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Volkswagen Cabrio Electrical Problems

2

Comments

  • cabrioabacocabrioabaco Member Posts: 1
    2002 cabrio on island of abaco- no vw dealership. battery disconnected when not there. when reconnected, the car started then shut off almost immediately
    1. what cause this to happen
    2. how do we disable the security system
  • detaildavedetaildave Member Posts: 7
    my cruise control only works intermitantly,and my abs light is on all the time.haven't found a fix for it yet.
  • stylestjstylestj Member Posts: 1
    I had that exact same problem with mine. You need to have your repair shop look at the "clockspring". The clockspring is located in the steering wheel and is a metal coil which allows all of the electrical things in that area work (horn, cruise control, airbag, etc). I'm from NJ and the repair cost me about $350.00. The part itself cost about $175.00, and the balance was labor. I would have tried to repair it myself, but it required removal of the steering wheel and airbag.

    Good Luck
  • marvinianmarvinian Member Posts: 1
    I have a VW Cabrio 97. Headlights, AC and wipers won't work but if I flash my brights, everything turns on. There is a fuse, switch or relay?? Please if this look familiar let me know. I really appriciate your help, thanks...
  • bill721dbill721d Member Posts: 5
    I have a 2001 cabrio convertible with a black box in the trunk making noise after the car is turned off. It makes a funny noise and runs 5 to 10 minutes after the car is turned off. Any ideas what it is and what might be wrong...Thank you

    I also have a hand brake where the brake light keeps going on and off after releasing the break. Man I love this car....:)
  • kominskykominsky Member Posts: 850
    Is this black box attached to anything? Roughly, what size?

    CD changer?
  • bill721dbill721d Member Posts: 5
    If you are standing at the back of the car. Black box is near the right brake light. It is about 6" by 10".

    Also today while driving the horn honks 3 times and the hazard light flash 3 times at the same time. It does it 3 times in a row and stops. After a while it did the same thing again.
  • bill721dbill721d Member Posts: 5
    My Daughter just brought the car over and I had a look at it. The box is made of foam and is held to the tail light bracket by a bunge strap. Inside is a plastic part that looks like a canister almost. The only number I see on it is PPGF30. Still not sure what it is, however it had water in the foam case. Any thoughts.
  • kominskykominsky Member Posts: 850
    With the flashing lights and horn, sounds like some kind of alarm module. If that's the case, getting water into it could definitely cause it to go loopy. My daughter's Cabrio doesn't have an alarm, so it's only a guess. Maybe leave the foam off for a couple of days to dry everything out and see if the problem goes away... ??
  • bill721dbill721d Member Posts: 5
    Looks like the key fob isn't opening or closing the door locks now either. I think the box is the pump that opens the door locks. The Key in the door works unlocking the doors so the pump seems to be working. I've been trying to find a good repair book on the vehicle but nothing so far. I thought turning the key also opened the windows if you held it open, however, that doesn't seem to be happening now. I went to volkswagon and they would only say we will look at it for $180.
  • kominskykominsky Member Posts: 850
    You are correct, that is exactly what it is... my daughter's away at school and I wasn't thinking that she had her car. She doesn't. It's sitting in the driveway. :blush: She has the same foam-surrounded box.

    Anyway, the Hayne's manual shows how to remove... simply disconnect the battery, pull it out of the foam, disconnect the wiring connector and pull the vacuum line. Installation is the reverse. But they give no tests that can be performed to see if the part is faulty.
  • bill721dbill721d Member Posts: 5
    Thanks for the reply. I'm tring to figure out if this box is working or not. If I use the key both doors lock or unlock so my thinking is the box is working. Neither key fobs are working so I'm not sure if this is the box that talks with the key fobs or if it Is only operates the locks and the signal comes from somewhere else. If that makes sense. I'm looking for some good hardware manuals but so far the three I've tried don't have much on this area. Bently publishing makes the dealer manuals so I may have to get those.
  • robotonyrobotony Member Posts: 1
    I'm seeing the exact same thing, did you find the root cause?
  • bebeardbebeard Member Posts: 3
    hi all, thanks in advance for the help...

    my wife has a 2000 vw cabrio,and the turn signals randomly stop working. I have checked the fuse, and the fuse is fine. could the relay be bad? how can it be checked?

    thanks,

    brook
  • prattepratte Member Posts: 1
    Did you get this resolved? I am having the same issue. Sounds like a relay of some sort.
  • moldakmoldak Member Posts: 4
    My lighter stopped working. The manual seems to indicate that the fuse is separate and on top of the other fuses and relays. Is this correct? Do I need to take the dash apart to get to it?
  • coniwconiw Member Posts: 2
    My drivers heated seat quit woking. Is this something I can fix easily?
  • scooteroxscooterox Member Posts: 1
    I bought my 16 yr old daughter a 2002 Cabrio conv. with 38K and it was great for two (2) weeks!! Then the drivers front window quit and (keep in mind it's out of warranty) I was told I needed a new motor and switch, which I had them replace. After that the passenger front window quit one (1) week later! I told her just to drive it that way.
    I had a new stereo installed by Fryes on January 18th for a surprise b-day gift and dropped the car back at the High School with everything working properly - except of course the front passenger window. When she got home that evening she told me the key fob wasn't working and the horn was sounding every few seconds and the hazards would flash when this happened! Sounded like an alarm issue and I figured the key fob batteries were low so I replaced them and re-programmed the key fob according to the owners manual, which didn't help either situation. I first assumed that Fryes had shorted something when installing the new radio, which used a specific wiring harness that was bought specifically for that car, so I returned to Fryes to let them look at it before I took it to the VW dealership. During this day (of course it was raining all day) the windows would roll down on their own intermittently and sometimes roll back up and sometimes not, the horn would sound and the hazards might flash and might not!! The key fob had never began working again. Fryes took the new radio out and re installed the old one which had no affect on the problems and the windows actually rolled down in their garage with no key in the ignition! They said they new radio had been installed correctly and they re installed it and I was off to the VW dealer.
    As of this message, the dealer has had the car two weeks and installed a new main computer chip, a different chip that supposedly operated the front windows separately and various other parts that they are now saying totals almost $2,000 with labor! At one point last week they said I needed both front window motors and switches, to which I replied was not correct (and not in so many nice words). I told them the drivers side front window was working, on it's own with no key in the ignition when I brought the car in and to go find the real problem. This morning the service guy wasn't in yet and I talked to the mechanic. By the way, I was told last Thursday the car was fixed but they wanted to keep it overnight to make sure. That sounds like a patient in the hospital. I called this morning to come pick it up and was told it still wasn't ready! When I got the mechanic on the phone he was very frustrated and said they had never figured out the whole problem but as they installed new electrical parts and computer chips, some things would work for a period of time then stop again and he, nor any techs at the dealership, had ever run across these issues. I suggested he contact VW corporate service (thinking he had of course already done that) but it seemed to be a novel idea to him! Either this car is possessed or VW doesn't have a clue or both. If anyone has had anything remotely resembling this issue or even heard of it please give me some direction, any direction. Should I contact corporate? The service tech stated they could find nothing relating to the radio install that would have caused any of this and that the radio had been properly and professionally installed. I find it hard to believe several components failed on the same day, whether related to the radio install or not. The dealership keeps asking for me to authorize new and very expensive parts to be installed but can't say if these parts are solving anything or not. Of course I have to authorize these requests as a car that has windows going up and down without any reason, plus all the other issues is basically worthless! If they eventually, by luck, replace the correct part why shouldn't they remove every other part they have installed to make sure the car actually needed them? I don't feel I should pay for those parts or the labor and I most definitely feel VW's corporate service division should have been called in and been able to diagnose the problem - and much sooner!! So much for the impeccable German engineering. Someone please help before I have a bill that is more than the car is worth! :lemon:
  • apennimanapenniman Member Posts: 1
    My wife's cabrio has similar problems.

    The horn flashing and hazards flashing starting going off while going down the road. The last time it happened was in the middle of a major snow storm with the heat cranked, the wipers, rear defroster and lights on. There was a puff of smoke from under the dash. I pulled into the near by rest stop and check it out. Everything with the horns and light straigten out, but I lost the remote access.

    I know that the remote can also be used to control the windows up and down if you hold the button down for a while. My guess is that the remote control device is having all kinds of issues. I did not crawl under the dash to check out that problem, but I do do some diags on my window problem (wouldn't go down) and found that there were broken ground wires in the bundle of wires that goes from the door to the body.

    Hope this might give an idea.

    AJ
  • sab0782sab0782 Member Posts: 7
    I had the same problems with my wife's 02 cabrio. The door look was the problem . the door look when turned operates the windows and the alarm . water intrusion on the electronics on the door lock was the cause. Chech the ground inside the drivers door lock
  • vwcabrio02vwcabrio02 Member Posts: 1
    Dear Scooterox,

    I've owned a 2002 Cabrio GLX for the last 4 years and I've became best friends with my mechanic.

    Yesterday I got similar issues that you've described:
    1) When I left my car in the garage overnight I noticed all the windows were open.
    2) The courtesy light on the drivers door wasn't working.
    3) When I was driving, the alarm horn would sound 3 times.
    4) The vanity lights were not working.
    5) The factory radio kept going into SAFE mode each time I shut off the engine.
    6) When I opened the driver side door the windows would go down.
    7) A 20 Amp fuse towards the far right of the of the fuse box was blown.

    So today I took it to a trusted mechanic as I haven't had much luck with the local VW Dealer. The mechanic replace the 20Amp fuse and as soon as the vanity light was turned on, it blew again.

    So he took the drivers side door panel off and found that wires coming from the door lock had been rubbing against bare metal of the door and had burnt out the insulation and were making contact. He rewired that section, 6 wires in total and put the door panel back on and everything is working as it should.

    Total cost of repair was $200.

    I would suggest you ask you VW dealer to check the wiring in the drivers side door first and also refuse to pay for all the components that they've changed ($2K bill) as they haven't fixed you issues. Write to corporate if they refuse.

    Hopefully your problem with be fixed and your daughter can enjoy the car.

    Its a great car when its working.
  • fireman16fireman16 Member Posts: 1
    2002 Cabrio Engine Malfunction Icon is lit on dash. Past experience was coolant housing. What other common causes.
  • coeincuscoeincus Member Posts: 2
    My cruise control in 95 cabrio is not working. I am looking for the 5 amp fuse that is supposed to support it but cannot find it. The windows also have a mind of their own . They sometimes will not respond to the switch demand. I have heard that the power windows and cruise fuses are not in the fuse box under the dash, but located under the hood. I don't se e them.....Can any one give me the location of those fuses or help me with this cruise dilemma ? thanks js
  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,222
    The folks here suggest that the cruise control problem might be the pedal switches or a vacuum leak.

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  • bobo25bobo25 Member Posts: 1
    The issue I'm having is when I turn on the blinker to turn right or left and depress the break the turn signal stops blinking.

    Any thoughts?
  • snookiedicesnookiedice Member Posts: 4
    My 2000 Cabrio is doing the same thing ... I did get rear ended last month, so I am not sure if that caused it , going to the shop....I will repost an answer if they fix the problem
  • bobc2001bobc2001 Member Posts: 2
    A defective ingnition switch can cause all of the above problems. It's just a switch on the back of the key assembly. the problem is getting to it requires removal of the sterring wheel. the switch was 5$ on ebay.

    good luck.....be carefull with air bags.

    bob
  • bobc2001bobc2001 Member Posts: 2
    headlight turn on when emergency brake off. These are driving lights.

    bobc
  • coeincuscoeincus Member Posts: 2
    The electric windows in my 98 cabrio don't always respond properly to the switches. My cruise control also does not work. My mechanic is stumped. Any ideas on solutions???? thanks John
  • poppyken1poppyken1 Member Posts: 3
    1997 vw cabrio will start and run for a few seconds. I have checked the coil pack-ok checked the fuel pump -ok but the trunk and door locks will operate by them selves then the car will not start. can this function be bypassed? thanks ken :">
  • taggerstltaggerstl Member Posts: 1
    I need to replace my Cabrio battery and cannot find one ANYWHERE. Sears even told me they don't make one anymore (AAA said they could replace if I was a member, so I know there are models that fit). Are there any after-market or retail off the shelf batteries that will work ok in the '99 Cabrio? (brand name, store name, model number(s) please! I do not want to spend $300 on a battery either...just something that works. Thanks!
  • scapellascapella Member Posts: 1
    I replaced my 98 Cabrio Battery at Sears last week. There should be a "battery guide book" affixed to the Sears Stores battery rack display. Your 99 should be the same as my 98. The catalog will supply you with the amount of "cranking" amps you need to turn the engine. Any battery that has the necessary capacity and terminal alignment will work in your car. Your biggest challenge is finding a Sears employee with a brain. My battery cost $104 with tax, I installed it myself. Your other choice is to go through a VW dealer. The dealer would be able to give you the correct size. Good luck.
  • dayer45dayer45 Member Posts: 1
    I can't seem to find the fuse box on this car. Can anyone help? sure would be appreciated! thank you
  • crappycabriocrappycabrio Member Posts: 1
    My wife has a 2001 cabrio with just over 100k miles on it. Recently there seem to be major issues with the electronics but the VW dealership has not been able to fix any of them. Two trips to VW and well over $1,000 and they still were not able to get the airbag light to turn off. We gave up on that when there next best idea was to deploy the airbag and then replace it.

    Today when I tried to start the car nothing happened. Once I took the keys out of the ignition there was a clicking noise coming from near the air vent in the front left dash and the gauges were flipping back and forth. My wife had mentioned problems with the gauges before but VW always claimed they couldn't replicate it and nothing could be done. I captured a video this time so people can see the issue - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEs2brR4ZAQ

    Does anyone have suggestions or idea about what could be going on? I'd like to have some suggestions for the mechanics this time since they seem to be all out of ideas.
  • snookiedicesnookiedice Member Posts: 4
  • studioestudioe Member Posts: 1
    OK, I'll try and keep this simple. These are the events that resulted in my wife having to drive home 45 minutes in a snowstorm with all the windows of her 200 Cabrio down....

    we store the car every year for the winter. So, the day of the big storm, I ask my wife to get an oil change, and fill up the tank. Well, the oil change came with a free car wash. It was 25 degrees and dropping as the Noreaster appraoched. After the change, and shopping (which ran late of course), my wife returned to the car to find the locks frozen (we have to use the key - no wireless unlock). She did get the trunk open and somehow managed to wiggle her way to the driver's seat. When she put the key in the ignition, the alarm went off, and wouldn't let her start the car until she turned it off. Well, the only way to tunr it off is to put the key in the drivers door (nice irony).

    Finally (after 20 minutes of alarm), she I guess forced the key in the drivers door, and turned the alarm off. Releived, she got in the car, and put the key in the ignition. This time all the windows in the car - all at once - went down automatically. None of the buttons made any difference, and they could not be put back up.

    Needless to say, it was a long ride home. The windows are still down. I haven't had a chance to mess with the fuses. Has anyone had this happen before? Sugegstions?

    Thanks,

    Eric
  • snookiedicesnookiedice Member Posts: 4
    Hello , I also have a 2000 Cabrio . The same thing happened to me ,alarm going off and all windows down , the only difference was it happened in the summer and just hopped in and drove home with the windows down and alarm blarring ! LOL ...I just have to laugh now because these cars have so many very strange problems but I cant help but love the car .
    Anyway I have had lock problems in the past so I dont lock it or use the key in the door now , since its been awhile Im not sure if you turn the key slightly to the left or if its the right ,dont turn all the way ...then the windows will go back up ! good luck to you !
  • moldakmoldak Member Posts: 4
    edited January 2011
    I have a 99 Cabrio. Remember that when you open the driver's door and keep the key turned, all the doors open and ALL THE WINDOWS GO DOWN!

    It seems to me that the switch inside the door that triggers all the windows to go down broke, got filled with water and shorted out, or something like that.

    Not sure about the alarm, but seems as if opening the door with the proper key would turn off the alarm. If the switch was broken/frozen/waterlogged, it might not have recognized you opening the door with a key, but rather thought that you were opening the door without using the proper key and thus triggering the alarm.

    Try taking off the door panel, finding the electronics behind the door switch. First unplug the switch, i think that should stop any signal from the switch to the "all windows down" trigger.
  • sab0782sab0782 Member Posts: 7
    My wife's 2002 had the same thing alarm going off driving down the road with windows down. Open the trunk and below the right turnsignal is a box encased in foam remove rubber bands and disconnect the wiring harness tro the box, this controls the alarm you can now put the windows up and drive but no alarm.
  • ranjranj Member Posts: 1
    edited March 2011
    2001 VW Cabrio. Coils keep burning up. Have had numerous codes over the past year from 'short to injectors' to the infamous P1582 (?) There is obviously some short problem leading to the coil, but can't seem to find a ground problem. I did notice last night, after it quit on a hill, that there is water running out. From where? Dunno. (And found that the back floorboard is soaked) Could this be causing a short that is throwing various codes and killing the coil? Just in case it is all connected....Cruise quit working, power windows are 'iffy', no electronic door lock (though I have heard that this has to do with the auxiliary vacuum pump in the trunk which is fried)

    Pulling my hair out
  • signman359signman359 Member Posts: 1
    I have a problem with my driver's-side rear window. It likes to randomly roll itself down. What makes it worse is that (most of the time) when I try to roll it back up, it will go up until I let go of the switch, at which point it will usually roll itself back down immediately (whether it got all the way up first or not).

    I'm hoping that perhaps it's a simple problem like a bad relay or something. Considering the power the motors probably draw, I would imagine that the window switch just controls a relay that powers the motor. Following this line of reasoning, I'm thinking that I could try swapping the relay for this window for that of another window and see if the problem follows the relay. Of course, this plan relies on a couple of assumptions that I am uncertain about.

    1) The power window motors use relays
    2) Each window has its own relay

    If these are not accurate assumptions, could somebody please correct me and point me in the right direction?

    If they are accurate, could somebody point me in the right direction for finding out which relays I should be messing with? I don't recall seeing any information in the car's manual regarding relays, just fuses.

    Thanks in advance for any help anyone is able to provide.
  • ribfallsribfalls Member Posts: 1
    I have the same exact problem with a 95 cabrio, only the right rear window.I don't believe there is any relays involved. there is heavier guage wires going to the motors ,RED & Brown. The switch activates the electronics in the motor assy I think the problem is the motor itself. I found them on the internet for about $120.00 rebuildt.Good luck.
  • topless3topless3 Member Posts: 1
    Did you find a solution. I have very simular problem, head lights dont work only high beams if you hold lever and blower fan shuts off when you pull e brake
  • sarrie79sarrie79 Member Posts: 1
    need a diagram for the cabrio fuse box on an 89 please
  • lilybet01lilybet01 Member Posts: 1
    I am having problems with the coil as well, were you able to find a fix? Thanks
  • tegaynortegaynor Member Posts: 2
    Short and sweet- I need some ideas of where to start ...

    Started with-
    cruise control stopped working all together
    tach and speedometer work sporadically
    radio shuts off and turns back on
    at red light, car loses all power and shuts down, put in N, starts right back up (3 times now)
    Alarm started going off and on when opening unlocked door
    headlights and dash lights will dim and brighten on and off....

    This has been transpiring over about a year but the stalling is worrying me. I would appreciate any ideas (other than taking it to a dealership or getting a new car!)

    We disconnected the alarm from the box behind the right tail light so my daughter will not be mortified again by the blaring horn at the orthodontist- LOL :surprise:

    Thanks for reading and offering advice!
  • bigjim89bigjim89 Member Posts: 1
    dont know">link title if you have resolved your fuse box problem...
    go to http://www.cabby-info.com/electrical.htm
  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,222
    Great info - thanks, bigjim89!

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  • goshitworksgoshitworks Member Posts: 6
    hi,
    If you took the battery loose it might be in immobilizer mode,Check the inst cluster if there is a car with a key in it ,it's in that mode.also radio code will be missing,double check wiring plugs especially the crank sensor,,A scan tool would help here,read the codes out...
    you could jump the coil to 12 v and see if it cranks ,
    Now the bad part.... might have to replace the ECM or have that one reprogrammed.The life span on them is like electronics heat and over 5 years old isn't good.
    I have read you can get the part # off your ECM and find the SAME # one and it will work,,,but I can;t find my #
    Good luck,
  • goshitworksgoshitworks Member Posts: 6
    HELP!!!!
    I had a good shop rebuild a Automatic trans in my 2,0 cabrio,When I picked it up the engine was idling pretty high ,The mech said it needed to break in and maybe a tune up,Well the engine ran fine in park and started ok So Tune-up what? I drove it and read online how to reset the user adaptions that helped but still 2 feet on the brakes at red lights,About a week later 250 miles or so I started to hear a knock from the hood,wasn't a spark knock but enough that you could know it was there ,after about 60 mph the knock would disappear until you let off the gas then it was back,,,,a few days later the knock got LOUD and I parked it,I did check the oil the first time it knocked level was good and no metal visible in the oil and the oil was new,I pulled the pan and rocked the crank back and forth damn big knock,so I started pulling rod caps and checking them all ok,Then I happen to look at the torque converter and the 3 nuts that hold it to the crank plate where almost off the studs so I tightened them and torqued them and check for a knock ,it was GONE,I put it back together but it will turn over NO knock but will not run ,,,,has fuel pressures,spark ,check every sensor added raw fuel to intake,I had a MAF and A cat 1 error in code scan,but those are replaced now,I?m going CRAZY That same shop couldn't find anything wrong with it and another $350.00 down the tubes,lol I'll take ANY suggestions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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