Old Library

I have a fix for those of you who wish to have the parking brake indicator work
correctly while disabling your DRL's.

I performed this mod on my '98 Jetta Wolfsburg back in May and posted it to
both the gti and Jetta lists......

First, do the DRL mod as described in the GTI archive, removing the necessary
relay(s) and installing the Euro switch.

Then do the following to enable the correct operation of the dash parking brake
indicator:

On '98 (and possibly '97/'96/'99) models, when you remove the DRL relay (#173),
the brake light indicator on the dash will no longer work (except during the
bulb
self-test when you first turn on the ignition).  To make your brake light
operate correctly again you will need to simply install another  jumper.

Looking at the relay socket (what the relay plugged into) on the fuse panel,
for the removed DRL relay  (#173) you will see the following set of vertical
and horizontal contacts  (bad ascii art follows)

            (a)  x         XX  (b)

                   XX       X        X
                            X        X
                   x

    'x'  = .125" wide pin/contact
   'X'  =  .250" wide pin/contact

Install a jumper from contact (a) to contact (b).  Just use two insulated flat
spade lug connectors with a piece of 12 gauge insulated wire .  Contact A is
small, about .125" wide so you might have to file down a spade lug to fit.
Contact (B) is a normal .250" wide.

Contact A is labeled as pin # 7, and Contact B is labeled as pin # 4 on my #173
relay (VW part # 3A0 941 589).

Your brake light indicator will now work correctly.

Hope this helps, but remember, your mileage may vary.

Steve Sutton
'98 Jetta
'74 Triumph TR-6

Andy,

    The drawing is not messed up (at least  on my mail program!) ...just bad
ascii art and/or a not so clear description.

   Here is the drawing with a better (fixed proportion font):


          (a) x      XX  (b)

              XX    X    X
                    X    X

              x



Looking at the 'art':

  'x'   = small (.125" width) contact

  'XX'  = large (.250" width) contact in the horizontal           position

  'X'
   X    = large contact in the vertical position

The relay has both horizontal and vertical pins, so the corresponding socket
does as well.  The 'art' depicts what you see when looking at the fuse panel
with the relay removed.  Wish I had a digital camera, as a picture would be
wort a thousand words.

Hope this is a little more clear.  If not, let me know and I'll take the time
to draw it up or locate a digital camera.

Thanks.

-Steve Sutton

I finally got around to trying the mod Steve Sutton outlined to make the
parking brake indicator work after you yank the DRL relay. However, I found
that the arrangement of the slots for the DRL relay on my '97 GTI VR6 is
somewhat different than the ones he described on his GLX.

Has anyone else with a GTI done this with any success?

BTW, Steve's orginal post is in the library at:

h t t p ://www.panix.com/~aqn/GTI_VR6/gti_vr6/library/electrical/DRL_parking_brake_lite.html

This URL is now at:
http://www.gti-vr6.net/library/electrical/DRL_parking_brake_lite.html

login: driver
password: hired

-------------------------------------------------------
Dave Moak
Jazz Blue '97 DE
&#100;moak&#64;globalsite<img src=/i/dn.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>
http://www.globalsite.net/dmoak/

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Yeah, it worked like a charm in my '98 GTI.  As you look at Steve's note in
the archive, the orientation of the "drawing" does not match the
orientation of the relay if you look at it "right side up" (i.e., so you
can read the 173 on the relay normally).  Hold the relay in front of you
(you are reading 173 on it), and turn it 90 deg. clockwise.  Now, the
contacts on the relay line up with what is shown in Steve's post.  In any
case, the pin numbers Steve gave were correct for my relay (VW part #3A0
941 589).  You want to connect contacts 4 and 7 together (they are labeled
on the relay itself).

Hope this helps ... oh, and since I'm bored ...here is a picture I whipped
up that may help ... of course, what worked for my '98 may blow up anyone's
else's GTI ... and I'm not responsible (although I'd sure feel bad) ...
yadda yadda yadda ...

(And yes, I'm attaching this file since it is smaller than a lot of the
messages I've been downloading lately ...)

-Bob

PS: Steve mentions to use 12ga. wire when doing this mod ... uh, is 12ga.
wire really necessary for the amount of current drawn by the parking brake
indicator??  I used some available 18ga. speaker wire ... and the car
hasn't caught fire yet ... ;-)



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