Interior lights

Calincolnshire · Jan 28, 2013

Just got our new Cali and while showing people around it noticed the interior light in the cab and foot wells were not illuminated . As it was new I thought I'd just done something and turned them off. However a read of the handbook made me think something else was afoot.
Having found a fuse layout on another forum found the 7.5Amp fuse blown. I replaced it and all has been well for a couple of days however today once again the fuse has blown. I replaced it again and operated the interior lights one at a time and opened and closed the door and again all is well. Anyone else had an intermittent fuse blow. Can't help but think they have trapped a cable.
I hate taking things back to the dealer as they are 40 miles away and I will set about removing all the door lights at the weekend to check there connections but has anyone else seen this.

Regards. John

choplee · Jan 30, 2013

if the fuse doesn't effect anything else other than the cab&footwell lights then i wouldn't worry to much until you get any other problems and book it in or try and make the dealer trip on a day your doing something else ...( unless the cali is your only car) ..
At least they will not drain your main battery not being on with the doors open

Calincolnshire · Jan 30, 2013

I'll still take a look and see if there is something obvious but I take your point. Put a new fuse in yesterday and still working so a dealer visit could end up finding nothing wrong. Intermittent faults I hate them.

Californiaman · Jan 30, 2013

I've never heard of any bad wiring type of issues like this other than the earth shunt. Here is hoping you just had a run of bad luck with dodgy fuses!

Calincolnshire · Jan 30, 2013

Had to put a 10 amp in as that is all I had and that went as well . Got a nail in now so sniffing for burning smells :lol: great diagnostic too the nose who needs a multimeter. :lol:

Californiaman · Jan 30, 2013

At which point, I think I would describe it as undriveable and get VW assist to come and sort it out....!!

Calincolnshire · Jan 31, 2013

When it gets sorted or I find the issue I'll post an update .

Calincolnshire · Feb 10, 2013

Hopefully I've fixed the issue without the need to go to the dealer.
I removed all the California lights in the foot wells and the fuse held. Testing each light for resistance showed nothing unusual (2.2ohms) however on re fitting the drivers door unit the fuse blew again. Stripping the light down and removing the small glass blade lamps I noticed that one of the lamp holders that are made up of 2 brass strips that run the length of the unit and form the connectors 1 being + and 1 being - was only a fraction from touching the other side so shorting the circuit. Bending the lamp holder back into position and refitting the lamps sorted problem. I have now had 3 days without an issue so think its sorted. The closing of the door was enought to shake the light fitting and get the connector close enough to arc and short.
I am an electrical engineer so it was a matter of pride that I fixed it myself.

So if you ever change blown lamps in these units be careful as my problem was caused by incorrect fitment of a lamp bending the connection finger. May see if they do LEDs in this lamp type for an easy mod.

calikev · Feb 10, 2013

Top work there :thumb

hopefully it's sorted it

Andresz · Feb 10, 2013

Thank you for the update, this sort of information sharing can save hours of work and lots of nerves lost in case this happens to someone else.

nickedwards123 · Jan 16, 2022

Hi, I just diagnosed a very similar issue in my 2018 Ocean.
The 7.5 amp fuse for these lights was blowing randomly, sometimes a month went by, sometimes the fuse failed within a day.
Thanks to the above advice I traced it down to the foot well light for the rear cabin.
See the attached photos.
It appears that the back of the light had fallen off, and was trapped somewhere behind the panel.
With some careful pulling on the wire from the harness I managed to fish it out from under the foot step. It probably fell apart due to the sliding door being slammed, typically when camping at 1am.

The bulbs had fallen out, and the contacts which were kept apart by the bulbs were now practically touching. They probably shorted when the sliding door was further slammed after I kept changing the fuse.

No idea where the other two bulbs fell. See the first contact on the left, it was almost touching.

And this is what it looked like after replacing the missing bulbs and assembling it.