Analogue dial lights

[silverhairs]

Has anybody else had a problem with their illumination of their analogue dial lights I do have the lights set at the brightest setting
I can be driving along and you can see the light around the dials and pointer are lit up, then you can stop for traffic and when you look back at the speedo, the pointer is laminated, but the dial itself has gone out, then it might come on at half the brightness or might come on full power.
This happens if the lights are turned on or not. I've phoned up the local dealer and they said they want the car all day, I've told them I'll be in at 08.30 and I want a mechanic to start sorting out the problem straight away, which they agreed to do, but they said it could take all day, I told them if that was the case I'd wait all day for it.
The last time they had the car for the full day for a 2 hour job, (orange dash pads that were left off when being built, it had the black type fitted) the mileage had over 30 miles extra on the clock and the petrol gauge had gone down, and I had damage to the bonnet, which cost me over £400.00 to repair.
When I asked who had taken the car out, they denied taking it out, when I asked to see the photo's taken with an I-pad they took when they booked in the car (which they always do so if any damage is done, they can show you it was done before you drove it in) they didn't have them photos, when I asked for the CCTV footage of the camera showing the entrance to the company, they didn't have that either and the damage to my bonnet looked as though a 15 mm spanner had dropped end on causing two dinks where the paint was removed. I took the car to Marshalls scratch and match who are the VW paint workshop and the bill was just over £400.00, I went back and complained and they gave me 2 years free servicing, they knew it was their problem, I should have taken it further, but stupidly I didn't

[SRGTD]

Not sure there’s any need to book your car in to have your instrumentation illumination investigated - sounds like it’s working as VW intended - at least it is when you’ve not got your lights on.

Whether or not your dials are illuminated is linked to the ambient lighting conditions; there’s a small sensor in the instrument cluster that measures light levels and in bright ambient lighting, your dials will be illuminated. In poor/dull ambient lighting or darkness, the instrumentation lighting will be dim or the dials will be completely dark (with the exception of the needles).

The reason why they work this way is to prompt you to put your lights on in poor ambient lighting conditions a) so you can see your instrumentation and more importantly, b) you can see and be seen. Not certain why your dials are dimming down when you’ve got your lights on though.

You can test if your instrumentation illumination is working correctly if you drive into a tunnel on a bright sunny day (dials will be lit). Once you’ve driven a short distance into the tunnel, your dials will dim, so prompting you to turn your lights on.

[silverhairs]

Only last week at aprox 20.00 hrs they turned themselves off, then back on to half power, then off again. I also had the lights on as it was dark.

[SRGTD]

If they’re behaving as you describe, then there may be a fault.

If you have concerns over the dealer using your car or damaging it while it’s in their possession, I d suggest you take a photo of the instrumentation showing the mileage when you drop it off at the dealers, plus take some pictures of the exterior or do your own video walk-around, and tell them you’ve done this as a record of the mileage and condition. That way, it’ll be much more difficult for them to deny causing any damage if it does become damaged between you dropping it off and collecting it.

[silverhairs]

Booked the car in, and explained the problem, when I took it in I explained the problem to the service guy. I said I'd wait till it had been done, it took about one and a half hours. When I got the "Account Invoice" it read

Confirm that the dash lights turned off/on on their own. Confirm this is a function of the lights when not turned on. Advise using auto function and leaving on that setting. No faults found.
Carried out product enhancement 06B5
(Rear traffic alert)

Checked for outstanding product enhancements
Declined a wash and hoover
Carried out vehicle health check and video
Video sent to customers email
Carried out vehicle check in and check out with Ipad

The car came back with the same mileage this time with no dings or scratches .
As you can see they made a point that they videoed it this time. The one thing that really puzzled them was when I told them the dash lights went out at 20.00 Hrs when I had my lights on, so by rights the dash lights should be on.
So I'm leaving the lights on auto and see if they go out again, but I know, and they know there is a problem, as they asked me "to keep an eye on it, and if they go out again they will report this problem to VW Germany".

[vc-10]

I would video it if possible, showing the dash lights off and the headlamp switch on. It needs to be on properly though- not sidelights, at least in my Ibiza and my previous Fabia.

[silverhairs]

I've done what they have told me and kept the lights switch on auto all the time. If at any time the dash lights go out, the car will be parked outside their main door till the lights work correctly.
I will keep the forum up-dated.

[silverhairs]

UPDATE
So far so good, kept the light dial on auto and the dash lights have kept the same brightness.
The thing is, while it's in auto lights, the system thinks it needs headlights on even when the suns out, it doesn't have to be even dim for the headlights to come on. But the dash lights are OK, so one thing fixed another plays up

[SRGTD]

UPDATE
So far so good, kept the light dial on auto and the dash lights have kept the same brightness.
The thing is, while it's in auto lights, the system thinks it needs headlights on even when the suns out, it doesn't have to be even dim for the headlights to come on. But the dash lights are OK, so one thing fixed another plays up

I think you can adjust the when the auto lights switch on in the car settings menus via the infotainment screen.

[silverhairs]

Thank you "SRGTD" for the reply, I'll give it a looking at

[SRGTD]

Thank you "SRGTD" for the reply, I'll give it a looking at

I checked the menus in my car earlier today for the location of the (auto) lights switch on time. Mine’s the previous generation Polo, but I would think the menus to change the auto lights switch on time are in the same location.

Select the ‘Car’ menus -> Vehicle Settings -> Light -> Switch on Time (or Activation Time). You should have three options; Early, Medium and Late. If your lights are coming on in fairly bright light, I suspect yours are currently set to ‘Early’.

[silverhairs]

Thank you for looking that up for me . I'll give it a look later, the weather is just chucking it down at the moment .

[silverhairs]

UPDATE.
Took your advice, looked at the light settings. I got to the settings and the first thing I had ticked was lights on when raining, and to be honest, it hasn't stopped raining for the last fortnight, (North Lincolnshire) so it's not really been a good test.
It's sunny today and they've not come on
Many thanks for your advice on the settings.