Electrical issues

[Grahamn278]

I’ve a 2012 Passat Alltrack Diesel Wagon, that’s done a few km. I’m having a few issues with warning lights which are not consistent in staying on. The most recent has been a rear reversing bulb light, but this has been checked. Sometimes the warning light comes on and most times it doesn’t. More recently, the Range indicator is blank and the fuel gauge below the red, even though there’s over 200km worth of fuel left. Again it’s intermittent as the next time I start the engine, it’s back to normal. Is there something more serious with the electronics?
im trying to get the car serviced, but it would be useful to be informed.

[nermal]

I have two 2008 B6 Passats. Both have had intermittent issues with parking light warnings. I changed the bulbs anyway and the problem went away.

The fuel level sensor on my R36 is a bit temperamental.. if the tank is filled past half way, it sometimes drops the guage to zero - especially on a steep hill. It's relatively expensive to fix and I know if it drops below half, so not a big priority for me.

Do you have an OBD2 tool (VCDS, ODBEleven etc)? You could try clearing the errors and see if they keep coming back.

Could be faulty sensors, or components that are failing intermittently

Also, it may be worth checking your battery. Low voltage issues can throw all kinds of whacky errors

[Lucas_R]

I would remove your problematic bulbs and make sure there is no corrosion etc that might be causing a bad connection. Any corrosion can be cleaned up with some fine sand paper or a fine wire brush.

Actually its probably best to just replace the bulbs seeing they are cheap. Using some of this might be a good idea also: Permatex Dielectric Grease .33 oz | Supercheap Auto

And as mentioned above, can you check the voltage on your battery using a multimeter? Or take it to a battery shop to be tested? If the battery is on its way out (and winter time kills batteries) then you start getting all sorts of weird electrical gremlins. Modern cars are basically computers on wheels and are heavily reliant on their electrical system to feed them juice, so if you have a dying battery all the electrical modules start doing silly things.

You want to see 12.6v or higher for a healthy battery. Refer to the link below for more info.

Maximising Battery Life - Century Batteries.

[amunra]

I’ve a 2012 Passat Alltrack Diesel Wagon, that’s done a few km. I’m having a few issues with warning lights which are not consistent in staying on. The most recent has been a rear reversing bulb light, but this has been checked. Sometimes the warning light comes on and most times it doesn’t. More recently, the Range indicator is blank and the fuel gauge below the red, even though there’s over 200km worth of fuel left. Again it’s intermittent as the next time I start the engine, it’s back to normal. Is there something more serious with the electronics?
im trying to get the car serviced, but it would be useful to be informed.

change ur bulbs