Are They Idiots, or...?

Mitch, I hated the fact that they were unused on my car as well. Glad you figured out a use. My blue one is the high beam as well.

On my Spyder, all three are red. And they did come with bulbs as well. I use them as a sequential rev limit indicator. I think I have them set at 6100,6250, and 6400. My ignition has 4 outputs for rpm. The hard ignition cutoff is 6500. It is cool because you can see it peripherally without having to look down.

I may be wrong (and won't THAT be a surprise...) but if you push on the spade lug and then pull it off and the bulb and holder come out with it, that's OK.....the gauge and lamp recepticle are not damaged.  

The lamp holder is removeable, then you push the lamp in a bit in the holder and twist it 90° or so and the bulb pops out for replacement.  The bulb has big ears on either side of the metal base that hold it in once turned.

Unless, of course, the plastic base on the gauge (always made of "the most prominent and honest material available") is damaged when you pull things out.  If THAT's the case, then you're scrod (past tense).

I didn't use all of the un-used bulbs.....just one.  I wired it to my "Beer Detector" so that it lights whenever I'm within 500 yards of a micro-brewery.

Gord, isn't there an Iphone app for that? He he!

Methinks what you describe is the gauge illumination lamp socket, which is metal, grounded to the gauge, has only one lug (being grounded), and comes out pretty easily. It takes the bayonet bulb you describe.

But the annunciato... uh sorry, I mean idiot light, is a different, plastic socket that's not grounded to the gauge and thus has two spade lugs. The socket is jammed into the gauge pretty good, so if you try pulling off a wire connected with a spade lug, the lamp socket tends to stay put in the gauge, and the spade lug pulls right out of the socket, breaking apart the plastic socket in the process.

These sockets also take an even smaller, 1.4 watt bulb that's not a bayonet base, but has two tiny wires that are sort of pinched by the socket. I'm guessing this design is not milspec.

Curiously, I noticed the whole gauge doesn't seem to be attached to any apparent means of support. The gauges have threaded rods on the back that are intended to be screwed down with clamps, but there's nothing attached to them in my car. The gauge is floating in a rubber gasket in the hole in the dash, but moves easily in and out if nudged.

I guess, in place of airbags, VS has designed the whole dash to crumble into tiny pieces in a crash.

There's no end to what you could hook up to these lights. I suppose IM drivers could rig them to the 'ready' light on their under dash espresso machines.

I installed a Berg oil temperature dip stick and connected it to one of the unused lights in the gauge.

not that I don't trust the chinene guge temp readings..wink wink ... But if my oil temp ever climbed above acceptable levels, I wanted something to light up!   cheap insurance for only 35$.

a link to the samba berg temp sensor I installed;

 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...etail.php?id=1428270

simple simple simple  to follow install instructions come with the stick.  

If you choose not to run a separate cable, you can connect this stick to the existing oil pressure sender... And the high temp warning will light /blink on your speed gage oil pressure warning light. -- the light will now serve two purposes. ( kit includes the sender wiring Y spliter for this simple 2 minute install.

Cheers,

Luis