Electrical Problems!

[Mortville]

I need some advice ASAP! I took my Beetle in to get a new seatbelt connector because the airbag light light was on. It is now a few days later and my spedomometer stopped working, the gas gauge is going all over the place, the check engine light came on, no miles are being racked on to the odometer or the trip odometer, the door locks are not locking themselves at 5mph like they should, and the electrical outlets are not working. Could this be related to the work that they did with the airbag? Any ideas on what is causing this? I need help ASAP since it is almost Christmas and I need to drive 2hrs to see my family. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Mortville]

Anybody?

[from Margaritaville...]

Take that Beetle back to repair facility and tell them what you've told us. That is unacceptable to anyone...

[Mortville]

I neglegted to mention that the work was done at a dealership and when I called the service dept. they said that this could not be related to the work that they did with the seatbelt connector. Am I being screwed?

[Mortville]

Does anyone think that this is definitely related? I called a few dealerships and they said that they don't see any way that the work that was performed could affect this. It's a pretty big coincidence if that is true!!!

[Mortville]

Originally Posted by Alan Margosian

Take that Beetle back to repair facility and tell them what you've told us. That is unacceptable to anyone...

Thanks for the reply and the support!

[kcfoxie]

Take it back and tell them none of these things happened before I brought it in, you'd best repair.

[ilpotosino]

check the black wire from the battery

[digitalputty]

Take it back and demand they fix it ... if they done better business bureau would like to hear about it.

[Dick_Larimore]

Yes, the dealer repair could have caused the problem. It has been my experience with dealerships that you tell them they screwed up, you never ask them if they did.

In doing any work on the air bag circuits in a vehicle the standard procedure is to disconnect the negative battery cable at the battery. It is obviously possible to not tighten the connection properly or to loosen one of the fuses on top of the battery. These need to be checked. The instrument panel module controls the speedo, odometer, and the gas gauge. So power interruption or a loose ground to this module is a likely cause of the problem. The check engine light is controlled by the module as well.

After disconnecting the power to the battery, I think that frequently the auto-lock functions can get screwed up. There should be a procedure in the manual for resetting locking functions. Perhaps someone else can chime in here on the locking issue.

[SilverSportNOLA]

When I had my clutch replaced I told the guys doing it to be careful to not break the easily broken speedometer sensor. They broke it anyway. In driving my car for a week waiting for the parts I experienced the same things you are seeing. I would check the sensor plug on the transmission, be careful pulling on the wire, it will break easily. I doubt they would have broken that .... but if you had them doing tranny work, or something that would put them in that area, it is probably the problem.

I didn't check my outlets .... but in addition to what you are seeing, my spoiler would go up at the correct or so speed ... around 90, but would not retract on it's own once deployed, had to use the manual switch under the dash.

[Mortville]

Thanks everyone. I will check these things. Can this possibly fix the problem? Will the CEL go away, or will it need to be reset?

[SilverSportNOLA]

I don't recall if I got a CEL ... but mine was staying lit for some time with O2 sensor setting not correct for my downpipe in my APR software. It should fix everything else, I don't recall where the sensor is ... so I can't say if it might just have been ripped out by road debris or something. The sensor has 3 or 4 parts to it, I ordered 2 of them from the dealer, the shop that did my clutch ordered the cheaper ones ... it turned out to be the parts I got. Get it in the air ... on ramps and take a look if it is plugged in good and that the wires are not ripped. I am sure if it is just unplugged the dealer will hit you for 2 hours labor an parts they didn't install.

[Mortville]

I noticed yesterday that the cruise contol is also not working as well as the automatic spoiler! I don't know if I even want to bother with arguing witht the dealership since in the past it has gotten me nowhere. They will absolutely never admit that it was their fault!

[Mortville]

Here's an update for anyone who may be interested...I took it to a reputable shop in town and he is pretty sure that it is a speed sensor malfunction that is causing the problems. The only thing I don't understand is now the heated seats don't work and the fuse for the power outlets blew again! Oh...and now I have the brake light and another light on as well. I am just hoping that they can get everything fixed at a reasonable cost. i don't know if I can take much more than this!