T5 tail gate brake light cover - problem and spares

[owenvcox]

Hi

Has anyone had a problem with the cover falling off from a T5 tail gate brake light?

Ours came loose a few weeks back and I clipped it back on, as it was intended to be, but it's now fallen off somewhere between Cabramurra and Canberra!

A small detail, but not a good look for a less than two year old car.

Advice on where to find a spare will be appreciated.

Thanks

[MultiplexMan]

I assume it is the red lens on the high brake light built into the tailgate?

If so, happened to me under warranty. The clips that hold the lens can "age" and with frequent closing of the tail gate they just fall off. The VW fix was a new lens secured with a dab of Sikaflex...

Warranty as body trim is not a "wear and tear" item.

[Sunny43.5]

Good luck with warranty on that one , when our van was only 6 weeks old one of the front bumber parts where driving lights were designed to fit fell off VW said bad luck we must have hit something or dislodged it when washing the van . Needless to say this was the start of a downhill trend when it came to dealing with service departments . These days after more and more lacklustre experiences we tend to avoid them . Howard

[owenvcox]

Yeah, the red lens over the brake light high on the tail gate.

I'll give warranty a go, but it might be easier to spend the thirty dollars and fix myself.

[Transporter]

Mine is fine after almost 7 years. The tailgate is opened and closed several times every day.

[Cousin]

Yeah, the red lens over the brake light high on the tail gate.

I'll give warranty a go, but it might be easier to spend the thirty dollars and fix myself.

Had to replace mine about a year ago, Owen
Could not get just the lens, had to buy the whole light assembly
And you have to remove the interior rear window trim to fit it
They're hard clips, but the trim does just pull off
The light itself is pretty eary to replace


M

[rogerd63]

I would give Ebay a try as ive seen lots of lights and bits for sale there.Try using the world wide search setting as the UK and others have heaps of parts.

[owenvcox]

Thanks all. This issue is to be resolved under warranty, thankfully!

For the record its $83 fir the tail gate light assembly.

[MultiplexMan]

Win

Do not forget to check it regularly!

[owenvcox]

Win

Do not forget to check it regularly!

Will do MultiplexMan!!

[The_Hawk]

The lens in our Multivan has just disappeared and google led me back to the forums

I've also seen this video on how to remove the light (after you remove the TRIM).
YouTube

And this aftermarket light for about $20:
Auto Car Vehicle High Level LED Rear Brake Stop Light Fit for VW Transporter T5 | eBay

A Genuine one is more like $100 from eBay (and who knows how much from a dealer). I think I'll try out the $20 version first.

And here is an image from ETKA of the part number 7E0 945 097

[The_Hawk]

That turned up quickly!

The aftermarket one looked OK but as some of the comment I read said, the screw holes didn't quite line up...

I ended up removing the new red lens off the new one and fitting it on the OEM unit instead, everything went together very easily after that. At the moment I've got the new rubber gasket in there, but it doesn't see, to quite sit flush like I expect it to. I'll keep an eye on it, but for now it's all back to gether.

[BrianJ]

The real problem is that when the three screws are done up, they pull the backing part away from the lens which is on the outside and the only thing stopping that happening is the weak plastic clips that hold the lens onto the backing part. So I used small cable ties to hold the red lens to the backing part, which also stopped warping of the lens under tension and makes it sit flush.

[The_Hawk]

The real problem is that when the three screws are done up, they pull the backing part away from the lens which is on the outside and the only thing stopping that happening is the weak plastic clips that hold the lens onto the backing part. So I used small cable ties to hold the red lens to the backing part, which also stopped warping of the lens under tension and makes it sit flush.

An interesting thought, and I think you're totally right on how/why it breaks. I don't know where you'd add in a cable tie though?? Unless you're drilling a small hole or something?

Does yours have a rubber gasket in there between the red lens and the body? I think the aftermarket one is too big and thick, but for the $20 it's doing it's job well enough. If it fails I'll probably buy an OEM one next time around, but for now I don't feel like it's worth the effort to pull it apart again