Reverse Lights

[_Jacobm]

Jacobm: I'm fairly sure that the good burghers at VW see the crappy mono reverse light as a feature on their cars, rather than as a problem.
The same issue arose on a friend's Golf (Mk6 version) which I managed to fix. I understand from the driver that the solution, whilst somewhat complicated, works well and I have been told that when reverse gear is selected, the entire back yard is illuminated (probably too bright - I suspect)


Anyhow, this is what I did to fix the problem (my apology again for the complex explanation):

From the outset, I was keen to find a way of installing an additional backing light for the Golf that didn't necessitate installing more wiring from inside the boot space area.

First - I bought from eBay a 12V remote control switch that is typically used on burglar alarms. These units consist of one, or more transmitters (usually a key fob type) and receiver (usually housed in a plastic box). The transmitter uses a small 12V battery - about a third the size of a AAA cell. I needed to be careful to buy a remote control switch that is of the "momentary" type. This means that the contacts on the receiver are closed only for the time that the switch on the transmitter is pressed. The more usual burglar alarm remotes have what's called a latching contact (which means that pressing the key fob switch once closes the receiver contact and pressing the key fob again opens the receiver contact).

Second, I made-up a light using a CREE XML LED and a 1Amp LED driver. These lights are typically used as Bike lights or they are used in the better torches. I could probably have bought a fully functioning light from EBay, but I needed to find one that does NOT have fancy switching modes (like flashing and half bright modes). For the application, it is important that the LED light simply switches onto full brightness when supply is connected (and that's all).

OK. Now that I had all the components, I then needed to install them onto the car. I did this by screwing the remote control receiver box and the LED light to the rear bottom panel of the Golf (it was painted black as I recall). The LED light is simply wired to the output of the receiver contact (and to earth). The Golf fortunately had a tow bar and an 18 pin connector plug. I wired the "live" 12V supply for the receiver box to the "live" wire on the tow bar connector plug (this wire is live whenever the ignition is switched-on).

With all that done, I then needed to figure-out how to turn on the receiver with the key fob transmitter whenever reverse gear was selected. Converting the key fob transmitter to a simple on/off switch was easy - I simply soldered a wired across the contacts of the button so that key fob was permanently "on". This meant that whenever supply was connected to the key fob, the transmitter was turned-on and therefore, the receiver would be turned-on (and the LED light would be turned-on).

The problem now was to find a place on the Golf to connect the transmitter. The obvious answer was to make this connection was across the one backing lamp (i.e. in the panel behind the rear tailgate). However, one of the peculiarities of modern cars (like Golfs and Polos) is their reliance on ODB2 protocols. This means that the car's wiring is used to both supply power to various devices (like the one backing light) and for control signals. I connected a Cathode Ray Oscilloscope across the backing light on the Golf before I went any further to see what was happening when reverse gear was selected. The CRO clearly showed a solid 12 supply voltage across the backing light (no surprises there). However, superimposed on this 12 trace was a "negative pulse". I can't remember the timing details of the pulse, but suffice to say that I needed to account for this signal in turning-on the transmitter. To ensure that the transmitter turned-on reliably and ensure that the transmitter did not affect the control pulse across the backing light I soldered together (in series) a diode and an electrolytic capacitor (small size, can't remember the actual value). This simple circuit was then wired across the battery connections of the key fob transmitter and then the transmitter was wired across the backing light terminals.

Bingo!! My friend's Golf now has two backing lights (the original VW light and the new, super bright LED light)

Cheers for that detailed explanation! Will give it a shot when I find some time, thanks for that

[Guest001]

Some are just too fussy I learnt years ago before the dawn of reversing lights, to lightly tap the brakes and light up the rear with those when it was dark.

[brad]

Some are just too fussy I learnt years ago before the dawn of reversing lights, to lightly tap the brakes and light up the rear with those when it was dark.

Or flick the fog light on.

If you look in the Skoda section at the thread "mountainbikemikes skodaroo"he's also got some interesting ways of getting more light out the back

[Guest001]

Or flick the fog light on.

If you look in the Skoda section at the thread "mountainbikemikes skodaroo"he's also got some interesting ways of getting more light out the back

Fog lights??? Lol Didn't see one on my first 20 cars Started with an 1954 Austin A70

[brad]

The Cabrio was my first with rear fogs.

My suggestion was for those with Polos / Golfs

[DV52]

Cheers for that detailed explanation! Will give it a shot when I find some time, thanks for that

Jscobm: I thought that I might sned you the circuit diagram below. It's the power supply arrangement for the trannmitter. As I have indicated, there is no great precision in picking the components. I found (perhaps not surprising if you think about it) that the larger the size of the capacitor, the longer the new backing light will stay illuminated after reverse gear is de-selected. 220uF was about right for my transmitter, but you might need to play with this part of the project. I took the transmitter out of its key-fob case and put it in a piece of heat shrink tubing which I then tucked in behind the tailgate lining.
Good luck with the project. Give me a shout if you get into trouble

[DV52]

Fog lights??? Lol Didn't see one on my first 20 cars Started with an 1954 Austin A70

Hillbilly: my first car was an Austin A30 (which I affectionately called "the coffee-pot"). Had little light-up flags as turn indicators on the center pillar that would pop-out either side of the car. It even had a slot in the front of the engine for manual cranking. Great little car, but I wouldn't be happy for someone that I care-for to drive around in one these days.

Fact is that as we have grown older and as cars have evolved, our concept of acceptable risks has changed. All of us (the great unwashed driving public) have become more risk averse and manufacturers have changed their designs to meet our changing needs (or said better, our changed perceptions of what is acceptable on the road).

I guess that reversing lights fall into that bucket. Doesn't sound like a safety feature, but many (me included) expect more from VW where this matter is concerned. The owner of the Golf that I modified to add a second reverse light just wasn't happy with the illumination level on the mk6. I have to say that when I saw it, I was disappointed as well.
That said, I also have to admit that my modification might have resulted in too much illumination (CREE XLM LEDs have a nominal light level of 2,800 Lumens).

Arrh but, I still think fondly about that rusting, cantankerous old coffee-pot languishing somewhere in some farmer's field!

[Guest001]

You missed the usual unfond memory of an A30 The clutch that was either in or out nothing in between LOL

And VW are far from alone as far as single reverse lights are concerned

[RoknRob]

Hillbilly: my first car was an Austin A30 (which I affectionately called "the coffee-pot"). Had little light-up flags as turn indicators on the center pillar that would pop-out either side of the car. It even had a slot in the front of the engine for manual cranking. Great little car, but I wouldn't be happy for someone that I care-for to drive around in one these days.

Fact is that as we have grown older and as cars have evolved, our concept of acceptable risks has changed. All of us (the great unwashed driving public) have become more risk averse and manufacturers have changed their designs to meet our changing needs (or said better, our changed perceptions of what is acceptable on the road).

I guess that reversing lights fall into that bucket. Doesn't sound like a safety feature, but many (me included) expect more from VW where this matter is concerned. The owner of the Golf that I modified to add a second reverse light just wasn't happy with the illumination level on the mk6. I have to say that when I saw it, I was disappointed as well.
That said, I also have to admit that my modification might have resulted in too much illumination (CREE XLM LEDs have a nominal light level of 2,800 Lumens).

Arrh but, I still think fondly about that rusting, cantankerous old coffee-pot languishing somewhere in some farmer's field!

There are way more cars on the road. Your risk of having an accident is much higher today, I suspect. Thank goodness cars are safer!

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk

[DV52]

There are way more cars on the road. Your risk of having an accident is much higher today, I suspect. Thank goodness cars are safer!

Roknrob:Your observation is entirely correct of course. I'm aware that this discussion is probably off-topic, but if I could have the indulgence of the ever vigilant off-topic police (does Watercooled even have off-topic police?), I think that your post raises an interesting conundrum.

It's certainly true that more traffic on our roads today and better safety features in our cars are related issues. The more interesting question from your post though is what's really causing folk around the world to become more risk averse (and not just on our roads)? It's a feature that appears to be happening in most modern societies (perhaps less obvious in third world countries). I reckon that better education is probably a factor, but doubtless increasing populations being crammed into ever shrinking spaces also has contributed to our reticence to accept risk. Without question, our perceptions of societal risk are being reinforced constantly by the media who ghoulishly see tragedy as nothing more than product for their news reports. Sadly, modern man (and woman) appears to have a greater distrust of their neighbors (rightly, or wrongly).

But enough of such nonsense. I still reckon that VW's have crappy reverse lights!

[bushman]

Simple solution
3x LED CREE reverse light available from Jaycar gives much better light, with no extra mod required. $25
Enough current draw so warning light is not activated.
Add another to the reverse fog light side for even more light.
Standard bayonet fitting