# Dead "Headlights on" Door Buzzer - Replace with Piezo Buzzer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** gti, volkswagen\ **Created:** [October 7, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082 "2010-10-07T19:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/1 "2010-10-07T19:35:27Z")
2002 Volkswagen GTI 1.8 turbo here… The buzzer that sounds when I leave the headlights on in the car has died. My dad tells me to just deal with it by remembering to turn off the lights, but I’m far too lazy to remember! I’ve read that this is a common issue with this model and can be fixed with a few hours work removing the window control module and fixing the crappy solder joints, but I really don’t feel like removing my drivers’ side glass. I’ve been reading about people with other cars lacking a buzzer doing a workaround where they add a piezo buzzer from radio shack to their fusebox. The positive lead of the piezo goes to fuse that supports the speedometer/tach dash panel lights OR the rear lights on the car (to avoid the difference between the hi-lamps and low-lamps in the headlights) and the negative lead goes to a fuse that’s switched to ground when the door is opened. In theory it sounds easy, but I’m having a really frustrating time finding fuses that work in this equation. I’ve heard the window wiper fuse should work, since those switch off when the car is stopped. However, It didnt work for me…anyone have any ideas on which fuses I can use??? This is frustrating the me since it seems to be really simple for everyone else!!! ---
**Author:** ![ignoramus9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@ignoramus9](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ignoramus9)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/2 "2010-10-07T20:31:02Z")
get the manual, and dope out the electrical circuit that is assigned to the head light relay, and use that one. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/3 "2010-10-07T21:32:18Z")
Would this really be easier than fixing the real problem? ---
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/4 "2010-10-07T21:33:14Z")
But how do I wire the buzzer once the relay is located? ---
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/5 "2010-10-07T21:33:31Z")
It’d be about 297 dollars cheaper 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/6 "2010-10-07T21:37:20Z")
You splice into the wiring. ---
**Author:** ![AL5000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@AL5000](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AL5000)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/7 "2010-10-07T22:06:11Z")
Easier than turning the lights off? Too “lazy”? Really?? ---
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/8 "2010-10-07T22:10:45Z")
If I was perfect I’d remember every time, but sometimes I forget. Sorry if that offends you. I was joking when I said “lazy” more like “forgetful.” ---
**Author:** ![oblivion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@oblivion](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oblivion)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/9 "2010-10-07T22:15:56Z")
Those little buzzers are handy, especially on rainy days where you might have your lights on in the daytime and easily forget. Every rainy day where I work, an email bulletin goes out to the building for a few hapless souls that forget to turn their lights off. Some of them even seem to be on new vehicles that should have this feature. If your car has automatic headlights, you could just leave them set on that and not worry. But I’d just fix the module, since the missing beep or buzz probably also alerts you to other things like leaving keys in the ignition, door ajar, possibly even if a dashboard warning light is on. If the beeper works for other things, just not the headlights, you may have a worse problem. If you don’t understand how electrical circuits work or have prior experience soldering anything, I would leave it up to the pros instead of tampering with it. Even a $300 repair is a lot cheaper than a destroyed control module, wiring harness, or an electrical fire. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/10 "2010-10-07T22:32:46Z")
Okay, here’s what I did and it seems to be working, I found the fuse labelled “Fog Lamp Relay” (no other light relays were labelled) and connected it to the Windshield Wiper fuse. According to some other forums I’ve read, this works fine because the wipers go to ground when the car is turned off. I’m happy with this arrangement. It’ll be annoying if I need to sit with the car off and the headlights on, but how many times do you do that? Much better than ending up with a dead battery in a parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![sirdonut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@sirdonut](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sirdonut)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/11 "2010-10-07T22:33:36Z")
See above for what I did. Your suggestion is actually spot on, but as of now I am unemployed and I have to stretch every dollar. I hope my method worked, it seems to work for other people… ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/12 "2010-10-08T01:43:29Z")
I agree it is a very useful feature in that it costs little and can save a lot of hassle. My 99 Voyager did not have it - nor my 79 Toyota pickup - but I found a little kit made by 3M at WalMart years ago for a very few dollars, in the area of car light bulbs, etc. It has a small buzzer, short wires with clips that snap into the fuse holders, etc. Bought a couple, installed it on both cars, and no matter who drives or how preoccupied they are, no lights have been left on for many years now. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-headlights-on-door-buzzer-replace-with-piezo-buzzer/56082/13 "2010-10-08T01:51:46Z")
Aside from the Chevelle I had, my CX-7 is the only other vehicle I’ve owned that does NOT have a buzzer for the headlights being on. I had the lights turned all the way on(off, auto, parking, and full on are the selections), and it did not make any noises. The car did shut them off, however, but I didn’t realize it until I got in the next morning that I had actually left my headlights on.