Hello,
Well, I think I made a big boo boo. The battery died (rather suddenly, I might add) on my '03 tdi Jetta. I have an Optima that sort of fit, which I tried installing as a temporary fix until I could get the correct battery. However, I missed that the poles were on opposite ends of the Optima. I accidentally touched the cables to them and got a pretty substantial spark before realizing that I was trying to hook up to the wrong poles. Since the battery didn't physically fit in the space anyway, I took it out and just got the right battery. When I finished installing it, the car started and most functions worked, but the low beam on the left headlight was suddenly out. A few miles of driving later, the right low beam was also out. Then I noticed that the radio was completely dead - no lights, no code, no radio noises ...nothing.
I checked the fuse panel and saw that the 25 amp fuse, number 42 (which I take is the radio fuse altho that isn't indicated on the diagram or anywhere else I can see), was blown. All the others that went to non-functioning or unknown (they have that mysterious open book symbol in the fuse diagram) circuits were good. I don't get any problem lights on the dash (check engine, etc).
I bought a replacement headlight bulb and installed it in the right side, after finding that the low beam filament was burned out. I haven't checked it yet, but I suspect that I blew the left side low beam filament too.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Any comments (aside from the obvious about what an idiot I am), suggestions or explanations as to why they'd make the car so sensitive to this kind of error? Any suggestions about fixing the radio? Did I kill it? It seems the charging system still works and after reading the post about another guy who made the same mistake and lost his alternator in the process, I guess I'm lucky. But really, this experience sort of makes me wish they still made 'simple' cars, like they used to. Anyway, thanks for any help.
Well, I think I made a big boo boo. The battery died (rather suddenly, I might add) on my '03 tdi Jetta. I have an Optima that sort of fit, which I tried installing as a temporary fix until I could get the correct battery. However, I missed that the poles were on opposite ends of the Optima. I accidentally touched the cables to them and got a pretty substantial spark before realizing that I was trying to hook up to the wrong poles. Since the battery didn't physically fit in the space anyway, I took it out and just got the right battery. When I finished installing it, the car started and most functions worked, but the low beam on the left headlight was suddenly out. A few miles of driving later, the right low beam was also out. Then I noticed that the radio was completely dead - no lights, no code, no radio noises ...nothing.
I checked the fuse panel and saw that the 25 amp fuse, number 42 (which I take is the radio fuse altho that isn't indicated on the diagram or anywhere else I can see), was blown. All the others that went to non-functioning or unknown (they have that mysterious open book symbol in the fuse diagram) circuits were good. I don't get any problem lights on the dash (check engine, etc).
I bought a replacement headlight bulb and installed it in the right side, after finding that the low beam filament was burned out. I haven't checked it yet, but I suspect that I blew the left side low beam filament too.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Any comments (aside from the obvious about what an idiot I am), suggestions or explanations as to why they'd make the car so sensitive to this kind of error? Any suggestions about fixing the radio? Did I kill it? It seems the charging system still works and after reading the post about another guy who made the same mistake and lost his alternator in the process, I guess I'm lucky. But really, this experience sort of makes me wish they still made 'simple' cars, like they used to. Anyway, thanks for any help.