Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Volkswagen Passat Fuse and Electrical Problems
jim97501
Member Posts: 2
I bought this car in Aug02 and have put 55K miles on it. Great car though a little expensive to maintain. Here's the problem. A/C quit and I noted the auto climate control panel was blank. Started checking other things and found the following did not function: garage door opener on visor; cruise control (though dash indicator light is on); steering wheel controls for stereo system (dash control for stereo works fine). I checked fuses and all are fine. I have gone to my foreign car mechanic who does all my service and they have no clue. The VW dealer has no clue. There must be a common denominator here but no one can figure it out. HELP! Thanks!
0
Comments
A short sometimes develops in the Homelink system (the garage door opener in the visor) and that blows the fuse, taking the other stuff with it.
If that fuse is verifiably okay, then I might suspect the CCM (comfort control module).
Thanks!
Any responses are greatly appreciated.
http://www.mikadotech.com/
It's a garage door opener that replaces the blank switch plate in the center stack. I don't have one (heh, I don't even have a garage!) but it looks pretty nice.
Need to replace electrical portion only (not the lock portion).
Can it be done by removing the knee bolster for access to the contacts'(back)side of the switch? Or, do I have to pull airbag, strg. wheel, multifunction stalk, etc?
Thx,
JED
If I were you I would check it.
Krzys
First, thanks for your reply! Shortly after I wrote in, I ended up looking at my fuse box and discovered that fuse #21 was blown. According to my Passat manual, fuse #21 controls the dash lights, among other things, but is silent regarding the rear trunk lid. I replaced the fuse and all the problems I experienced were solved. I should have checked my fuses first, even before I browsed here. Even so, it is somewhat strange that the red icon dash light would shine when fuse #21 supposedly controls that circuit. The lesson for me & anyone else having an electrical problem: check your fuse box first!!!
Drive home, park. 2 hours later, car won't start with master keys or valet key. Door locks, windows, interior lights and trunk release inoperable. Battery is connected and powered; stereo, a/c, exterior lights, wipers all work.
Fuses appear ok; pulled and reinserted each. Lifted carpet and found no visible evidence of water damage or residue in or around the CCM.
Any comments on these issues or reliability of CCM in general appreciated.
I have an electrical “Bug” with the following symptoms:
1. Fuel gauge does not work (i.e. indicates “empty”) and as a result the trip computer “Miles to Empty” does not function
2. Power seats work but the memories do not function.
3. Radio works but does not turn off with the key
4. No indication of Audio system status in the top of Driver Display
5. Neither key-fob remotes function.
6. Power door locks do not work.
7. Power windows do not work.
8. Power mirrors do not work.
9. No Air-Conditioning.
10. No Temperature input to Auto A/C (Indicates °C not °F)
11. Trip Odometer in Speedometer doesn’t work (resets itself)
12. Trunk Release does not work (fuel door release does function).
13. Main dashboard lights work but all auxiliary lights (center console, radio, door switches, steering wheel lights, etc.) do not work.
14. Auto-Transmission works but when it is placed in manual, transmission doesn’t shift on command.
15. Horn doesn’t work.
16. Clock doesn’t keep time
17. Interior lights do not come on with door opening
18. Dashboard gauges all go to zero (Intermittent Problem-two occurrences, lasting seconds)
19. Car fails to Start
Items have failed in sequence over three days.
The detailer ended up paying the $1400 repair bill.
thanks.
I bought an used VW Passat '99 Station Wagon. The stereo is dead and I don't know were the fuses are and how to check them properly besides of doing the visual inspection...
Any sugestion?
Also, where can I get the user manual for this model???
Thanks for your time!!!
Vicky :sick:
There are various things that you need to ponder. First and easiest, your fuse box is most likely located on the driver's side of your Passat, underneath the steering wheel area to the top left. There will be a small, rectangular plastic cover that you will need to remove, by way of a push button latch. On the inside of the plastic cover will be an embossed schematic of your fuses, with a cross-reference to which fuse operates your radio. You will have to locate the applicable fuse and pull it out of its socket in order to fully inspect same. Second, your Passat would have originally come with a radio manual as well as a regular car manual; among other things, the former gives details about the specific model # of your radio and its operation. VW made life difficult for thieves (and used car buyers) by assigning a specific "radio code" to each radio as part of an anti-theft system. If your fuse is indeed blown, you will need to obviously replace same, and when you do so, the the radio will at least, if it is not broken, power up; the radio dash lights or "leds" should light up. However, the next issue you will most likely face is the need to re-program your radio with the proper radio code applicable to your radio. The radio code may or may not be written down in your owner's manual by the previous owner; further, there was once a small card that VW included in its radio and/or owner's manuals that allowed the owner to write the code down in the event that your car lost power and you had to "re-boot" the radio. The instructions on how to do this are indeed in your radio or owner's manual. You can also get your local VW dealer to do all of this for you, but he will likely charge you; best to smile, beg, plead mercy, or become best friends with the service guy behind the counter---tell him you will come back for service there and he may give you the code free of charge. Finally, if you did replace the fuse and the radio did not power up, your radio is likely shot any you will now have to buy a new one (or perhaps a good used one on e-bay or via a junk yard). I bought an identical used radio on e-bay, paid almost nothing for it, but then had to get the service dealer to give me the proper radio code for it. He did not charge me, because I bought my used Passat there, but that is the exception to the rule. Sometimes you can find radio manuals at junk yards when you buy a radio from them. You can also try doing a Google search and see what you can find. If you have a brand name radio (Blaupunkt?), try their web site. There is always the dealer, but expect to pay some cash. Good Luck and since I am curious, please post again and do tell what you did. VTY, '95 Passat
This is not a one time issue - it has happened several times. The last time this happened the air bag fault light came on and stays on so every time I start the car it will beep at me and stay on.
Last week my radio would not come on - I took it in to a repair shop that is not the dealer and they reset the air bag fault light and got the radio working but the light came on several days again under the same circumstances.
My question is if any one has heard of this before and also is there a way to some how determine the correct number of miles and the odometer be reset or at least get some thing stating what the correct miles are.
Thank You
Thank you for your answer.
I did check the fuses. ALL of them, just to be sure.. Unfortunatelly, they are all fine. I used a fuse tester.
The radio is a Pioneer and I also have the model... writen somewhere. But the thing is that it does not power up.
Is this replaceable, I mean, can I buy a cheap stereo and put it in place of this one? :confuse:
The engine on this car was replaced. The mecanic says that he didn't touch the dashboard, so he has nothing to do with the stereo not powering up... :mad: Does this sounds logic? It was working before he replaced the engine.
Thanks again!
First, I think it is great that you are trying to solve the problem on your own. Good for you!!! Well the comments by the mechanic do make sense, but remember, if he replaced the engine, then he most certainly had to disconnect the battery, which, in turn, caused the electrical circuit to your dash and hence your radio to shut off. Assuming the fuses are indeed fine, my first hunch is that you have a loose wire or connection somewhere between the fuse box and the back of your radio. But before you go get dirty and mess with that circuit, the very first thing I would do is replace the radio fuse, regardless of whether it looks and or tests fine. It is a very inexpensive "fix" and may solve the problem; I am aware that some bad/broken fuses can still arc, giving a false positive test. Hopefully, your problem is solved.
If a replacement fuse does not solve the problem, then you are kind of in a catch 22 situation. Why? Well, you have to make a decision as to whether you personally want to spend the time needed to take the radio out of your dash and check the integrity of your connections or have someone else do it. Tough call, but you have some spunk, you have found this site, and you have made it this far. Go for it, what the hell?
OK, then the next good step would be for you to check your radio's electrical wire connections before you decide that all hope is lost and that you need to buy a replacement radio. The back of your radio will have a female/male plug connection; sometimes that comes loose and simply re-inserting the connection will do the trick. However, that is easier said than done. In order to expose the back of your radio, you will have to remove it from your dash board. There is a reason why mechanics charge a huge price to fix dash components: it is called labor. It is difficult to describe how to remove your car radio from your dash without my being able to see what your particular dash and radio looks like, but let's give it a try. I will assume that your dash is plastic. It is very likely that your radio will have plastic "shrouds" surrounding what I assume is your rectangular shaped radio. If so, these plastic pieces need to be removed. Be careful, you do not want to break them. A small flat head screw driver with gentle pressure placed underneath the shrouds and at their tab insertion points will usually cause the shrouds to pop off, exposing the metal radio housing. (Your dealer has special tools for all of this, but you are a weekend warrior, so make due with what you have!)
The radio may be secured in place by either a slide mechanism or screws; you will have to simply eyeball this and figure out how the radio fits into your dash. In general, radios are self-contained units that will slide in and out of a dash, much like a computer hard drive fits into the housing of a computer tower. Well, if you have gotten this far, awesome. This next step is important: Go to your refrigerator, open up that bottle of bubbly, congratulate yourself and then proceed. Now then, gently slide the radio forward and out of the dash; there should be some slack in the rear radio wire and antenna connetions that allows you to do this. Completely remove the wire plug connection, re-insert same, start your car, turn on your radio, and...hopefully, you can now finish that bottle of bubbly as you listen to your favorite guitar rift from Eric Clapton or that great fusion jazz piece by Spyrogyra. NO?
Well, if all of that fails, by all means finish the bottle of bubbly because you have now determined that a new/replacement radio is in order. This is good. The bright side is that since you have now removed the broken radio, you can now buy a substitute radio (local VW dealer--expensive; local car radio store--less expensive and you can see first hand what they have and they could install it for you; or ebay--least expensive) and slide it into the dash by yourself, having saved the huge labor costs that your local VW mechanic would have charged. Now then, take yourself and someone special out to dinner with the money you saved...and by all means turn up the volume on your new sterio. Good Luck!!!! 95Passat
P.S. I just replaced the window regulator on my car and save around $400.00 in labor costs.
We took the dash apart and replaced the heater core, being VERY careful to replace everything back in the right order.
Unfortunately, now that the entire dash is back together, we have a small problem - when the headlights are off, the gauges work fine. HOWEVER, when we turn on the headlights, all gauges go to zero - RPM, Fuel, Speedometer. On a side note, the high beam indicator comes on when the headlights are on low and goes off when the headlights are on high.
Any ideas?
VW customer service is of no help.
Does any one have an answer??
I have an electrical “Bug” with the following symptoms:
1. Fuel gauge does not work (i.e. indicates “empty”) and as a result the trip computer “Miles to Empty” does not function
2. Power seats work but the memories do not function.
3. Radio works but does not turn off with the key
4. No indication of Audio system status in the top of Driver Display
5. Neither key-fob remotes function.
6. Power door locks do not work.
7. Power windows do not work.
8. Power mirrors do not work.
9. No Air-Conditioning.
10. No Temperature input to Auto A/C (Indicates °C not °F)
11. Trip Odometer in Speedometer doesn’t work (resets itself)
12. Trunk Release does not work (fuel door release does function).
13. Main dashboard lights work but all auxiliary lights (center console, radio, door switches, steering wheel lights, etc.) do not work.
14. Auto-Transmission works but when it is placed in manual, transmission doesn’t shift on command.
15. Horn doesn’t work.
16. Clock doesn’t keep time
17. Interior lights do not come on with door opening
18. Dashboard gauges all go to zero (Intermittent Problem-two occurrences, lasting seconds)
19. sunroof inop
I went to the dealer,paid 400 in check out fees, there tech said he needs more time, the dealer said that a connection
for the buss is broke some were in the car? and possible a ccu module is bad, I pulled the car out they wanted extra 700 to looking? need some help? :confuse:
I have an electrical “Bug” with the following symptoms:
1. Fuel gauge does not work (i.e. indicates “empty”) and as a result the trip computer “Miles to Empty” does not function
2. Power seats work but the memories do not function.
3. Radio works but does not turn off with the key
4. No indication of Audio system status in the top of Driver Display
5. Neither key-fob remotes function.
6. Power door locks do not work.
7. Power windows do not work.
8. Power mirrors do not work.
9. No Air-Conditioning.
10. No Temperature input to Auto A/C (Indicates °C not °F)
11. Trip Odometer in Speedometer doesn’t work (resets itself)
12. Trunk Release does not work (fuel door release does function).
13. Main dashboard lights work but all auxiliary lights (center console, radio, door switches, steering wheel lights, etc.) do not work.
14. Auto-Transmission works but when it is placed in manual, transmission doesn’t shift on command.
15. Horn doesn’t work.
16. Clock doesn’t keep time
17. Interior lights do not come on with door opening
18. Dashboard gauges all go to zero (Intermittent Problem-two occurrences, lasting seconds)
19. sunroof inop
I went to the dealer,paid 400 in check out fees, there tech said he needs more time, the dealer said that a connection
for the buss is broke some were in the car? and possible a ccu module is bad, I pulled the car out they wanted extra 700 to looking? need some help?
I have an electrical “Bug” with the following symptoms:
1. Fuel gauge does not work (i.e. indicates “empty”) and as a result the trip computer “Miles to Empty” does not function
2. Power seats work but the memories do not function.
3. Radio works but does not turn off with the key
4. No indication of Audio system status in the top of Driver Display
5. Neither key-fob remotes function.
6. Power door locks do not work.
7. Power windows do not work.
8. Power mirrors do not work.
9. No Air-Conditioning.
10. No Temperature input to Auto A/C (Indicates °C not °F)
11. Trip Odometer in Speedometer doesn’t work (resets itself)
12. Trunk Release does not work (fuel door release does function).
13. Main dashboard lights work but all auxiliary lights (center console, radio, door switches, steering wheel lights, etc.) do not work.
14. Auto-Transmission works but when it is placed in manual, transmission doesn’t shift on command.
15. Horn doesn’t work.
16. Clock doesn’t keep time
17. Interior lights do not come on with door opening
18. Dashboard gauges all go to zero (Intermittent Problem-two occurrences, lasting seconds)
19. sunroof inop
I went to the dealer,paid 400 in check out fees, there tech said he needs more time, the dealer said that a connection
for the buss is broke some were in the car? and possible a ccu module is bad, I pulled the car out they wanted extra 700 to looking? need some help?
Krzys
He/she did not click refresh, he/she responded to three separate posts. Perfectly reasonable behavior on most message boards. Perfectly understandable. Shoot, he/she found his/her way to the right discussion, that's more than many new members are able to figure out on their first visit!
Can either of you offer a helpful response to the his/her post?