My Sportwagen is Dead! ?

Hi all,

My 2015 Sportwagen is kaput. Tuesday night while I was driving, the ABS light, ESC light, and Tire Pressure light all came on one after another. Since I replaced the cigarette lighter fuse the day before, I thought I had bumped something.

Everything was still working fine on Wednesday though the car seemed to stutter while I was accelerating at one point.

Thursday while running errands, all the lights were on again and suddenly the “Brake Fail: Service Now” message came on. The brakes were still working though. I also have had moment where the throttle seemed to fail. I stopped at O’Reilly and had them pull the codes. The only ones that came up had to do with the Ad Blue Heater.

I called my local VW repair shop and they said that it sounded like the wheel speed sensor had failed. They couldn’t take the car until next Tuesday. This morning, I went to start the car and it wouldn’t turn over. All the interior and instrument panel lights were blinking and clicking. I disconnected the positive battery cable for a couple hours but it didn’t make any difference. The engine wouldn’t even crank and I had to disconnect the battery cable again because it didn’t appear that the car was turning off when I hit the on/off button.

What the heck is going on? I’m not looking forward to being without my car while I wait on the appointment at the shop.

I will add that Wednesday, after the first three lights came on, I noticed that a significant amount of water had leaked into my car. The window wasn’t open, in fact, the floorboard was soaked and the storage compartment in front of the fuse box was full of water. I don’t know if this is related to all this nonsense but there it is.

Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.

Failing battery? Can you try to jump start it?


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There is a wire harness plug right next to your left foot that when the sun roof vent leaks ,it leaks onto/into that connection . Had to unplug the harness and clean all of the corrosion on the connectors and clear the codes , all was well . When this happened to me it set off 4 or 5 different warning lights ( brakes , traction control , air bags , ect . ) . At first the dealership told me that I left windows open , then they found a bulletin matching my trouble .

I just brought my golf in for that. They said it’s an emissions issue and somewhat common. We’ll see.

tom61 said:

There is a wire harness plug right next to your left foot that when the sun roof vent leaks ,it leaks onto/into that connection . Had to unplug the harness and clean all of the corrosion on the connectors and clear the codes , all was well . When this happened to me it set off 4 or 5 different warning lights ( brakes , traction control , air bags , ect . ) . At first the dealership told me that I left windows open , then they found a bulletin matching my trouble .

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I was worried about that. I’m scheduled to have the sunroof drain replaced per the recall in addition to the next stage of the emissions fix. But that won’t be until September as the dealership is booked until then.

Do you (or anybody) know the exact location of that wiring harness? I just took a look and nothing jumped out at me. We just had another thunderstorm so there is probably more water now.

Thank you for commenting!

Update: I found the wiring harness area. I pulled back the plastic and water began dripping down...all over the area. I disconnected all the plugs and dried them and inspected them for corrosion. I only found one with a little corrosion.

I hooked the battery up to a battery tender since I can’t jump it off right now.

I hope all this works. Meanwhile, I am pissed that this sunroof drain issue has been on recall since 2016. I bought my Sportwagen in 2017 after it underwent the emissions fix (traded in my 2011 Jettawagen). If they knew this was an issue, then why didn’t they fix it then? That’s pretty skeeky. I guess if VW wasn’t truthful about the emissions issue then it stands to reason that they wouldn’t be upfront about other issues either. ?

oldhousejunkie said:

Update: I found the wiring harness area. I pulled back the plastic and water began dripping down...all over the area. I disconnected all the plugs and dried them and inspected them for corrosion. I only found one with a little corrosion.
I hooked the battery up to a battery tender since I can’t jump it off right now.
I hope all this works. Meanwhile, I am pissed that this sunroof drain issue has been on recall since 2016. I bought my Sportwagen in 2017 after it underwent the emissions fix (traded in my 2011 Jettawagen). If they knew this was an issue, then why didn’t they fix it then? That’s pretty skeeky. I guess if VW wasn’t truthful about the emissions issue then it stands to reason that they wouldn’t be upfront about other issues either. ?

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Get some electrical contact cleaner and clean up the connection and blow it out good with compressed air. Be careful not to use anything that could eat the plastic. Even a hair dryer better than nothing. Throw a big tarp over the car till you can get the leak taken care of.

bigb said:

Get some electrical contact cleaner and clean up the connection and blow it out good with compressed air. Be careful not to use anything that could eat the plastic. Even a hair dryer better than nothing. Throw a big tarp over the car till you can get the leak taken care of.

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Yep, I used a hair dryer. I don’t have any electrical contact cleaner though. I just tried to clean out everything with Q-tips. Another storm is blowing in, so I threw a tarp over it.

I’m going to call the other dealership in town and see if I can get an appointment before September. It’s insane that it takes that long to get into a dealership shop!

I just tried to start the car again, but nothing. The display says it is in safe mode. Any ideas on how to get it out?

oldhousejunkie said:

I just tried to start the car again, but nothing. The display says it is in safe mode. Any ideas on how to get it out?

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Did you try disconnecting the battery for a bit?

bigb said:

Did you try disconnecting the battery for a bit?

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I did. It was disconnected for nearly two hours.

You might try disconnecting both battery cables and touching them together for about 30 sec, then wait a few minutes and hook everything back up.

And for the record , the dealership told me that it's not a recall , it's a service bulletin . Glad you found the harness .

Sounds like multiple issues, the clicking and flashing is a weak battery

I agree about the battery , sounds like it's time for a new one .

tom61 said:

And for the record , the dealership told me that it's not a recall , it's a service bulletin . Glad you found the harness .

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Which is an important distinction.

Recall: They pay for it.
TSB: You pay for it.

Be sure of that before asking them to fix it so you're not surprised by a bill at the end of it.

My sunroof drains (2015 GSW) were done by the dealer free of charge as a "goodwill service" - or wording to that effect.
The terminology indicates to me that "hey - we're not responsible for anything here, but we'll do this thing for you....for free....for now...."

Nuje said:

My sunroof drains (2015 GSW) were done by the dealer free of charge as a "goodwill service" - or wording to that effect.
The terminology indicates to me that "hey - we're not responsible for anything here, but we'll do this thing for you....for free....for now...."

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Im kind of curious what exactly was done. Did they write any info or was it a CYA... compressed air or ? I love my car but VW as a whole... been disapointed with their treatment in regards to their vehicle coverage post sale

I got a call from the dealer saying it’s a crank speed sensor failing and they’re replacing it.