no head light Low beam

Hello all

Mk1 Golf L 1.1 1981

both low beam head lights issue went when driving in the dark… when I intermittently switched to high beam and low and then both low beam lights went dead…parking lights and high beam ok but don't get joy with low beam.

I checked the fuses (x15) they are all good and clean, but fuse 3 and 4 receive no power at all with ignition on. What can be the cause. can it be the main light switch not sending power to the fuses, or indicator stalk?

Please can anyone on here shed some light on this…. Thank you.

Has the headlight loom been modified with relays?
It's a common upgrade but if the relay or fuse pops the main beam lights will not work.

The low  7" bulbs beams have  on the  2 filaments.  a "high" and a "low".
As stated they are fused so you would have to have both fuses gone IIRC.  If the Highs Work then you have good grounds to all the bulbs, so May I suggest that you use a
DVOM and turn on your ride and test for voltage on the wires for the low side. If there is voltage the bulbs may be bad.  Test for Resistance next, 0 Ohms between the ground and both sides, (Sorry can't remember colors on the earlier models) The one that isn't 0 is opened and bad so you would have to change the bulb.

If the bulbs are good, then yo are looking at a loom issue between the switch and the bulb.

But wait there is more.  If the lamps or bulbs have been relayed then you may have additional fuses for each bulb that could be the issue as stated.


Normally when you turn on the bulbs to "high" the low side filament isn't used so you have the inner spots on the ride if you have a dual bulb grille and the High on the
outer that lights.  If you switch back it isn't unusual to loose a filament as bulbs go bad when you turn them on. and switching from hi-to-low energizes the filaments and you may have toasted your lows.  

On my 81 Diesel Bunny, I constantly would burn through the (over here on the other side of the pond) the right bulb.  Finally relayed the bulbs and changed grounds and then they worked a whole lot better.  

There is also a way to relay your lamps so when you have your high beams on, you can have your lows on as well.  (more light)

Relaying them is the cheapest upgrade you can do on your ride.Better light  More light because you shorten the run of the Power by about 12 feet of wire, and take the load off of your headlight stalk and your headlight switch.

https://www.volkswagenownersclub.com/threads/relaying-your-head-lights.32215/