Interior lights acting up
#1
09-20-2010, 01:08 AM
Interior lights acting up
Hello everyone. This is my first post. I just got a 98 a4 2.8. It's not in the best shape, but I got it for a great price. I used to have a b5 Passat which I loved, and I'm hoping to love this just as much.
Anyway, the interior lights don't go out when the door shuts or is locked. They turn on and off fine manually, but if the switch is in the "auto" position, they will never go out. They will dim slightly, but stay lit. This happens in the dome light as well as both rear lights. Out of all the things wrong with this car, this is for some reason the most annoying.
All other electronics (to my amazement) seem to be working just fine. I pulled some fuzes to check, but there is nothing blown. I see there are a few similar posts, but no answers. I was hoping someone has an idea of where to look.
Some possibilities from other posts in the forum:
1) a malfunctioning battery? Someone had a similar problem and replacing the battery fixed it, but I just don't see how.
2) Locking controller is going bad. Would this effect the lights? The doors aren't the quickest to lock, but they do. I'm not sure what the norm is for A4s. could this be the problem?
Thanks in advance. This is a great forum, and it makes me feel safe that it's so active!
Anyway, the interior lights don't go out when the door shuts or is locked. They turn on and off fine manually, but if the switch is in the "auto" position, they will never go out. They will dim slightly, but stay lit. This happens in the dome light as well as both rear lights. Out of all the things wrong with this car, this is for some reason the most annoying.
All other electronics (to my amazement) seem to be working just fine. I pulled some fuzes to check, but there is nothing blown. I see there are a few similar posts, but no answers. I was hoping someone has an idea of where to look.
Some possibilities from other posts in the forum:
1) a malfunctioning battery? Someone had a similar problem and replacing the battery fixed it, but I just don't see how.
2) Locking controller is going bad. Would this effect the lights? The doors aren't the quickest to lock, but they do. I'm not sure what the norm is for A4s. could this be the problem?
Thanks in advance. This is a great forum, and it makes me feel safe that it's so active!
#3
09-20-2010, 12:01 PM
They come on, they just don't shut off when any light switch is in the auto (I don't know exactly what it's called) position.
Let's say the dome light is set in the auto position (all the way to the right in this car), and I close the doors and lock them, or close the doors and start the car. The lights dim as if they are going to switch off normally, but they never do. They really seem to want to, though. If I then open the door, the lights go to full brightness, as expected. It just seems that the circuit is never fully closed, or open?, or however it works to make electricity stop going to something.
This happens with every door and every courtesy light. I was thinking that maybe it thinks a door is open, but then I noticed that the light will dim considerably as if it is about to go out, but never fully does. Also, there is no door chime or anything when the doors are closed.
The head unit was removed. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. I checked the wires and it doesn't look like anything is crossed or exposed.
Let's say the dome light is set in the auto position (all the way to the right in this car), and I close the doors and lock them, or close the doors and start the car. The lights dim as if they are going to switch off normally, but they never do. They really seem to want to, though. If I then open the door, the lights go to full brightness, as expected. It just seems that the circuit is never fully closed, or open?, or however it works to make electricity stop going to something.
This happens with every door and every courtesy light. I was thinking that maybe it thinks a door is open, but then I noticed that the light will dim considerably as if it is about to go out, but never fully does. Also, there is no door chime or anything when the doors are closed.
The head unit was removed. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. I checked the wires and it doesn't look like anything is crossed or exposed.
#4
09-20-2010, 12:46 PM
They come on, they just don't shut off when any light switch is in the auto (I don't know exactly what it's called) position.
Let's say the dome light is set in the auto position (all the way to the right in this car), and I close the doors and lock them, or close the doors and start the car. The lights dim as if they are going to switch off normally, but they never do. They really seem to want to, though. If I then open the door, the lights go to full brightness, as expected. It just seems that the circuit is never fully closed, or open?, or however it works to make electricity stop going to something.
This happens with every door and every courtesy light. I was thinking that maybe it thinks a door is open, but then I noticed that the light will dim considerably as if it is about to go out, but never fully does. Also, there is no door chime or anything when the doors are closed.
The head unit was removed. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. I checked the wires and it doesn't look like anything is crossed or exposed.
Let's say the dome light is set in the auto position (all the way to the right in this car), and I close the doors and lock them, or close the doors and start the car. The lights dim as if they are going to switch off normally, but they never do. They really seem to want to, though. If I then open the door, the lights go to full brightness, as expected. It just seems that the circuit is never fully closed, or open?, or however it works to make electricity stop going to something.
This happens with every door and every courtesy light. I was thinking that maybe it thinks a door is open, but then I noticed that the light will dim considerably as if it is about to go out, but never fully does. Also, there is no door chime or anything when the doors are closed.
The head unit was removed. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. I checked the wires and it doesn't look like anything is crossed or exposed.
#6
09-21-2010, 12:06 PM
I guess this is not a common problem.
Does anyone know where the central point of the domes come in? Since it's effecting the front and rear dome lights, the problem is before the wires split off. Do you think this would be under the steering side dash, or the glove box?
I'm kind of scared to start messing with stuff on this thing. So far there are no electronic demons except for this one. I don't want to let one out! If someone can point me in a direction to look, I'd appreciate it. thanks!
Does anyone know where the central point of the domes come in? Since it's effecting the front and rear dome lights, the problem is before the wires split off. Do you think this would be under the steering side dash, or the glove box?
I'm kind of scared to start messing with stuff on this thing. So far there are no electronic demons except for this one. I don't want to let one out! If someone can point me in a direction to look, I'd appreciate it. thanks!
#7
09-21-2010, 12:27 PM
im going to go ahead and take a guess here, but there is a little computer thing in everydoor, that controls the lock im going to call it a door catch its the actual mechanism that holds the door shut. your driverside one is probably bad. same thing happened to me.
#9
09-21-2010, 05:07 PM
most likely. i know when mine went bad, the chime went off. also my locks didnt work but i think that was because while all of this was happening i had a leaky taillight which was destroying my central locking. i chased my interior problems around for over a year before i found my problem. good luck, i hope you find the problem. it gets really frustrating.
#10
09-22-2010, 09:52 AM
Thanks. Hopefully I can find it. There's an Audi specialist about 45 minutes away from me. I think I'll take it down to him for some of this weird stuff, although it might not be worth it. There's just so many components that it could be, I don't want to just start buying parts and them not being the right ones. Maybe he's seen it before though. We'll see.