Indicator Warning Light with Bike Rack

JimJ · Dec 3, 2014

When I fit my bike rack and plug in the plug for stop and tail light I get a "Check Left/Right indicator bulb" message on the MFD which disappears. I also get a yellow indicator light in the speedo which stays on.

As expected, the rear parking sensors appear to be disabled.

The stop and tail light on the bike rack are LEDs.

Is there a way to turn the indicator light in the speedo off or do I use it as a reminder that the bike rack is attached to the vehicle.

ToolmanJohn · Dec 3, 2014

JimJ said:
When I fit my bike rack and plug in the plug for stop and tail light I get a "Check Left/Right indicator bulb" message on the MFD which disappears. I also get a yellow indicator light in the speedo which stays on.

As expected, the rear parking sensors appear to be disabled.

The stop and tail light on the bike rack are LEDs.

Is there a way to turn the indicator light in the speedo off or do I use it as a reminder that the bike rack is attached to the vehicle.

The easiest fix is to change the LED light in the rack to Incandescent Lamps if at all possible. Or just put a reflector(s) onto the bike rack instead and don't plug it into the Touareg. The Touareg lamp checking signal doesn't like LED's from anything plugged into the trailer socket.

The Touareg assumes you have plugged a trailer into the trailer electrical socket. It sends a small signal square pulse through those wires to see if the signal is returning, this is how it can detect a lamp blow out. LEDs don't play well with that small signal, and the Touareg sees that as a malfunction in the lamp.

JimJ · Dec 3, 2014

LED light in the rack to Incandescent Lamps if at all possible

Not possible.

Or just put a reflector(s) onto the bike rack

The law here requires a stop and tail light.

What I would like to know is this going to cause any problems other than having a indicator light on in the instrument cluster?

ToolmanJohn · Dec 4, 2014

Nope, won't cause any permanent damage, just the annoyance of the malfunction lamps.

You might want to try contacting the maker of the bike rack (it has the brake lamp built in??) . They might be able to do something about it.

There is also a thread for towing related specifically to the whole trailers with LED lamps being a problem for the Touareg to deal with. There are some solutions involving grounding resistors on the LED wires that stop the malfunction. You would have to find that thread and see if would help.

JimJ · Dec 20, 2014

You might want to try contacting the maker of the bike rack (it has the brake lamp built in??)

The LED stop and tail lights replaced the original incandescent lights.

Tonight after I attached the bike rack and plugged the lights in I noticed the LEDs pulsing at about 1Hz. This was without anything turned on in the Treg. The key was in my pocket and the car was not locked.

After I locked the Treg with the remote, the pulsing stopped.

So whats with the 1 hz pulse when nothing is switched on or armed?

Indicator Warning Light with Bike Rack

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