Brake Light And Rear Fog Light Problems

[Guest adrian.dukesell]

CAN ANYONE HELP ME, I HAVE 97 VW SHARAN WHICH HAS DEVELOPED A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKE LIGHTS. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE GLOW LAMP PLUG KEPT COMING ON AND GOING OFF WHEN THE BRAKE PEDDLE WAS DEPRESSED. THE FAULT WAS DIAGNOSED AS A FAULTY BRAKE PEDAL SWITCH, THIS WAS REPLACED AND THE PROBLEM WAS OK. JUST RECENTLY THE GLOW PLUG LIGHT HAS COME ON AGAIN AND THE BRAKE LIGHT WARNING LIGHTS HAVE BEEN STAYING ON. I HAVE CHECKED THE FUSES AND ALL ARE OK, ALTHOUGH THE STOP AND TAIL LIGHTS APPEARED TO BE OK I REPLACED THEM AS WELL AS THE REAR FOG LAMPS WHICH HAD BLOWN. THE BRAKE LIGHTS APPEARED TO WORK FOR ONE DAY BUT HAVE NOW STOPPED WORKING AGAIN, THE BULBS LOOK INTACT BUT ALSO I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE REAR FOG LIGHTS ARE COMING ON WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE SWITCHED ON. I AM NOT VERY TECHNICAL BUT WONDERED IF IT WAS DUE TO A SPECIFIC RELAY BEING FAULTY. CAN ANYONE HELP PLEASE.

REGARDS ADRIAN

[Justice]

Could be trapped wires in the rubber boot on the tailgate,many have this fault only last week a mate had a problem and when I looked the wires had bared themselfs and were shorting out.

[Guest vr6galaxy]

First thing turn off the caps! we can hear/read you clearly ;)

two things either the brake light switch has gone U/S again? try resetting it, or as the jc has suggested take a look at the wiring in the rubber grommet/boot where the cables pass from the body to the hatch on the drivers side :huh: as stated common problem and with yours being of an age where it will occur :(

[mossy]

This is part of the limp home mode that has been built into the galaxy/sharan etc. When your brake lights fail to work the car thinks that your brake may be faulty so it turns on the fog lights for protection, there is nothing worse than a car with no brake lights working. There is too switches under the dash that the brake pedal is controlling, the first is for the brake light and the second is for the limp home mode. Now if they replaced the brake light switch which is self adjusting it might have adjusted a little too much and won't switch on. Remove the bottom panel that covers the brake pedal and try and re-adjust the switch till you can get the lights working again, its not easy and not much room. If this dosn't work remove the switch connect it back onto the wiring harness and manually work the switch while checking if the brake lights come on, if not replace the switch, if it does work pull the top part of the switch ( the moving part ) out to the last you will hear a few clicks and re-intsall.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

(snip) there is nothing worse than a car with no brake lights working. (snip)

I beg to differ - there are many, many things worse that a car with no working brake lights ...... finding out that you are married to a schitzophrenic being just one :lol:

[mk2vr6]

(snip) there is nothing worse than a car with no brake lights working. (snip)

I beg to differ - there are many, many things worse that a car with no working brake lights ...... finding out that you are married to a schitzophrenic being just one :lol:

 

or even being in the same room as mo4 yet alone being married to her :D

[big_kev]

(snip) there is nothing worse than a car with no brake lights working. (snip)

I beg to differ - there are many, many things worse that a car with no working brake lights ...... finding out that you are married to a schitzophrenic being just one :lol:

 

 

 

I had to look up "schitzophrenic" in a well known dictionary to find out what it meant....

 

 

 

 

It just said.....woman !

[Ian H]

I know that this is an old thread but I'm a newbie and need to "reply" to something to ask a question...

 

Anyway - I own a Mark III Galaxy (56) and the drivers side break light bulb has blown. The problem is - I can't work out how to change it! On my Mark II you would access it from inside the D pillar, but with this one there is only a black plastic cover which, when removed, reveals the light cluster but no way of knowing how to get it off! Do I just pluck up courage and prise it off?

 

Any help would be great.

 

Thanks - Ian

[taurus]

fog lights not working front are ok .changed bulbs no joy

[gregers]

broken wires is the 1st port of call.

[6266carl]

CAN ANYONE HELP ME, I HAVE 97 VW SHARAN WHICH HAS DEVELOPED A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKE LIGHTS. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE GLOW LAMP PLUG KEPT COMING ON AND GOING OFF WHEN THE BRAKE PEDDLE WAS DEPRESSED. THE FAULT WAS DIAGNOSED AS A FAULTY BRAKE PEDAL SWITCH, THIS WAS REPLACED AND THE PROBLEM WAS OK. JUST RECENTLY THE GLOW PLUG LIGHT HAS COME ON AGAIN AND THE BRAKE LIGHT WARNING LIGHTS HAVE BEEN STAYING ON. I HAVE CHECKED THE FUSES AND ALL ARE OK, ALTHOUGH THE STOP AND TAIL LIGHTS APPEARED TO BE OK I REPLACED THEM AS WELL AS THE REAR FOG LAMPS WHICH HAD BLOWN. THE BRAKE LIGHTS APPEARED TO WORK FOR ONE DAY BUT HAVE NOW STOPPED WORKING AGAIN, THE BULBS LOOK INTACT BUT ALSO I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE REAR FOG LIGHTS ARE COMING ON WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE SWITCHED ON. I AM NOT VERY TECHNICAL BUT WONDERED IF IT WAS DUE TO A SPECIFIC RELAY BEING FAULTY. CAN ANYONE HELP PLEASE.

REGARDS ADRIAN

i had the same problem i checked fuses all ok and i read this and checked my switch which was stuck so i sprayed wd40 on it and they are working again well for now anyway so if i was you check your switch to see if its sticking

[chrispb123456]

CAN ANYONE HELP ME, I HAVE 97 VW SHARAN WHICH HAS DEVELOPED A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKE LIGHTS. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE GLOW LAMP PLUG KEPT COMING ON AND GOING OFF WHEN THE BRAKE PEDDLE WAS DEPRESSED. THE FAULT WAS DIAGNOSED AS A FAULTY BRAKE PEDAL SWITCH, THIS WAS REPLACED AND THE PROBLEM WAS OK. JUST RECENTLY THE GLOW PLUG LIGHT HAS COME ON AGAIN AND THE BRAKE LIGHT WARNING LIGHTS HAVE BEEN STAYING ON. I HAVE CHECKED THE FUSES AND ALL ARE OK, ALTHOUGH THE STOP AND TAIL LIGHTS APPEARED TO BE OK I REPLACED THEM AS WELL AS THE REAR FOG LAMPS WHICH HAD BLOWN. THE BRAKE LIGHTS APPEARED TO WORK FOR ONE DAY BUT HAVE NOW STOPPED WORKING AGAIN, THE BULBS LOOK INTACT BUT ALSO I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE REAR FOG LIGHTS ARE COMING ON WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE SWITCHED ON. I AM NOT VERY TECHNICAL BUT WONDERED IF IT WAS DUE TO A SPECIFIC RELAY BEING FAULTY. CAN ANYONE HELP PLEASE.

REGARDS ADRIAN

i had the same problem i checked fuses all ok and i read this and checked my switch which was stuck so i sprayed wd40 on it and they are working again well for now anyway so if i was you check your switch to see if its sticking

Hi and welcome to the forum

Brake lights could be another faulty or incorrectly adjusted switch, as for the other lights check the wiring for breaks/chaffing and shorting in the rubber trunking from the body to the tailgate (common fault)

[Big Dave]

Hello,

I've noticed a lot of people have had similar faults with the Galaxy/Sharan so I wanted to add my list to the pot.

 

I have a 1996 1.9tdi Sharan and my brake lights have stopped working!

 

Warnings that I've noticed are:

1. Heater plug coil light starts to flash after about 30 mins worth of driving.

2. ABS light stays on for about 10 mins as and when it feels like it.

 

Checks done are:

Auto Electrician plugged in his

[Big Dave]

Hi

OMG!

RE: Brake lights not working..

The Haynes manual states that there is a brake switch and a cruise control switch on the brake pedal.

I took this as gospel and ignored the top switch and concentrated on getting the bottom switch to work.

The switch I bought was different in the fact that it had wider spade connectors and it was a press to make. The bottom switch that I took off the pedal was a press to break and it had smaller connectors.

 

Well after reading some more of the interweb I decided to take a look at the top switch.........It was the same as the one I'd bought and therefore the correct switch to replace.

 

The Brake lights are now working. Yipee!

 

The moral of this story is don't assume.......Take the plunge and investigate further.

 

SO for the Sharan 1.9tdi 1996 model it has two switches on the brake pedal one blue and the top one black. They swap the current from one switch to the other when the pedal is pressed down and therefore turning on the brake lights.

 

Hope this Helps.

 

I'm certainly a lot happier!

 

Regards

Dave