couple of problems - hopefully easy fix

When I bought the car I was told it had a battery drain - batt would go flat in about 4 days if car not used - eventually traced this to a relay from an old alarm which was no longer there.

Temp gauge has a habbit of going off sometimes - if i tap the top of the dash it comes on again - had clocks out - all conections seem ok - are these gauges prone to failure - any ideas ?

strange one - start car, switch on lights, switch on radio - turn car off turn lights off - light go out but dash lighs stay on all be it slightly dimmer - these then go out when radio is switched off.  I looked back thru receipts and see that radio wasfitted by Halfords - what have they done - connection is a multiplug from VW plug to kenwood radio

Not an electrical problem but while im here …….. when the temp gauge is working, it seems to take a while to get up to temp.  If on motorway gauge stays just above second line.  when in traffic gauge seems to rise quite rapidly to about 3/4 when fan kicks in and takes it back to just below half way.  Does this sound like a thermostat stuck open ??? or any other ideas ????

Its an 89 GTI cab by the way

Temp Gauges are a bit innacurate. The only way to calibrate them is to to take them to a garage who have a laser tester.

Lower on motorway, higher in traffic is normal for GTIs. If the thermo was stuck fully open the gauge would probably go right back down to the bottom.

My gauge is the other way, never goes below halfway in normal use.

As for the dash lights, that's a good one. Probably caused by a slight South Easterly Breeze. Anyone else agree?

Peter.

The guy from Halfords got it a bit wrong - it sounds like the 12v feed from the radio, which gives your aerial's amplifier (bee-sting) or motor relay (electric mast type) a feed, has been connected to the blue/white wire which is actually the dash lighting circuit from the car to the radio (to signal to the stereo that the lights are on, and to dim the head unit's display to match).

With the radio and lights on, 12v is coming from the dash and the radio, so there no real problem. However, with the radio on and the lights off, your stereo is feeding 12v to the dash lights, making them light up - you should sort this out, as it might damage the head unit in the long-term.

I didn't know that the stereo display dimmed when lights are switched on, it that the same for all new models? i have a JVC 202 head unit in mine with a green display and while it is fairly bright I don't know whether i have missed connecting a wire.

Dan

Type 17 - spot on - disconnected the blue white wire - all ok now

Was amazed to see my car still had the original vw multiplugd on the stereo wiring - every other golf ive owned had these chopped to fit other stereos

Read a good way of finding battery drain the other night.

Turn off radio, lights, take fuse out of clock.

Take off earth wire from battery then gradually bring it close to earth terminal, if it sparks theres a circuit somewhere.

To locate, remove each fuse one by one, when it stops the spark you found your circuit.

Oh yeah, don't electrocute yourself. hold wire with something insulated.

Peter.