No Electrical Power

[pjd]

Went to the grocery store and the car did not show any trouble.

Came out of the grocery store about 20 minutes later, unlocked the car with the remote (<---last sign of electrical life), I put the groceries in the the trunk and sit down, press the clutch down, turn the ignition switch and nothing happens.

Car has no electrical power. At least it seems that way since there is no cranking, headlights, brake lights, radio, interior light, alarm, door does not lock with remote, and etcetera.

Is this just a dead battery or is it the infamous electrical gremlin.

Please help me in the right direction.

1999 2.0L 5-speed manual

[btb]

Start from the battery might be your best bet. Keep us informed.

[BigRedOne98]

Yeah check you battery first, then check any visible wiring for for cracks or exposed wiring, which could cause a ground and discharge your battery. Check to see if you left any of the accessories on. Do you have any electrical after market radio or any other devices installed in your bug ?

[from Margaritaville...]

Could be fried ignition switch wires...

Check "Toad's Thread"

http://www.newbeetle.org/forums/show...+switch+melted

[SilverSportNOLA]

Fried ignition could be the cause but the headlights should still turn on. Check for loose battery cables ... but the batteries seem to die with very little warning, I'm on my third since I have owned the car 3.5 years.

[from Margaritaville...]

In hindsight, I agree with SilverSportNOLA in as much as some of the failed functions are not ignition switch based...

[pjd]

Thanks for all the responses.

To my surprise the electrical power returned after hooking up jumper cables.

However I am still convincing myself that it was not a simple "dead battery".

I have had some "dead battery" experiences before with this vehicle and this time around it was not anything like it.

Usually when a battery dies you still have enough energy left in it to have some interior lighting. This total failure felt more like the all of the electrical power to the car was switched or cut-off at another point than the ignition switch.

So far I have checked the battery, the fuse box on top of the battery and the visible cables around the battery. Is there maybe a module in the car that could cut-off the electrical power as I have experienced?

All electrical equipment is standard on this vehicle. I am not sure if that is good or bad in this case

[btb]

If the battery is on the way out, chage it as soon as possible before it backfires on the alternator. Then you have to spend 10x more than it should be.

[SilverSportNOLA]

All depends on when you have had those previous dead batteries on this car. My first one gave a slight notice to me a week before ... slower engine cranking once ... then it died dead no power on a cold rainy december day while I was at work, was able to jump it, the second one was last year on an 11 month old Sears International battery ... Same as you described, In my garage so I didn't unlock it, that may have caused the drain, lights worked when I got in, didn't after trying to start it, woke up my neighbor and got it jumped and realized I should have bought the jumper I was looking at the day before.

[baddassbug]

also check the fuses on top of the battery, i had a broken radiator mount and we were monking around with the battery a lil and i went to start mine to move it into the garage and i had absolutly nothing and ended up being crap on the fuses on top of the battery wasnt makeing a good connection

[btb]

Originally Posted by baddassbug

also check the fuses on top of the battery, i had a broken radiator mount and we were monking around with the battery a lil and i went to start mine to move it into the garage and i had absolutly nothing and ended up being crap on the fuses on top of the battery wasnt makeing a good connection

That thing melts and sometimes catchs fire also, faulty part I would say. $91 from VW for the plastic fuse panel

[Diognes56]

What did this end up being? My sister just got a '98 2.0L (not even a month ago), and she is having what sounds to be the same problem.

It sounds like the a fan (except they are not moving) or the secondary air pump is running after the car is shut off. It will kick on randomly while she is driving which I expect is normal for the secondary air pump, but whatever it is will also kick on randomly after the car is shut off (sometimes it will shut off when she shuts off the car and it will start up later) untill the battery is completely drained. Not really familiar with VWs, and I have only had the chance to look at the car once, but the noise (it vibrates too) is coming from the black canister on the drivers side of the engine (it has a hose running from it to the air intake and a couple other places). I am going to have plenty of time to look at it tomorrow and I wanted to get some more ideas about what to look at. Thanks.

David

[from Margaritaville...]

Originally Posted by Diognes56

What did this end up being? My sister just got a '98 (not even a month ago, and she is having the same problem.

David

What EXACTLY is it doing and NOT doing? What is not working?
Could point to one of many possibilites...

[Diognes56]

Edited my post (I am at work, have to be discreet ). Any help would be greatly appreciated .

Also, THIS THREAD sounds almost exactly like what she is experiencing. Thanks.

David

[pjd]

Still not sure what happend back then.

Today the car was hickuping after very cold start (0-5 F). Was able to drive it home after warm-up (with minor hickups).

At home I checked the fuses on top of battery and found that the 40 amp metal fuse which is mounted in the middle is burnt through. Ebahn lists this as fuse S164 Fuse −3− in fuse bracket/battery.

So Since today I am sure that I have a shortcircuit in the system. Question is where exactly

Please advise.

[from Margaritaville...]

Not sure that you have a short. Seems many are experiencing melted battery-top fuse holders. It may be just as simple as that...

[pjd]

Hmm No melted battery-top fuse panel Just a shorted fuse. Anyway found some more info about the shorted fuse S164

fuse S164 - 40 A Coolant fan control (FC) control module/coolant fan

Are there any known problems witin VW regarding this particular fuse?

[SilverSportNOLA]

Mine was the 1st fuse on the RHSide of the car ... and it was Fans. Mine doesn't look bad on the top, but the connectors underneath have seen some heat damage, I will be swapping the entire fuseblock out before A/C season again ... but changing the fuse did help, and the OEM one was not blown, just the platics of it were melted.

[pjd]

Fuse S164 (40A)is one of the fusible links (metal OEM fuse on top of battery). I probably need to go to the dealer to get one. Anyone a proce indication?