UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I like things to be symmetrical me, so when i first got my Polo i was dissapointed to find ony the RHS rear fog light was connected up. This is a quick and dirty guide on how to rectify this oversight.

Items needed:
30cm of single core cable, 5A rated.
Wire Strippers (or cutters and a steady hand)
1 Scotch lock connector.
30 Mins of your time.

Optional Items:
T20 Torx bit to undo the bracket on the LHS of the boot.
Multimeter.


Right. First thing to do is to remove the LHS rear light cluster from the car. Inside the boot, behind the light unit, there is a large plastic nut with a safety cord attached. Undo this nut and then swing open the light unit. It should unclip from the bodywork of the car.

To remove the light holder from the lens just push in the plastic tabs, around the outside of the holder and the two will come apart.

Below is a picture of the bulb we are working on:



VW supply a Dual Filament bulb, so you just need the connecting wire.

Pull the carpet away from the side of the car, being carefull not to rip it where the bracket pokes through. and you will find the wiring loom we need to break into. You might want to remove the bracket as it gets in the way a little. (use the T20 Torx bit to remove the two bolts)



Use the scotch lock connector on the grey/white wire running your own wire (i chose red) through to the light cluster. This new wire needs to go into the empty pin (PIN 5) on the multiplug that connects to the LHS light.

Strip a good length off the wire and fold it over itself so you get a nice big connection patch, then push it into the hole in the connector until the copper shows through on the other side (as shown)

Then re-wrap the wires using the original wire wrap:





Put it all back together - reversing the removal sequence - and check it out:



Much better!

Done the exact same thing a few weeks ago!! Great minds and all that

Excellent guide! Not that I know anything about 9N's though, just looks well put together. Nice pics too!

vw are odd like that cos on my mk3 golf all i had to do was throw in a buld RESULT and by summer the polo will be twinned (think about that one ive got it sussed)

polo2k wrote:by summer the polo will be twinned (think about that one ive got it sussed)

Well you could just get a UK spec RHS light cluster and forget about the reversing light, but i suspect you are going one better than that...

Possibly using the LED side lights as a combined Side / Fog light, and having two reversing lights at the bottom?

youll see possibly sooner than i though cos im off work at the moment due to contractual stuff thats really complicated! but there will be reversing lights

I always thought it was a safety feature.

It's easier to see the brake lights when you only have one fog light on. but then maybe again it's penny pinching by VW.

Personally I'd like LED lights for the rear, same as the ones on a Jag X Type

des_pd_ tdi wrote:I always thought it was a safety feature.

It's easier to see the brake lights when you only have one fog light on.

Not sure i understand you Des. The brake lights are at the very top of the cluster, next to the reversing lights so i don't see how they could be confused with the fog lights. Also, the high level brake light tends to attract the eye when it comes on..

I agree about led lights though. Would love a set of them.

When you have both fog lights enabled they produce quite a glare. It can be difficult to tell when you apply the brakes because they produce the same amount of light/glare as the fogs. So when you're looking at the car from the rear it's looks like one big light when fogs and brake lights are on.

The only tell tale sign is the third brake light on the rear hatch.

VW should really put the fog below the bumper, like what Ford do with the Focus/Fiesta.

Des:

I still fail to see where you are coming from with this. Your driving along, in the fog, behind a car with fog lights on. He brake's. You see 3 extra lights come on. Simple.

The ford cars appear to have had the fog / reverse light stuck there purely because that's the only place left that they can fit them on. Most Focus's i have seen driving around lately have a layer of crud deposited over them, because of their close proximity to the road spray being brought up by the back wheels.

At least VW thought about them properly. And didn't stick them on as an after-thought, just to get the cars through the certification process.

I think (my opinion no one elses) both lights in the same unit produce too much glare.

Anyway forget about that load of old boll OX, how about LED lights for the rear

I saw what happened with the leather seat escapade so I'm not about to start one up over fog lights.

Des

Des, I don't dissagree with you but you seem to be missing the point.

If your far enough away not to notice that the brake lights have come on as well as the fog lights, (which should only be on when it's really foggy and therefore will lose a considerable amount of intensity) then what is there to worry about??

As for LED lights, I agree, they rock. But you will still encounter the same problem. LED fog and brake lights will be the same intensity, so apart from the response time, you will be back to stage 1.

The LED lights would look cool on the circular rear light, not on the brake or fog light. But then again we're dreaming, unless we have a electronics wizz or VW technician on this site we can forget the LED lights.

you can get lights like these...



but i suspect you mean something like this....

Yeah thats what I'm talking about.

Where can you get them?