Interior lighting - dome lights and in the doors

[AlexS]

Well that was fun; I went out in the 928 today and found that my instrument cluster had stopped working altogether - no speed, revs, fuel level, oil pressure or temp (although curiously the battery gauge was working). I also noticed that the clock has stopped ticking too.

Thank goodness for a GPS speedo app on my iPhone, balanced by the gearstick for the journey!

The only thing that I’d done to the car was change the bulbs in the original lights, so got home and pulled the bulbs, and my suspicion that I’d blown a fuse was confirmed. Replaced the fuse, and after some curious flashing of the indicators when I turned the ignition back on, everything came back to life!

I can only think that by replacing the bulbs in all the light units, I shorted out a connection somewhere, so bulbs are staying out until the replacement lights arrive this week and then I’ll try again...

[AlexS]

So I had a delivery today - I got the lights and the connectors which look like they should do the trick.

(Hopefully pic attached!)

However, the connectors don't come with any connecting pins in them, so I've been looking around and have come across this:

https://javalins.wordpress.com/vw-golf- ... onnectors/

That led me to the 'VW Repair Wire 000979019EA' kit, which includes cable with the small 0.35mm connectors on the end. Have ordered from eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Repa ... SwwJVdpzrR

And I've ordered so will see if they will work.

Will report back accordingly!

[UKenGB]

So I had a delivery today - I got the lights and the connectors which look like they should do the trick.

(Hopefully pic attached!)

However, the connectors don't come with any connecting pins in them, so I've been looking around and have come across this:

https://javalins.wordpress.com/vw-golf- ... onnectors/

That led me to the 'VW Repair Wire 000979019EA' kit, which includes cable with the small 0.35mm connectors on the end. Have ordered from eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Repa ... SwwJVdpzrR

And I've ordered so will see if they will work.

Will report back accordingly!

I'm having trouble identifying the terminals as the VW part numbers seem to only refer to their 'repair kits' which are terminals crimped on a length of wire which is no good for my purposes as I want to crimp the terminals onto the existing wiring.

The terminals seem likely to be from TE, but determining the correct size is tricky. If the terminals and wiring you receive does fit those connector housings, could you let me know the dimensions of the terminal? From that I should be able to figure out the actual TE terminal number to make future purchases simpler.

I'm not sure the wiring kits you mention are correct though as 000 979 133 seems to be the right one. It may just be down to the wire size though. It'll be interesting to see how they fit when they turn up.

[AlexS]

I'm having trouble identifying the terminals as the VW part numbers seem to only refer to their 'repair kits' which are terminals crimped on a length of wire which is no good for my purposes as I want to crimp the terminals onto the existing wiring.

The terminals seem likely to be from TE, but determining the correct size is tricky. If the terminals and wiring you receive does fit those connector housings, could you let me know the dimensions of the terminal? From that I should be able to figure out the actual TE terminal number to make future purchases simpler.

I'm not sure the wiring kits you mention are correct though as 000 979 133 seems to be the right one. It may just be down to the wire size though. It'll be interesting to see how they fit when they turn up.

Sure, the idea I had is that by posting all this info, it serves as help to someone else so I’m happy to keep working through until the info is complete

The wiring kit was a bit of guesswork - I measured the size of the ‘crosses’ on the end of the connector block but could well have got it wrong (in fact, having just thought about it again, I probably have!) so will keep updating until I get it right

[AlexS]

I had another look at this last night, and yes I think I ordered the wrong pins/terminals, so have ordered the others too. Will report back accordingly!

[AlexS]

I had another look at this last night, and yes I think I ordered the wrong pins/terminals, so have ordered the others too. Will report back accordingly!

So, I'm pleased to say that I now have the front interior light working!

After ordering the VW repair kit wire set 000 979 133, I found that the terminal blocks were too big to fit into the holes in the connector for the light, so I used the VW repair kit 000 979 019 instead, which does fit; the wires are a bit spindly but seeing as they're only going to be carrying current for an LED bulb, I figured that there won't be any issues.

There is something stopping the light itself from fitting properly into the headlining, but I'll take a proper look at that at the weekend when I have a bit more time, rather than popping out to the garage in between meetings.

Will write the whole thing up once I've completed the rear interior light. I've also just noticed that there is one in the boot lid too; that looks to be in seriously bad shape so I'll have a look at that at the weekend too.

[stratfordshark]

If you want to use a VW light in place of the hatch interior light, you need to cut off the connector housing and solder wires to the pins as there's not enough depth behind the light to accept the fitting.

This creates a risk of shorting against the body, so after soldering the wires on you need to encapsulate them before install.

May be easier to go OEM for the hatch light (NB takes different length LED than the VW lights).

[AlexS]

Thanks, yes I'm not sure I'm fussed about having a VW light there so will look at OEM options (with LED bulb just so they're all the same)

[AlexS]

Thought I'd post an update; I've now got the lights in the doors and roof sorted - it's so nice to be able to see things when opening the doors in the dark!

The light fitting in the rear section of the roof was a doddle to fit, but the front section by the windscreen was a real pig. I ended up breaking one of the new lights as I was trying to manhandle it into position so had to order a new one, but as part of breaking it I realised that it was never going to fit properly, but I did work out what I needed to do.

Pics below - there is a small extra bit of plastic that needs to be sanded down / removed before the light will properly fit into the cavity for the spring clip to work. As soon as this was sanded flat, it fitted absolutely fine. So pleased I managed to work it out and to have ticked it off my (ever growing) list of things to do

[stratfordshark]

Good result and thanks for updating the thread.

My take is that the VW fittings are nice items and advisable if you want to continue using incandescent bulbs. But if you fit LEDs in working 928 lights, the heat problem that causes them to melt/fail is eliminated, so you can choose which way to go. LEDs have been fine in the lights in my car for ten years, and I leave doors open for ages when working on various items.

[Bizman928]

If you can stay with the original fittings then our Interior LED bulb upgrade is the great way to go. Only 250mA current draw against the old 10W extremely high heat emitting festoon bubs

https://woodypeck.com/product/led-inter ... rsche-928/