Woohoo! Another opportunity to learn more about my car!!

330 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Crispyfritter, Feb 12, 2002

Crispyfritter

Discussion Starter · Feb 12, 2002

Gents, (and ladies)
Some of you may know I stumbled upon a learning experience (read: 86 Jetta GL). It has some issues, but overall a great little car. In order to keep from ruining Lyle's thread, I am starting my own.
I have an electrical problem. That's right, I admitted it. The first step to recovery..blah...blah...blah....
Anyways, my right rear light cluster has some issues. When I hit my brakes while having the right turn signal on, the turn signal goes spastic. Sometimes, it slows down, other times it speeds up, and still other times it just turns on and stays on. When I release the pedal it returns to normal. Also, when I back up, when I press the brake pedal, the right rear light goes out.
So, the brake seems to be causing the quirks here, but I just don't know where to start. Any ideas?
Chris

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

negativl

· #2 · Feb 12, 2002

Re: Woohoo! Another opportunity to learn more about my car!! (200HP4dr)

I'd start by checking the ground connections... The VW cable has struck me as kinda suspect. There seem to be a couple different variants, but basically there should be a ground attachment between the batt and the car down near the back of the battery, where the rear clamping foot is. After that I'd check the fusebox for loose connections (ya never know...). The brake light switch (top of the brake pedal) on some cars is a weakness, dunno about dubs. Then there's the wiring that heads back to the lights. That should get ya started.

*edit: oh yeah, and check the connections around the right rear lights.

[Modified by negativl, 7:06 PM 2-12-2002]

See less See more

Save

lyledriver

· #3 · Feb 12, 2002

Re: Woohoo! Another opportunity to learn more about my car!! (200HP4dr)

If you've got a digital multimeter get it out, cause you're gonna need it.
Id say your first step would be unplugging the cluster.. pulling all the bulbs out of it.. and check the whole board for shorts (you're basically gonna have to reverse engineer it).. then plug everything back in.. and start testing voltages along all the runs with various lights turned on.. ie. start with just the running lights and make sure thats the only one with 12 volts.. then do JUST the brakes and make sure thats the only one.. then start doing combinations until you see where its going worng.
Umm I guess thats a start.. hopefully its something simple like a broken ground on the cluster causing the current to go somewhere its not supposed to.
hth http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

See less See more

Save

Dieder

· #4 · Feb 12, 2002

Re: Woohoo! Another opportunity to learn more about my car!! (200HP4dr)

the other guys have it pretty well covered. I had the same thing goin on a while back. Instead of going through all that hassle and chase, I went out and bough a new bulb for every socket of my car. Fixed the problem and I am amazed how much brighter the new ones are.
I was having all sorts of weird symtoms. Check your bulbs too! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif even a perfect ground wont fix a broken filament

*I'm a retard and read AFTER I posted... I thought you were talking about the signal bulb oh well, new ones couldnt hurt

*

[Modified by Dieder, 2:25 PM 2-12-2002]

See less See more

Save

Crispyfritter

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 12, 2002

Re: Woohoo! Another opportunity to learn more about my car!! (negativl)

Cool. Thanks for the tips. I'll have to get on that tomorrow with the voltage tester. I think I'll go over the ground first, then start testing the cluster.
Thanks for the help gents, I'll be a technically proficient dubber in no time.
Chris

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month