Interior Overhead Lights Won't Turn Off

As the title says, the overhead lights won't turn off. I can get one to turn off, but the passenger side light won't turn off. I just got finished working on my head unit. That couldn't affect the overhead interior lights, could they?

So, I've found that if I hit the space in between the two overhead lights hard enough, they turn off, that is until I hit a hard bump in the road, then they'll pop back on. Obviously something is loose up in there. Anyone know of a guide on how to remove whole unit so I can take a look and see what's what up there?

you have a short somewhere in the circuit. I had the same issue when doing my LED install and not taking note of polarity. Pull the whole unit and make sure nothings bent or broken.

as for removal, pull off the part that looks like a speaker grille and under that will be two T20 screws, unscrew and pull the whole thing down. you still gotta unplug the connector for the lights and if applicable, sunroof controls

Awesome, thanks. Any suggestions on what to look for when I get that thing out? Exposed wire? Broken connections?

theres no wire, its all solid metal. where youre probably messed up is the copper connector for the off, on, on when doors open switch

scGTI said:

...Anyone know of a guide on how to remove whole unit so I can take a look and see what's what up there?

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This might help a little: interior - front dome lights - bulb replacement

Unlikely head unit work affected the overhead lights.
And since you do not mention the rear lights are acting up,
I would not suspect the switching.
(The rear dome fixture is a slave to the front roof console, driven off the same switch.)

Any chance you got water in the roof console?
Sure sounds as if something is shorted.

Rajini98 said:

theres no wire, its all solid metal. where youre probably messed up is the copper connector for the off, on, on when doors open switch

Click to expand...

???
The switch is soldered to the circuit board. :iono:

The harness connection to the circuit board is keyed, no way you are getting that backwards.
The second connection to the front console drives the rear dome lights (also keyed).

JetTurbo said:

This might help a little: interior - front dome lights - bulb replacement

Unlikely head unit work affected the overhead lights.
And since you do not mention the rear lights are acting up,
I would not suspect the switching.
(The rear dome fixture is a slave to the front roof console, driven off the same switch.)

Any chance you got water in the roof console?
Sure sounds as if something is shorted.

???
The switch is soldered to the circuit board. :iono:

The harness connection to the circuit board is keyed, no way you are getting that backwards.
The second connection to the front console drives the rear dome lights (also keyed).

Click to expand...

I don't see any signs of water leaking into there. It's funny you mention the rear lights though. If I press lightly on the housing, specifically the area between the two front lights, all 4 overhead lights come on, almost like I'm pressing a giant button that controls all four overhead interior lights. I've noticed this for about 3 weeks now. I was going to let the dealership fix it when I need my next service since it's still under warranty, but now I'm curious as to what's going on, so I'll probably pop that thing off when I get home from work today and see what the deal is.

I'll be sure to take some pictures, maybe they'll be useful for someone else in the future.

As you probably already know, even if the interior lights are shorted on,
they will still go out ≈20 minutes after key removal with no door or hatch changes.
After the timeout, the power to the interior lighting is disabled by the Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519.
It comes right back on of course when you press a remote button or open or close a door or hatch. :wink:

scGTI said:

I don't see any signs of water leaking into there. It's funny you mention the rear lights though. If I press lightly on the housing, specifically the area between the two front lights, all 4 overhead lights come on, almost like I'm pressing a giant button that controls all four overhead interior lights.

Click to expand...

Well, that is what the interior light master switch provides.
Helps narrow it down.



The circuit board behind the interior light master switch is a good place to start.



That switch is connected to the board with the main harness connection.

The board could be cracked or shorting against something else.
There is a potential during installation to jam the connector / harness against something, potentially cracking the board.

scGTI said:

I've noticed this for about 3 weeks now. I was going to let the dealership fix it when I need my next service since it's still under warranty,...

Click to expand...

Well if it is under warranty, that is a no brainer, leave it be and get it fixed.

scGTI said:

but now I'm curious as to what's going on, so I'll probably pop that thing off when I get home from work today and see what the deal is.

Click to expand...

I would not, disturb anything in the process and it could potentially affect your warranty on that module.
Granted it is quick and simple to remove and re-install the console once you are familiar with it,
but first time is always a learning experience. :wink:

scGTI said:

I'll be sure to take some pictures, maybe they'll be useful for someone else in the future.

Click to expand...

:biggrin:

So I decided to take a look at this issue today. Popped the overhead console off and what did I see but this little guy hanging low staring back at me.



Took a look at the area on the light assembly that corresponded with this loose screw and here's what I found.







I haven't had enough time to make sure that was definitely the issue, but it seems to be the root cause. Either way, glad I found it before it melted all that plastic away.

JetTurbo said:

???
The switch is soldered to the circuit board. :iono:

The harness connection to the circuit board is keyed, no way you are getting that backwards.
The second connection to the front console drives the rear dome lights (also keyed).

Click to expand...

the switch is metal on metal contact. if those pins are bent, it wont work. i guess it would be dumb to think that though because if the connection is weak or broken, no lights would come on.

you are right about the whole "lights turn off after a while" thing so if they stay on permanently, then theres definitely something wrong with the computer that controls the power to those lights.

all in all....warranty work

Hi

scGTI said:

As the title says, the overhead lights won't turn off. I can get one to turn off, but the passenger side light won't turn off. I just got finished working on my head unit. That couldn't affect the overhead interior lights, could they?

Click to expand...

I have same problem.. exactly same... how you was fix it? the short was on the Led overhead circuit board ?
Thank You

Lethe said:

I have same problem.. exactly same... how you was fix it? the short was on the Led overhead circuit board ?
Thank You

Click to expand...

Take your overhead light unit off. The entire housing. Then look into the cavity near the windshield. There should be 2 torx screws up there. Make sure they're tight.

scGTI said:

So I decided to take a look at this issue today. Popped the overhead console off and what did I see but this little guy hanging low staring back at me.

Click to expand...

FaLLeNAn9eL said:

Take your overhead light unit off. The entire housing. Then look into the cavity near the windshield. There should be 2 torx screws up there. Make sure they're tight.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I will check it soon. for now just rake off light... but what is the connection screws tigh and short problem? my problem is passenger side overhad light wont turn off. .
Thank you

Another issue here, about the 3 way rocking switch (off, door open, always on). I would like to ask when at the middle position (door open) contact pins/spring should be both in contact with the board/metal circuit or only one pin should be contact and the other one should be not. As it don't work on that position only. Clear photos of the pins on that position would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

This just happened to my GTI. It was very intermittent but eventually ended up where turning on the drivers side and turning off the passenger side would turn off both lights.

Finally took it apart and sure enough that passenger side screw was loose just like mentioned above.