Repeatedly blowing fuse/no heated seats

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
My SC46 fuse keeps blowing. I have the base climatic system and this fuse supplies power to the a/c control module. My a/c isn't affected by the burnt fuse but my heated seats (both) don't work when it burns out.

It seems it only started in the spring after I had the airbag TSB done. I would really like to fix this myself but I don't feel like tearing apart wiring harnesses so I think I will just take it to the dealer :(.
 

Tim Birney

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Location
Dearborn Heights, MI
TDI
05.5 TDI
2footbraker said:
My SC46 fuse keeps blowing. I have the base climatic system and this fuse supplies power to the a/c control module. My a/c isn't affected by the burnt fuse but my heated seats (both) don't work when it burns out.

It seems it only started in the spring after I had the airbag TSB done. I would really like to fix this myself but I don't feel like tearing apart wiring harnesses so I think I will just take it to the dealer :(.
Rightly so.
The Airbag TSB is the removal of the AirBag connectors, and a HARDWIRE fix, which was most likely botched.
 

SBAtdijetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
'10 Jetta Cup 6spd, '02 Jetta Auto
Do you have vag-com to scan?

Btw Airbag TSB I never got that, care to share, thanks!
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
No, I don't have vagcom yet. The airbag TSB is when you have the airbag light come on for no apparent reason. Like Tim said, the connectors under the seats are replaced with direct wiring.
 

nava2468

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Location
South East Louisiana
TDI
'06 Jetta MkV DSG Option2
heated seats issue

Hello 2footbraker. I doubt that the issue has to due with the airbag.
I also have had a problem with my heated seats on my 2006 Package3 that I bought in March of 2006. the problem surfaced in December of 2006 and I brought it to the first dealership in January 2007. they could find nothing and replaced the fuse. they did this 3 times before i told them to "F" off. so I brought it to a dealership on the north shore from New Orleans. it went to them the first time in October of 2007. I just got it back yesterday June 20th, it was the 5th visit. BUT THEY FOUND THE PROBLEM AND FIXED IT. the issue is, beneath the drivers side seat plate (between the frame and foam on the underside of the seat) and the frame is a gap of about 3/8ths of an inch. in this space the wire harness runs through. if you weigh enough (i weigh 285) the seat compresses and the plate rubs against the wire which is held by the frame under it. the force of it cut 3 of the wires in two. there are 3 portions of the harness that go through this opening. so on the one set they wound up just splicing it and rerouting it. this time around they decided to do is place steel washers between the frame and the plate to keep it from coming into contact with the wire.
THey had to get approval from the VWoA regional service rep person. They did not like my suggestion of unbrading the wire bundle and laying they our flat like a ribbon cable. so they went with the spacers instead.
this was not found until the seat was pulled and the wiring inspected for chaffing or damage. good luck on this.
 
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wjdell

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2006
Location
Central Florida
TDI
06 Jetta TDI DSG PKG 1 17" VV Campy White/Beige
Dont just keep putting in new fuses - you need to fix the problem. Have you inspected the wiring under the seats for any thing apparent.
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
Checked the circuit today. I moved the seats around and tried different combinations of a/c and heat settings. There were no jumps in current. Only problem I found was that if both heated seats were set to max, the current slowly rose from 4.7 to 5.3 amps. I wonder if there is something wrong with the heat sensor?

I guess I will talk to the dealer about it. Nothing obviously wrong that I can fix.
 

nava2468

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Location
South East Louisiana
TDI
'06 Jetta MkV DSG Option2
2foot.....i negelected to mention that on one of the many diagnosis sessions the dealer (or I) would replace the fuse and it would heat the seat if i did not sit or a lighter person would sit in the drivers seat. or if a person only sat in the passengers seat. As i said in the previous post, the seat would compress and the wire would bend and the continuity would break or it would short circuit. so, best bet is to get the dealer to pull both seats and do a close inspection of the complete seat wiring harness. espically if you have the power driver seat. For additional help you could tell the service manager that the VWoA service rep for the south (Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) is aware of the issue and can provide additional service information.


i hope you are able to use this information, i would hate to see someone else go through the same repeated visits that I had to endure. the dealer replaced the entire AC/Heater contol in the console, and the fuse panal before they decided to pull the seats and do a close inspection. you know how they know everything and there is no way that the customer could possibly be correct in the diagnosis.....
 
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dbh

Active member
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Location
Alberta, Canada
TDI
Jetta, 2006, black
2footbraker said:
My SC46 fuse keeps blowing. I have the base climatic system and this fuse supplies power to the a/c control module. My a/c isn't affected by the burnt fuse but my heated seats (both) don't work when it burns out.

It seems it only started in the spring after I had the airbag TSB done. I would really like to fix this myself but I don't feel like tearing apart wiring harnesses so I think I will just take it to the dealer :(.
I noticed the same thing yesterday. Today I bought a box of 5 fuses and plugged one in while the car was running - ZAP - it smoked instantly.
hmmm
This fuse includes the washer nozzles so I raised the hood and saw the problem instantly. The cable on the rhs (passenger side) where the wires and the squirter tubing flex had cracked exposing 2 broken wires that were shorting together.

I'll have to unwrap this bundle and repair the broken wires, but wonder how best to try to avoid this happening again as it will continue to be occasionally necessary to raise the hood at -30C.
--
dbh
'06 Jetta TDI
 

maloosheck

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Location
Sterling, VA
TDI
2K6 1K2 BRM, 2K8 7L6 BWF, 85 16 MF
dbh said:
This fuse includes the washer nozzles so I raised the hood and saw the problem instantly. The cable on the rhs (passenger side) where the wires and the squirter tubing flex had cracked exposing 2 broken wires that were shorting together.
I have installed both heated seats and heated nozzles recently and I wanted to point to exact the same direction.

If not that, check the plugs of heated nozzles, maybe there is a water shortage there (they are supposed to be sealed).
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
Thanks guys, I would have no idea this was the problem. I popped the hood and sure enough, the nozzle wires were completely torn.
 

05_new_jetta

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2005
Location
Van Wert, OH
TDI
MKV Jetta TDI
well what about not having heated seats at all, no blown fuses or anything.. I had to repair the wires for my heated nozzles within the first year of having my car but I don't think that would be the problem since I don't blow fuses...?
 

Lovin TDI

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Location
Winthrop MN
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
the other day the lights went out on the heater controls and today the passenger's seat heater seem like it is out/cold checked the fuses(all good) I traced from the haynes repair manual but they don't have a section on fixing this, so where do I start
 

Parsimony23

Active member
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Location
NY>OH>ID>OR> buff, NY
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
well what about not having heated seats at all, no blown fuses or anything.. I had to repair the wires for my heated nozzles within the first year of having my car but I don't think that would be the problem since I don't blow fuses...?

I'm having the same problem in my 2005.5 TDI. All of the sudden both seat heaters are out. But I looked in my Bentley book, and it only talks of seat temperature sensors and what code is given off.. no talk of a fuse. Anyone have any fixes or places I should check?
 

Parsimony23

Active member
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Location
NY>OH>ID>OR> buff, NY
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
DBH!!! THANK YOU!!!
The exact same thing was wrong with my car... It was the windshield washer wires at the hinge of the hood. You can see the broken wires easily just as he says. It's a bad design from VW, and eventually the wires will probably break again, but I got everything spliced back into place, changed the fuse, and both seat heaters work just as good as they did 2 years ago!!!
I would upload the image, of the break, but it looks like you can't do that here unless I host the image somewhere else.
 
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