Stuart's Volkswagen Golf Mk 5/V Forum

I had a new key cut and programmed and I believe this started my current issue which is ..

The light switch doesnt seem to work at all and when I turn the ignition to aux the headlights come on. I think this is caused by a programming error but I need to prove it and get it fixed. At the garage they wanted to charge me £400 to carry out further checks.
If you can shed any light on it I would appreciate it.

I have another question to ask: My air con has packed in and the garage say it is the motor and will cost £800 to fix I wondered if this was a know manufacture fault ,any ideas .

Can you recommend a tool to look into my car computer not too expensive.


Regards Jon

Hi Jon,

I've not heard of the problem you describe with your headlights before. I really don't think this would be related to a new key being programmed.

Also, your car's air con problem. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the motor being the problem. A car's air conditioning system comprises many components which do degrade over time but I am not aware of any manufacturing faults.

Finally, I am a big fan of VCDS (http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/) as a tool for accessing your car's control modules from a laptop but it is not cheap at around £250 and isn't the easiest tool to use. See http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5/vwgolfmk5_vagcom.php for more details. Cheaper tools are available but I've never used any and my impression is that they are not as powerful as VCDS but I guess it all depends upon what you want to do.

Hope that helps. Feel free to provide more information,

Stuart

With the lights they all work but not by the switch .
Have changed the switch still the same I know there is an automatic sensor for lights wondered if this goes faulty it migyt do someting.
Do yo have a golf mk 5 still I wondered if you could send me some screen shots of the code if you don't mind I'm guessing your switch works ok .
With the air con it was a known thing with the mk5 that the compressor fails as mine is low milage I believe this might be the case .


Regards Jon

I did have a problem with my Mk 5 a long time ago where the lighting ECU failed and this caused the light switch to behave funny but not the actual exterior lights. See http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5/vwgolfmk5_wearandtear.php#newlightingecu. Nothing is simple in the Mk 5 or any newer car for that matter. You really need to get the fault codes checked. This should then point you in the right direction rather than trying to guess.

I don’t have my Mk 5 anymore.

Never heard of the air conditioning compressor being a common failure problem on the Mk 5.

Stuart

Ok thanks it's with vw now but I'm not sure they know what the problem is they have put it on the code machine but not sure if it shows anything I will ask them for a print out
.
I think it might be better to get a car electrician to check it as it might be cheaper .
I was hoping they could reset the computer to factory settings and check the keys then if that don't work I can get a auto electrician to carry out checks .
Where abouts are you in the world .

Regards Jon