need some help - but its not mg

Paul ZS120 · 16-12-09, 10:14 PM

i know this isnt an mg question but so many of you know about electrics in general and about several other cars i thought i would ask for help anyway and see what happens.....

i have exported a 59 plate facelift 1.9tdi octavia to belgium but i am having problems due to the fog light setup. only the offside lights up as standard but as i am living in belgium i need either the nearside to work or both sides together. can i just get skoda to plug the ecu in to swap it over or is it more technical than that? i went to the main vw and skoda dealer in germany and they want well over 100 quid to rewire my car but i think they are pulling a fast one. all of the wiring seems to be in place and an english mechanic is convinced i just need it plugging in. trouble is he hasnt got the software to do it himself. anyone got any ideas?

problem is im on a tight timeline. it has to pass the mot equivalent in 30 days or im liable for the tzx on the car - nearly 3k so thats a bill i dont want landing on my doorstep if i can help it!

i tried to do the same trick i did with a pug 106 (yeah i know but my first car!!) and just extend the wire, chuck it under the boot carpet and plug it into the opposite light unit. however they said they cant do it on the skoda as the fog light wire steps up the voltage to the tail light bulb so they cant be seperated. this is driving me mad now and any advice greatly welcomed.

will-w · 16-12-09, 10:29 PM

I seriously doubt that something as simple as the fog light is controlled by the ECU in any way, after all it's a simple electric circuit...

Is there actually a space for another fog light on that side? If so, have you tried following the cabling and making sure that it's connected?

You could (as a quick fix to pass the test) route the wiring for the existing fog to a new separate fog light stuck to the bottom of the bumper?

I had to do this on my Jap import Prelude as they don't have to have rear fogs in Japan, so it didn't have one at all!

Ritchy · 16-12-09, 10:36 PM

possible that you can configure it on the computer, if the plugs there and the bulb there it should work, strange they wouldnt just light up both sides though if the wirin was there, i dont really do much work on vw though, sorry cant be any more help, hard to know without looking at it

Ritchy · 16-12-09, 10:38 PM

it wont be a simple circuit, it will go through the equivelant body control unit, vw is pretty complex wiring wise,

stamford · 17-12-09, 08:31 AM

Surely newer cars these days of such a model should have two working foglights? I know smaller budget or city cars tend to have one foglight or a central one. I would say that is odd for an Octavia to have one functional unit.

Does it have a full reflector, bulb and bayonet to accept another feed or is it blank?

Paul ZS120 · 17-12-09, 08:03 PM

i know it sounds wierd guys believe me its pissing me off that a new 14k car only lights up one side. everything is in place on the nearside too, as the fog light is also the normal rear light. mechanic said that normal rear lights run off 5v and then when you put fogs on it steps up the same bulb to 12v and it obviously gets brighter. all wiring and lights are same on both sides and its a strange wiring set up which is why they cant nick the wire and drop a fog off the bumper. the gut has done this before but said it wont work on mine as you need both the wires together to give the stepped up voltage. so if he nicks the wire then the regular rear light would be useless and it would fail the mot anyway.

he is sure that it is just controlled by the serial bus ( i know he said bus but as you know my wiring knowledge can be written on a grain of rice) and it can just be switched over on the computer but skoda say it cant. think they are trying to con me so just wanted to check on here if anyone has seen anything like this before

talkingcars · 17-12-09, 08:10 PM

Going back to the mk3 golf everything was there including wiring, lense and bulb holder, all you had to do was drill out the blank on the back of the light and fit a bulb.

Paul ZS120 · 17-12-09, 08:20 PM

even the bulb is on place as its the bog standard rear light when you put dipped heads on its just made brighter by the fog light circuit. both circuits are in place too the conning german barstewards just wont play the game

talkingcars · 17-12-09, 08:34 PM

Is there an extra wire going to the fog light?If so swap it from one side to the other, If not disconnect the wires going to both sides and swap them by extending both cables.

stamford · 18-12-09, 08:11 AM

Does the spec state both functioning rear foglights? Did you buy said car on the promise that it had twin rear fogs for driving abroad? I would get this clarified by the dealer as it maybe infringing standards. Worth a try.