[HudsonValleyVDub]

Just got a set of codes. All showing short to ground. Cleared and haven't come back. Weird. 17536,17633,634,635,636,859, 829,833,880, and 16826. Car runs perfectly. Any ideas what I should look for?

 

[Cdncountrybuggin]

You re going to get more responses if you list the devises that the codes refer too. If they have to do with the fuel injection,evap,emission sys. You probably have a faulty fi relay...

 

[groundnpound]

Codes Galore

Just got a set of codes. All showing short to ground. Cleared and haven't come back. Weird. 17536,17633,634,635,636,859, 829,833,880, and 16826. Car runs perfectly. Any ideas what I should look for?

I had this same issue and for $32 I ordered the fuse junction (on top of the battery) replacing the 3 30amp fuses with a 20, 30 and 40.

Dealership wanted $4,800 to replace hydraulic pump for ABS as well as the "controller".

After installing the $32 part? ALL codes are gone and Bug runs great.

I bet there is an issue with corrosion at that fuse box on your Beetle and a 15 minute replacement would fix it as it did mine.

Hope this helps!

Chris

 

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Thanks Chris. I suspected a single stupid fix would take care of it since I've never had problems with this car. Where did you get this part and does it just replace that fuse thing on top of the battery?

 

[groundnpound]

Thanks Chris. I suspected a single stupid fix would take care of it since I've never had problems with this car. Where did you get this part and does it just replace that fuse thing on top of the battery?

It DOES just replace the fuse box on top of the battery. I found it at Rock Auto online store.

I suspect you had the same thing that I and a LOT of others found - and that is corrosion on the connections. I took mine apart afterwords and there was additional corrosion internally. But I believe the biggest issue is the power distribution itself and the proper use of the 90 amps.

Best of luck! Please let me know if you need anything else!

BTW - here is where I found it http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php , and use the link for "Fuse Box" NOT the "Power Distribution Block", unless you LIKE paying double for the same thing. My ONLY additional suggestion is replacing the 3 30amp fuses with a 20, 30 and a 40.

Chris

 

[IndyTom]

WOW, that is a good find. The dealer wants 135 bucks for that part and Rock Auto only 33 and change. I may order one just in case. Thanks for the link!

 

[groundnpound]

WOW, that is a good find. The dealer wants 135 bucks for that part and Rock Auto only 33 and change. I may order one just in case. Thanks for the link!

I got 3 for the same reason. The second one fixed a slew of issues in my son's 2001 Jetta GLX with the VR6. He had similar codes AND had issues with his AC.

Post change - all codes were gone and the AC functioned correctly. Like the last post, I also replaced the 3 30 amp fuses with a 30, 30 and 40. His also had a lot of internal corrosion.

But - a relatively cheap part to swap if you suspect electrical/grounding issues, especially when you get a BOATload of codes out of the blue.

I also know it kept a friend from allowing the dealer to replace the Hydraulic ABS pump - AND his transmission - as it was throwing codes that were NOT able to be duplicated or consistent.

I am not proposing that this is the fix for EVERYTHING, but I have personal experience with 3 different '99 to '01 VW's that saved - collectively - over $15,000 in dealer quoted repair costs.

CRAZY

Hope this helps a LOT of people.

 

[HudsonValleyVDub]

It DOES just replace the fuse box on top of the battery. I found it at Rock Auto online store.

I suspect you had the same thing that I and a LOT of others found - and that is corrosion on the connections. I took mine apart afterwords and there was additional corrosion internally. But I believe the biggest issue is the power distribution itself and the proper use of the 90 amps.

Best of luck! Please let me know if you need anything else!

BTW - here is where I found it RockAuto Parts Catalog , and use the link for "Fuse Box" NOT the "Power Distribution Block", unless you LIKE paying double for the same thing. My ONLY additional suggestion is replacing the 3 30amp fuses with a 20, 30 and a 40.

Chris

Thanks so much Chris. I have another question though. I looked at the fuse block on top of the battery and it looks like new. What exactly am I looking for? Everything looks and all connections look pristine. Could this be a problem with one of the main cables?...Or is it a problem that doesn't always make that block look bad or corroded?

 

[Jeff2]

Electrical connections can "look" just fine, from the outside. But, it never hurts to take them apart and inspect the actual connection. Also, I've seen battery connections that also "look" just fine, but the cable underneath the pristine looking insulation was corroded and making a horrible connection with the clamp that attaches to the battery terminal.

 

[IndyTom]

Thanks so much Chris. I have another question though. I looked at the fuse block on top of the battery and it looks like new. What exactly am I looking for? Everything looks and all connections look pristine. Could this be a problem with one of the main cables?...Or is it a problem that doesn't always make that block look bad or corroded?

Another area you may want to check is your ignition switch. It can throw a bunch of codes when it stars failing.

 

[groundnpound]

Electrical connections can "look" just fine, from the outside. But, it never hurts to take them apart and inspect the actual connection. Also, I've seen battery connections that also "look" just fine, but the cable underneath the pristine looking insulation was corroded and making a horrible connection with the clamp that attaches to the battery terminal.

Exactly.

Externally the connections all appeared fine, but once separated, you could see the green/white corrosion underneath.

Also the fuses were "blackened".

 

[IndyTom]

Exactly.

Externally the connections all appeared fine, but once separated, you could see the green/white corrosion underneath.

Also the fuses were "blackened".

Must've been a Cajun Beetle

 

[groundnpound]

Must've been a Cajun Beetle

LMAO - Hmm... Blackened Bug... I bet Andrew Zimmern would love to taste that!

In all seriousness, I will post a pic of some of the 30 amps I pulled out. they looked like they got seriously close to combustion at some point.

 

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Thanks all. I will check everything over very closely.

 

[IndyTom]

Make sure to post back on what eventually fixes your issue. Thanks and Good Luck!

 

[HudsonValleyVDub]

Ok all, although I cleared the codes and the car drove perfectly fine without the codes returning (at least not in the roughly 60+ miles I've driven it since clearing them), I decided not to just let it go and take some advice given here (thanks btw). I found some corrosion on the positive battery cable and on the red cable connected to it going to the fusebox on top of the battery. So I replaced the entire fusebox and positive battery cable. What a pain in the azz that was....mainly because I did it w/o taking out the battery and battery tray.I did it from underneath.
The fusebox was a direct replacement OEM unit but I noticed a few of the fuses and fusable links were rated lower than the originals so because everything was fine, I swapped out the lower rated ones for the ones on the original fusebox. I didn't want to play around with different ratings when everything worked fine before and mine wasn't one of the fuseboxs that got hot and melted. Hopefully everything with be fine now.

 

[red99]

You may want to take the battery out anyway. The negative battery cable connects to the chassis underneath the battery. I've heard of people finding severe corrosion at the connection. See this thread from the 1.8L forum:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-liter-turbo/58973-caution.html