Hi all,
I have a 2007 Jetta and need some help with the lights as my dash bulb indicator is on. On the front high beams, there is a small bulb at the 10:00 that is out. What is this bulb called? The main high beam is fine, but this small bulb is out. Also, what are the side indicator lights for? The bulbs are working fine but they don’t seem to be coming on. Thanks in advance.
Why not download an owners manual from the Internet?
I have the VW owners manual from the glove box but it doesn’t specify the types of lights and such. Is there another manual I should look for?
Lights on the side of the car are “side marker” lights and required by law. Some cars have a combination of side marker and turn signal light indicator. If you are sure the bulb is good the it could be a corroded wire. You may want to remove the marker completely to check the wiring behind it.
There really is no “main beam” light. There is a low beam and a high beam. I believe you are talking about your low beam.
What does the owners manual say when the dash bulb indicator is on? I bet it says “bulb failure”.
You may be referring to the parking light bulbs, those should be replaced if burned out. Double check the tail lights and brake lights, the front lights are not always monitored by the lamp out module so the warning may be due to a rear light out.
I am having a hard time understanding what lights are the problem. But if the OP knows which ones are out it is possible that that the parts person can look up the replacement bulbs.
It’s hard to tell what light you’re referring to without a photo, but it it’s within the headlamp’s reflector and it’s blue it may be there to “whiten” the headlight’s output. I have one in my headlamp module.
If so, it adds blue to the lamp’s output. It also illuminates when the “parking lights” are on.
As you can see from the attached curve, incandescent lamps put out an almost linear radiance across the visual spectrum, making the output low in the high frequency (purple/blue) end and rich in the lower frequencies (red/orange). White light is basically saturation across the frequency range. By adding a blue light to incandescent lamp output (note that quartz-halogen bulbs are incandescent lamps with a halide gas to allow them to burn hotter and fused-quartz bulbs to withstand the heat), it tends to whiten the output. Fused quartz is the same material as regular glass, SiO2, silicon dioxide, but with far fewer impurities. It’s the impurities that make glass subject to fracturing from heat expansion. Paint manufacturers also add a touch of blue to create “bright white” from simple white.
But without a photo it’s tough to tell if that is the bulb you’re referring to.
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