disconnect the battery leads sharpish. I hope that helps Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vw rule 19 Posted October 16, 2019 8vmatt has the led version which certainly looks original and works fine. As mentioned lots of time before on the forum, check the wiring to this... pull the switch out and have a good look at it. Some have put an inline fuse on the negative to prevent the risk of overheating- melting- fire. So most importantly, keep a 10mm spanner to hand in case you need to disconnect the battery leads sharpish. I hope that helps Definitely as stated above. Plus the replacement headlight switch that 8vmatt was doing is much better quality than the OEM switch. I think he was selling them for about £25 Si Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sallyanne 10 Posted October 16, 2019 Many thanks all for your great advice. New switch is on the way! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corrado33 10 Posted December 13, 2019 It's worth nothing the OTHER reason why the switch is hot. VW decided that it'd be a good idea to run the wiring for the lights.... a very high current device, literally through the switch. No relay, nothing. Just big ass wires going to and from the switch. If you know anything about electronics, this is a REALLY.... REALLY dumb idea. The way to fix this is to put relays before the lights in the engine bay of the car (and then insulate those relays from the elements.) This accomplishes two things. 1: No more high currents going through your headlight switch meaning there isn't any chance the switch/wiring will heat up/catch on fire (because that happens...) and 2: Slightly brighter lights since the lights are now being fed by a relatively shorter wire coming straight from the battery. (Long wires have a decent amount of resistance...) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fendervg 30 Posted December 13, 2019 Most old VWs are wired like that, directly through the switch - so a loom is a must in any case, and a good piece of advice. But the switch itself will fail eventually due to bad design and defective parts - it's the always on incandescent bulb that makes it heat up. the toggle arms break and the contacts are then misaligned. If you search on here for posts about the switch from user RW1, and also about the replacement Chinese switches, he did an in depth tear down of both switches and described exactly why they fail - interesting reading. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted December 20, 2019 Most old cars, not just VWs, are wired like that. They simply hadn't thought about it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fendervg 30 Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) Most old cars, not just VWs, are wired like that. They simply hadn't thought about it. Thanks for confirming - I was originally going to say "most cars", but chickened out as I only have direct hands on experience with older VAGs! At least good to know that they weren't the only ones and it was just par for the course then - VW would have had a better engineering reputation than that if it was an obvious electrical flaw. Edited December 20, 2019 by fendervg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
