from time to time, headlights illuminate when switch is in OFF position

[ct-esq]

For the repair gurus, your thoughts please:

Intermittently, my headlights come on when the headlight switch is in the "off" position.

I have a 03 A4 3.0 Q 6MT with bi-xenons.

As you know, the headlight switch has 3 positions, off, parking and on. When the headlights come on when in the off position, switching to the parking position, turns the lamps off, but has the parking lights on. When you return to off, the main headlights illuminate.

However, I can shut the car off and the lights go off and the battery does not drain.

I cannot determine if it is related to heat, cold, wet, dry or anything like that. It seems to occur at any time.

It seems to me that there can be two problems: (1) bad headlight switch in the interior or (2) short in the wire somewhere that causes the lights to illuminate.

Does anyone else have any ideas before I buy a new headlight switch to test my theory?

You should also know the left front headlamp auto-level motor occasionally does not raise the lamp. One or two restarts of the car get it to re-level - I haven't fixed this either.

Are these two problems related?

Thanks in advance.

ct-esq

[jessefrank]

When I had the central locking unit go out in my car one of the symptoms was that when I would turn my car off w/ the headlights still in the on position they would remain on (instead of going to marker on only) until I would manually turn the switch to the marker or off position.

To me it sounds like it may be something in the switch, but when I had my issues I came to realize everything electrial is pretty much tied together somehow. Other issues I had when my CLU went were intermittent interior lighting or it would be dim for a short period then bright as normal (this is how it started for me...then lead to the other issues); random window issues (not working or rolling down at will); alarm going off (even when driving) and the headlight thing. All the issues I had would randomly happen..sometimes fine then would have a combination of them which progressevly got to be more often then not.

[ct-esq]

thanks - makes sense, i have some info that it could be the cecm, central electronic control module.

hopefully, when i'm done, the electric gremlins will be gone!

[AudiA4Turbo22]

had the same problem changed the switch and everything has been fine so far!

[pyro]

sounds like a switch...they can be had on the bay pretty cheap too. gl

[ct-esq]

seems like a consensus is building . . .just need to figure out the part number for the switch - www.audipartsdepot.com lists two switches, one "w/info" and one "w/o info"

any ideas on the p/n?

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^ebay FTW! there was one with Auto and one without!