Blowing Fuse For Reverse Lights

[mechsmurf 0]

been having a problem for a while with reverse light fuse keep blowing ona mk1 gti it started with slight illumination of battery light on dash and then found that the fuse kept blowing .

 

my battery went dead last week and when i removed battery i noticed the wiring to the reverse light switch was melted so i removed the melted wires and replaced with new wiring but reverse lights are still inop .

 

have tested switch and bulbs and are all ok

 

i have noticed when i put it in reverse the fuse blows straight away

 

tested voltage to wiring and is 12v and also tested continuity and earth and lives are ok

 

does anyone have any ideas or have had this problem

 

please help

 

fuse also runs rev counter and clock illumination

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

A wire must be shorting out somewhere, i'd go through that part of the loom and check.

[M@tt 77]

if it only blowing when you put it in reverse the short must be on the wire from the reverse switch on the gearbox to the reverse light.

 

IIRC the reverse wire goes from the switch through the fuseboard to the rear light cluster on the passenger side and then out again to the reverse light

 

you want to identify the wire at the rear cluster that comes from the front of the car (wire 53) and with the gear stick NOT in reverse test whether this wire 53 grounds out. (it SHOULDN'T) if it does then you know that the short is between this connector and the reverse switch (could be on either switch to fuseboard or fuseboard to rear cluster section).

 

If it doesn't ground out double check that the switch is working by putting it into reverse and this time you SHOULD find that the wire grounds out.

 

If it's not grounding out from the connector from the switch to the light cluster when its not supposed to be then it must be from the light cluster to the reverse light.

 

If you do find it is on the wire between the cluster and the reverse switch it will be a case of tracing the loom back through teh car to find out where it is broken or worn through and repair it. The loom does come out of the body work by the rear quarter on the inside behind the trim plastics and goes under the back seat, under the carpet and down under the passenger footwell to the fuseboard.

 

It goes into the fuse board on one connector and come out on aother and goes to the reverse switch

 

HTH

Edited April 2, 2008 by M@tt

[Roman 0]

if it only blowing when you put it in reverse the short must be on the wire from the reverse switch on the gearbox to the reverse light.

 

IIRC the reverse wire goes from the switch through the fuseboard to the rear light cluster on the passenger side and then out again to the reverse light

 

you want to identify the wire at the rear cluster that comes from the front of the car (wire 53) and with the gear stick NOT in reverse test whether this wire 53 grounds out. (it SHOULDN'T) if it does then you know that the short is between this connector and the reverse switch (could be on either switch to fuseboard or fuseboard to rear cluster section).

 

If it doesn't ground out double check that the switch is working by putting it into reverse and this time you SHOULD find that the wire grounds out.

 

If it's not grounding out from the connector from the switch to the light cluster when its not supposed to be then it must be from the light cluster to the reverse light.

 

If you do find it is on the wire between the cluster and the reverse switch it will be a case of tracing the loom back through teh car to find out where it is broken or worn through and repair it. The loom does come out of the body work by the rear quarter on the inside behind the trim plastics and goes under the back seat, under the carpet and down under the passenger footwell to the fuseboard.

 

It goes into the fuse board on one connector and come out on aother and goes to the reverse switch

 

HTH

i bet on reverse light svitch(on gearbox) too

[M@tt 77]

good point!!

 

the switch could be fooked and shorting to the gearbox case, a quick check to rule that out would be to unplug the connector from the reverse switch and bridge the 2 pins if the fuse blows again then its a problem in the wiring, if it doesn't then its the switch.

[mechsmurf 0]

thanks for all the advise

 

after 3 hours of tracing wiring i found that the pass side light cluster had trapped the cluster wiring and was earthing to the car

 

all ok now thanks for all your help much appreciated

[Alfie 6]

if it only blowing when you put it in reverse the short must be on the wire from the reverse switch on the gearbox to the reverse light.

 

IIRC the reverse wire goes from the switch through the fuseboard to the rear light cluster on the passenger side and then out again to the reverse light

 

you want to identify the wire at the rear cluster that comes from the front of the car (wire 53) and with the gear stick NOT in reverse test whether this wire 53 grounds out. (it SHOULDN'T) if it does then you know that the short is between this connector and the reverse switch (could be on either switch to fuseboard or fuseboard to rear cluster section).

 

If it doesn't ground out double check that the switch is working by putting it into reverse and this time you SHOULD find that the wire grounds out.

 

If it's not grounding out from the connector from the switch to the light cluster when its not supposed to be then it must be from the light cluster to the reverse light.

 

If you do find it is on the wire between the cluster and the reverse switch it will be a case of tracing the loom back through teh car to find out where it is broken or worn through and repair it. The loom does come out of the body work by the rear quarter on the inside behind the trim plastics and goes under the back seat, under the carpet and down under the passenger footwell to the fuseboard.

 

It goes into the fuse board on one connector and come out on aother and goes to the reverse switch

 

HTH

Hi Matt, Thats a handy guide and a good post. Electrics seem to be the 205's weakness. I'm slowly working through all the quirky little problems I have with mine. Just fitted new driving lights only to find that the little joint block behind the nearside headlamp was u/s. My reverse light doesn't work either , its not the bulb or the fuse? so I guess I'll try the switch but isn't it a swine to reach? The last 'lecky' thing is the fog lamp, same thing bulb and fuse ok? I'll take your advice and check under the seat and so on but any other ideas gratefully accepted.

[Tom Fenton 1,548]

Before you go delving into the wiring check for power at the lights. They commonly don't work due to either a poor connection in the connector block on the rear of the lamp unit, or the bulbholder itself corroded.