Electrical Fault

[fraz]

Hi guys,

 

A friend of mine has a 1999 TDi VW Sharan (I don't know if thats blasphemous around here or not...!), with a fault which appears to be quite common on galaxies as well. He has:

 

• 
  

no indicators

• 
  

no main beam

• 
  

no interior lights

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wipers straight to full speed

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no rear wiper

 

Now i've had a good look through this forum and got a few tips on where to start (i am a HGV mechanic, so its just the model that i'm not familiar with, the technical side i'm pretty good with!!!), so basically i just want a shove in the right direction. I've heard about the problems with water ingress under the passenger seat, but is there anything else that commonly causes this fault?

 

So far on my list i'm searching for fuses 51-55, and a general butchers in the way of supply relays/modules, but i really am clutching at straws as far as locations etc are concerned. So any tips on locations, common problems or things to watch out for would be much appreciated, I just want to spend as little time as possible with multimeter in hand!!

 

Thanks,

 

Fraser

 

PS I am assured that all fuses he can see are ok, but i don't have the car as of yet so can't confirm/deny anything at present.

[gregers]

welcome to the forum fraz,

take a look at the rubber boot at the top right when you open the hatch,the wires in there have a tendency to break and cause no end of probs.

the reason why so many of these cars suffer from there own swimmingpool is the designers decided to put a join in the tube that runs front to back for the rear washer right near 1 of the main control boxes.

basically search on the forum to see if your questions have already been asked/answered,then if no joy post away your problems.hth.

[frogeye]

• 
  

no indicators

• 
  

no main beam

• 
  

no interior lights

• 
  

wipers straight to full speed

• 
  

no rear wiper

 

Fraser

 

Hi Fraser,

 

I had this same set of problems with my 2.8 V6 when I bought it, after a session with a multimeter eventually found that it was a 3A fuse in the engine bay. It was in lttle black box in front of the battery, where all your heavy duty wiring goes in, along side two 30A fuses (I actually ended up shoving in a 5A fuse as had no 3A at the time .. mental note to correct that later on!). And hey presto, one tiny fuse and the whole lot sorted! I think that this fuse is for the CAN bus (?) some sort of electrical wizardry that controls a range of stuff, but I'm sure there are other far more informed forum members who could tell you better.

 

Good luck

Frogeye

[fraz]

Hi Guys,

 

Sorry about the delay in reply, I've been on holiday for the last three weeks! I'm going to start having a look at the car tonight (in the pouring rain!!!), i'll let you know how I get on, just to let you know I appreciate your feedback chaps!

 

Cheers,

 

Fraser

[big_kev]

Hi Guys,

 

Sorry about the delay in reply, I've been on holiday for the last three weeks! I'm going to start having a look at the car tonight (in the pouring rain!!!), i'll let you know how I get on, just to let you know I appreciate your feedback chaps!

 

Cheers,

 

Fraser

 

Shouldn't you be watching the footie :unsure:

[big_kev]

Good decision......not to watch

[fraz]

You understand why i would rather be out in the rain fixing a car thats not even mine then kev!!!

 

Anyways, we're all sorted, two broken wires - one in the o/s of the rear hatch (in the boot) and one at the battery connection. So the garage that he went to and got quoted

[gregers]

fraz thats the trouble with a lot of garages,they know a lot of the faults our cars suffer from or not as the case maybe,but they will have you pay an arm and a leg just to keep replacing items until they stumble on the faulty item.when as now found it was a few broken wires.

[ed_dean]

I too had a simalar problem my rear wiper hasnt worked since i got the car along with a host of other problems im slowly working through. will have to try looking for that to see if thats whats wrong. ive seen the msg about the black fuse box in the engine bay will have to have another look for that too i have a 97 r reg galaxy 2.3l ghia peterol with similar electrical problems sometimes the head lights stay on when the engine is turned off if you leave the indicators on. also i have a rear electric window that works in reverse no mater which switch you use.