Weird electrical problem

Back on Monday, due to the massively cold temperatures outside (it was

-26C, -42C with the wind), the windshield on my Tribeca cracked. Nothing huge, so I took it to the auto glass place the next day. They were done in a few hours, and when I picked the car back up, I noticed that my stereo was not working and the climate control display no longer showed anything! I took it back to the auto glass place, and they tested out its fuses to see if any had burned out: nothing had. So they couldn't figure out why the stereo and climate control stopped working. They suggested that maybe some condensation happened on the electrical wires, because it came from a cold place to a warm place in the garage, and that they thought it might come back on its own. They suggested I wait 2 days to see if it comes back, and then if it doesn't I should take it to the dealership. So it didn't come back on its own, so I went down to the dealership and had them take a look at it.

The dealership looked at it for about 3 hours+, before they figured it out. Some wires had burned crispy together, right *behind* the fuse box. They cut and replaced the wires, and everything is back now. Now why the wires had shorted instead of blowing out the fuses is completely unknown. Anybody ever seen this happen?

Now, the auto glass people took responsibility and paid for the dealership visit, so no complaints there. The problem apparently happened when the auto glass people plugged in the new windshield's wiper heater elements into the car.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan
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We had a similar event with a 1978 VW Rabbit. The wire to the fuel injector pump melted at the back of the under-dash fuse box. When I went to a service station and described the symptoms the guy knew exactly what had happened. In fact he pulled a VW fuse box out of his desk drawer and showed me where to find the melted place. The electrics on that car were a nightmare. The fix (in addition to replacing the damaged fuse box) was to install a larger gage wire to the fuel pump. The fuse was the right size; it was the wire that was too small.

Reply to
John Varela

Ah, interesting point, and it brings back memories of my own VW Scirroco, which was a 1980 model, not much newer than your Rabbit. That thing was such a nightmarishly badly-engineered piece of crap, that it turned me away from ever buying a European car again, and especially German cars. I buy only American or Japanese these days, although I might consider South Korean too at some point.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

The wire gauge going to the electric 7kwt top of my bosch cooktop is more suitable for a 1.5kwt appliance. Those pesky gauge skimping copper saving germans.

there is a north korean car in the wild?

Reply to
AD

Still, this is the first time I've encountered such a thing in a Japanese vehicle, I hope it's not indicative of this one! Usually Japanese cars are far superior to German cars for reliability.

I'm thinking it might be similar to the Flintstones car, i.e. open floor, foot powered. :)

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

I replaced the fuse boxes on my Rabbit and Scirocco. For a while, I had a bypass switch for the fuel pump on the Scirocco. VWs had a tendency to turn a commute into an adventure or something scary.

Reply to
dsi1

Not quite, but close enough: One day I removed the floor mat from my

1973 Datsun 240Z and noted that there was a hole the size of a saucer in the floor, through which I could see the driveway pavement. I had a hell of a time finding someone to repair it. No one wanted to touch it, apparently for liability reasons. I finally found a guy at a place that made heating ducts who was willing to work on it. He riveted a piece of sheet steel to it. Mine was by no means the first 240Z he had worked on. He said he used to weld his patches in place but after he set someone's upholstery on fire he switched to rivetting.

Ah, the good old days.

Reply to
John Varela

There was a lot more to the story of the replacement of the fuse box in our Rabbit. Suffice it to say that after the first attempt at repair the light switch worked the windshield wipers.

After the wiring was finally straightened out by the dealer, you could be driving on a warm, sunny day with no electrical accessories on and have the engine stop running because there was no electricity. By that time the car was for use of our teenagers, so I would get this phone call and go to wherever he was stuck. The car responded to a jump start and drove home normally. I would put an engine analyzer on it and it showed the charging circuit operating normally and the battery would take a charge.

I never did track down what caused it other than that it was another example of German engineering.

Reply to
John Varela

Both of my VWs would die occasionally while driving. On the Rabbit, the fuse box was corroded because of water dripping on it. The Scirocco would die because the connectors for the solenoid for the fuel pump was flaky. The Germans should be ashamed of themselves - I'd like to know who manufactured those things.

OTOH, what's past is past and hopefully these things no longer happen. I'd go for another VW if one was presented to me at a good price. The drivetrain on the Scirocco was just wonderful! The body rust was just awful! My guess is that my neighbors averted their eyes when driving past it.

Reply to
dsi1

I don't know how Germans got this reputation for good engineering, they are actually much better as marketeers of engineering than actual engineering. I laugh everytime I hear of some poor sod who bought a BMW, and their no-charge maintenance period ends. Suck on that $200 oil change, buddy. :)

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

In the case of our Rabbit, VW was about to open its first US factory so I thought I was being clever by getting one of the last ones built in Germany. Not.

When was that? As I mentioned elsethread, my Datsun 240Z's floorboard rusted through. All 240Z's had rusted-out rocker panels and paint bubbles around the wheel cutouts. Factory rustproofing has improved a lot since then.

Reply to
John Varela

Aren't they the guys who invented the Big Lie?

they

Reply to
John Varela

I thought those Rabbits with the square headlights looked kind of goofy. I had a round-eyed Rabbit.

I had the Scirocco around 1988. I drove my friend's 240Z and it was a nice ride. The 6 cylinder engine gave a smooth power delivery. The shifter, as I recall, was pretty notchy, and short. What a great sound the engine made when you opened it up. You're right that rust was a problem.

Reply to
dsi1

Ours was a '78 with round headlights. The headlights weren't the problem...

I'd love to go on about the '73 Z and its pleasures and problems, but this isn't the right news group for that so I guess I'll sign off now.

Reply to
John Varela

I'll continue. I had my 77 Z for about 30 years. Bought in ca. Much damage from sun in two years. In Pittsburgh had to replace fenders after my lousy attempt at lacquer job. Even cars in garage rust, exhausts, need constant attention. Last few years busy and car often sat outside. One final left rear quarter panel rust spot. A couple touch ups, ready to sell. Sold that, bought 66 roadster. In garage. Was detailing under hood rust, battery corrosion before winter.

280Z had installed heavy duty sway bars, shocks, to counter soft suspension.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

I had a '68 beetle that would keep running with the ignition key off/removed as long as the headlights were switched on.

Reply to
thumper

Thinking about what the circuit diagram for that electrical system looks like, hurts my head. :)

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

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