1998 beetle toatally dead! ecu?

[r6yamaboy]

hi new here hoping to get some advise from the pros.
so i have had some issues lately with the beet starting and shutting off. it would sometimes "timeout" and be totally dead for five minutes. after that dash lights would come back on and work properly! car would light right up and run fine. after shutting off it might "timeout" again for five min. every time this would happen i would here a clicking under the dash and the gauges would make a priming sound. from some research on here i replaced the ignition switch to no avail. i have no bad fuses. im stumped! i thought the clicking might be the ecu. in a rush one time to jump the car i accidently hooked up the cables backward. since then it has started but now is totally dead. no lights no dash no nothing i think ecu but wanted opinions! thanks!

[geniushanbiao]

Is there any power when the car is "dead" like you mentioned? I mean, when it's dead can you turn on any lights e.g. headlamp, instrument illumination lamp, interior lamp, ...? If there is completely no power then it can't be the ECU and it is most likely to be the battery cable, connection.

[jason m]

Originally Posted by r6yamaboy

hi new here hoping to get some advise from the pros.
so i have had some issues lately with the beet starting and shutting off. it would sometimes "timeout" and be totally dead for five minutes. after that dash lights would come back on and work properly! car would light right up and run fine. after shutting off it might "timeout" again for five min. every time this would happen i would here a clicking under the dash and the gauges would make a priming sound. from some research on here i replaced the ignition switch to no avail. i have no bad fuses. im stumped! i thought the clicking might be the ecu. in a rush one time to jump the car i accidently hooked up the cables backward. since then it has started but now is totally dead. no lights no dash no nothing i think ecu but wanted opinions! thanks!

Check the fuse box for blow fuses and check all battery cables and connections at junction box/distribution box (where all the power cables mount to studs) for loose connections.

[r6yamaboy]

originally when it first started i could flip the light switch and i could see a flicker. of red on the light switch itself. now nothing at all. the beetle is totally dead. battery tested fine connections are good at battery and at battery junction box. however i do not know where the battery ground is?
i cant see where it goes?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Without looking it up, I'm going to guess #1.

M.

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[r6yamaboy]

wow thank you! nice i had no idea there were so many. ill check under battery box and check back.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Means more when used in conjunction with the wiring diagrams that show the ground points for everything,

[r6yamaboy]

pulled battery tray. checked and cleaned the ground. put battery back in and still nothing. also i noticed that my gauge cluster is stuck with rpm at like 1100. like frozen. dont know if it matters. any other thoughts?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

I'll try to get into this further when I'm not so pressed for time. Since you had the battery box out, the battery was disconnected I assume. Have you cleaned the battery terminals and cable connections good? Do you have a multi-meter, and know how to use it? And have you had a good look at the inside of the main fuse box that sits atop the battery?

M.

[r6yamaboy]

terminals were cleaned. honestly i dont know how to use the multimeter very well. if that sounds dumb sorry. just being honest. the fuse box im assuming is the box where all the positive leads come. it is perfect and all three fuses are good.
dont want to be a bother please feel free to help at your leisure. thanks so much already!

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

You obviously did some damage when you reversed polarity, just need to find and repair it. If you want to learn, and you want to try to find the problem yourself (I must warn you electrical issues can be the most tedious of all auto diagnostics), myself and several others on here will be glad to help you learn and work with you.

A basic multi-meter, and you want a digital one, can probably be had at Wally World or the like for under $15 or $20. I can give you links to go study guides for the basic use, and you CAN learn. If you'll put up where you are, in your User CP, someone may be able to even find you a local Orger who might work for beer, helping you hands on. Or refer you to a good shop in your area. There are a lot of good, helpful people around here.

I can't promise that we, or you can totally resolve your problem, but we should be able to at least isolate the cause and give you a direction to go to get it resolved.

I know of two other threads, working with issues right now, here and over on the Vortex, that were caused by reversing battery polarity. But all with different symptoms.

Just let me know what you want to do. You're the one that has to make the commitment.

M.

[toledotom]

My daughter's 2000 NB was acting up similar to what you describe. She had a dead battery twice for NO apparent reason. I jumped started it and had it taken over to the Battery Wholesale shop for a New battery. They tested it and it was fine. It started for her there and she drove it home and I recharged the battery overnight. A week later same thing happened, jump start and ran fine but it shut off for her in a parking lot. I had to go over and jump start.The only thing differant was I used the key to open her car a few weeks earlier while lubing the doorlocks. I found the electrical Box in the driver's door has 6 bad solder joints, common in a NB. This will give you that clicking noise you hear. The problem seemed to come with rain or really damp colder weather. I just pounded my fist near the key entrance on the door and slammed it hard a few times. Have not had a problem in over a year, but I am sure her contacts in the door, alarm box in the door has some bad contacts. Cover in another post, just search door locks.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

You may very well be right about his initial problem. Those are the solder joints for the micro-switches in the door control module There are three (four in the NBC). While they may, in fact, be problematic in design and/or workmanship, much of the problem is caused by abuse, namely, slamming the doors. The clicking he heard, could possibly have been the fuel pump relay and the "priming" sound, the fuel pump doing just that, pre-priming, which is what it is designed to do when the door is opened, triggered by the door control module. The timing out thing, on the other hand, I would have thought possibly an immobilizer issue if I didn't know the year, but this is a '98, no immobilizer. I'm thinking the power supply relay [109] may be failing or, well I have to do a little research on the [109] relay, and my other thought, before saying anymore.

His problem now is, he installed a new battery and reversed the polarity when he hooked it up. Now the electrical system is getting no power at all, a little, initially, but even that fizzled out to none, which leads me to believe there is a meltdown somewhere, that was almost complete, when reversing the polarity occured, and then completed itself after the fact while trying to flow current through something that was all but destroyed. While there is no damage visible, there obviously is damage, it's just a case of finding where it is. Once this issue is resolved, the original problem can be addressed.

M.

[r6yamaboy]

ok great! ill find my multimeter. please give me a couple of days my truck broke down and i can only handle one vehicle down at a time! check back soon! thanks!