Cali T5.1 SE Rear interior lights not working

dlfgarden · Mar 9, 2026

Hello,

The rear interior lights in our T5.1 SE have stopped working. First the centre light stopped working completely, and the other ones were very temperamental and prone to flickering. This happened before and we found that moving around in the pop top bed brought them back on, but they have now gone completely. I did the earth shunt repair over the weekend (that was fun!), and replaced both 10A fuses under the passenger seat (the red ones below, are the fuses all where they should be?). Does anyone have any ideas? I am completely stuck.

Thanks

dlfgarden · Mar 9, 2026

I noticed on another thread that their T5.1 fuses had the 30/30/10 and the 10/5/5 the other way round. Surely that can't be it? Everything else is working perfectly (fridge, pop-top, centre console, water pump etc).

WelshGas · Mar 9, 2026

dlfgarden said:
I noticed on another thread that their T5.1 fuses had the 30/30/10 and the 10/5/5 the other way round. Surely that can't be it? Everything else is working perfectly (fridge, pop-top, centre console, water pump etc).

The actual Fuse Box will be correct as well as the Fuse size/colour BUT the actual position can vary from vehicle to vehicle.

dlfgarden · Mar 9, 2026

WelshGas said:
The actual Fuse Box will be correct as well as the Fuse size/colour BUT the actual position can vary from vehicle to vehicle.

OK, thanks. It probably isn't that then. It is looking like it might have to be a trip to the van centre to get it repaired ££££

WelshGas · Mar 9, 2026

dlfgarden said:
OK, thanks. It probably isn't that then. It is looking like it might have to be a trip to the van centre to get it repaired ££££

You said the main kitchen light stopped working. Have you checked with a multimeter if you have power to it?
It is 10yrs old and they do fail.

dlfgarden · Mar 9, 2026

WelshGas said:
You said the main kitchen light stopped working. Have you checked with a multimeter if you have power to it?
It is 10yrs old and they do fail.

No, what settings would I use on the multimeter to check and where would I put the probes? Would the kitchen light failing cause the other rear interior lights to fail as well? (All 6 of the rear interior lights are not working). One thing I forgot to mention. When the rear small lights were working turning on more than one made them go really faint. But now they are not working at all.

WelshGas · Mar 9, 2026

dlfgarden said:
No, what settings would I use on the multimeter to check and where would I put the probes? Would the kitchen light failing cause the other rear interior lights to fail as well? (All 6 of the rear interior lights are not working). One thing I forgot to mention. When the rear small lights were working turning on more than one made them go really faint. But now they are not working at all.

12v DC.
VW use brown wire for earth/ -tve and other colour for +tve
If you don't get a reading connect multimeter red lead to coloured wire and multimeter black wire to chassis using front seat bolt or similar in case Earth has failed for lights.

dlfgarden · Mar 9, 2026

WelshGas said:
12v DC.
VW use brown wire for earth/ -tve and other colour for +tve
If you don't get a reading connect multimeter red lead to coloured wire and multimeter black wire to chassis using front seat bolt or similar in case Earth has failed for lights.

OK, great. Thanks, I'll give that a try.

dlfgarden · Mar 12, 2026

WelshGas said:
You said the main kitchen light stopped working. Have you checked with a multimeter if you have power to it?
It is 10yrs old and they do fail.

I finally got round to trying this. I got 0V on the kitchen light and 0.6V on one of the small reading lights next to it. I tried using the front seatbelt bolt as an earth and got the same reading. I then had a look under the sink and found that the cables under there are really wet, including the thin black fabric one. We clearly have the dreaded window seal leak problem and water is getting in that way. I'm guessing this has probably screwed with the electrics somehow, and is now the most likely culprit. I guess I need to fix the leak first and go from there.

WelshGas · Mar 12, 2026

dlfgarden said:
I finally got round to trying this. I got 0V on the kitchen light and 0.6V on one of the small reading lights next to it. I tried using the front seatbelt bolt as an earth and got the same reading. I then had a look under the sink and found that the cables under there are really wet, including the thin black fabric one. We clearly have the dreaded window seal leak problem and water is getting in that way. I'm guessing this has probably screwed with the electrics somehow, and is now the most likely culprit. I guess I need to fix the leak first and go from there.

Useful post by @vbk1975 on the input/outputs of the multi connector .

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BeachBound · Mar 16, 2026

dlfgarden said:
The rear interior lights in our T5.1 SE have stopped working.

The interior lights on our T5.1 Beach (so wired differently) weren't working because the little cable from the battery hadn't been reconnected. Could the issue be down to a poor connection there?

dlfgarden · Mar 16, 2026

BeachBound said:
The interior lights on our T5.1 Beach (so wired differently) weren't working because the little cable from the battery hadn't been reconnected. Could the issue be down to a poor connection there?

Possibly? I did the 'earth shunt' repair that is a common problem in these vans, and disconnected and reconnected the batteries myself. The fridge and 12V sockets are working so I think the main battery connection is OK. Is this a separate cable that you are talking about here? Do you happen to have a picture of the cable and connection that you are referring to? Thanks.

BeachBound · Mar 17, 2026

dlfgarden said:
Possibly? I did the 'earth shunt' repair that is a common problem in these vans, and disconnected and reconnected the batteries myself. The fridge and 12V sockets are working so I think the main battery connection is OK. Is this a separate cable that you are talking about here? Do you happen to have a picture of the cable and connection that you are referring to? Thanks.

I'm away from the van at the moment, and the auto electrician only showed it to me briefly, but it looked similar to the slender cables with hooped ends here:

https://www.justkampers.com/media/catalog/product/t/u/tumbnail_159ded68-3a12-4b12-803d-438427f8891d.jpg