Electrical Problems on a VW Passat ....

[sparehead3]

It's a bit off topic but I'd just thought I'd "share" : you can a) laugh at the design fault or b) provide tips for cleaning the plugs or c) both

My car is 12 years old and has covered 211k - so not worth that much (so I'm not crying) but is : reliable and cheap and can be driven and parked anywhere

Anyway, underneath the battery (which is in front of the windscreen) are two drain plugs that can get blocked - because they don't let the crud go through. Result is the battery area fills with water and when that is full, it goes into the car You can read about it here : http://www.weirdlittlebiscuit.com/passat/leak/

I've sorted the drain plugs and the been drying the car for months (seemingly). Stupidly though, they put the control box for the doors, windows, alarms, interior lights UNDER the passenger footwell and when the leak occurs this "sealed" box also fills up with water and you end up with a crazy car acting on it's own when being driven or when stationary (due to the water slopping about).

My question is the connectors to this box (in the second photo) look intact apart from being a bit sludgy - I've sprayed it with WD40 - is there anything else I can do?

I've got a new control box from ebay but don't fancy replacing all the wiring (rather buy another car TBH!)

In reality it's quite amazing the thing managed to work as long as it did - I've literally taken a BUCKET of water out of the footwell !

[Neil]

Sounds a familiar problem, my brother in laws Passat TDi estate has suffered the same last year the water came through the heater into the footwells during a heavy downpour ended up with almost foot of water in front sloshing about!  Also took months to dry out, the car still works despite this, check the drainage holes under the front screen typical on many Audis (100) and VWs (Corrado), which reminds me of the drain hose on the heater box on S2 Fulvias which can also block up with compost.

[sparehead3]

Yes, it's just the "comfort control module" that is drenched. The car is otherwise fine ! To buy the box from VW would be more than the car is worth so I'm hoping a box from a scrapped passat will do the trick and the rest of the wiring is going to be Ok.

[fay66]

Did you ever read Jacks "Living with a Dedra" ?when a similar thing occurred, With Dedra the fuse box lies backwards and any water leaking through the windscreen finishes up inside with no way out, unlike your Passat, this is disaster to a Dedra, and creates all sorts of odd things happening to the electrics and the only cure is to replace the fusebox.

Brian
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