Electrical problems with lights.

Hello there,

I am having some electrical problems with the lights on my Volkswagen Golf MK1 Cabrio 1986 GLi

When I turn the lights on when the engine is on, only the headlights turn on, however the tail lights does not work. If I set the lights switch in the middle position nothing happens, no position lights turn on.

However if I turn my engine off, and remove the key from the ignition and put my indicator stalk to indicate to the left, all lights turns on suddenly both tail lights and head lights. Does any of you have this problem, I'm drawing a blank here..

PS. About a week ago, I noticed smoke coming out of the hood. I located a short circuit at the relay next to the battery, one of the wires broke off from the relay. I have fixed the wires since, making sure that it's connected to the relay again.

Thank you!

Bad grounds at the rear tail lights or one that came off.
On the rear light plate there are single ground connections in the center of the thing.




Add an additional spad connector in the center of each and run the wire over to the bumper bolt with a large ring crimp on connector.



See if that doesn't resolve your issue.

Have you checked your fuses?