Mystery plug and door handles

wyopel

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Location
WA
TDI
1996 B4V-270k, 1998 Jetta-140k
I was able to pick up another 1997 B4V to replace the one that was totaled.
Seems to be in pretty good shape, but has all the normal issues including door handles.
I have been giving it a once over to note issues and came across this plug that was not plugged in anywhere.


It was under the washer fluid and travels back to the firewall where it enters under the dash. My 1996 b4's do not have this plug so it seems to be specific to the 1997. It has 3 wires. Car seems to run well with out it plugged it...but I am curious and cannot find where it might plug in. Any ideas?

Also, I may need to purchase a couple of new door handles and I am wondering if there are particular suppliers that are better quality than others. I have seen prices that range from $15 buck to $70 bucks...so I suspect there may be quality differences. Any thoughts?
 

wyopel

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Location
WA
TDI
1996 B4V-270k, 1998 Jetta-140k
Anybody have an idea of what this plug is?
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
To me, it looks like a fog light. Sorry i can be more help on this one. Worth the bump!
You can test it. Put a volt meter to it and start pulling fuses. This will at least get you to the right area!
 

wyopel

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Location
WA
TDI
1996 B4V-270k, 1998 Jetta-140k
Thanks for the reply. I haven't got under the car yet, but will look for a fog light connector. If not then a volt meter is in order. Funny...I would have thought this was obvious to those on the forum. Just a bit strange that this seems to be specific to the 1997. If anyone has other ideas let me know.
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
That’s definitely not fog, especially if it’s under the washer reservoir. Fog is 2 wire.

-Todd
 

wyopel

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Location
WA
TDI
1996 B4V-270k, 1998 Jetta-140k
I suppose it is possible it just got tucked under the washer reservoir. Don't know if is shows in the picture well, but it goes into the firewall to the right of the brake fluid reservoir. There are a few wire harnesses that go in in that area. This one is the smaller one on top. On my 96 passat there is one bundled set of wires that comes out there and travels to the passenger side of the car along the same path as the vacuum lines. On the 97 it splits into two bundles one goes the same direction the other is this plug. in the picture it is the one with the 2 on it.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
If that plug goes to the boot that has the '2' label on it then it's a special harness for something. There are very few separate harnesses (harni?) in these cars and they typically have a label like that on them.

I know it doesn't contribute to finding an answer but it's clearly a differentiation between 96 & 97 cars. As long as this car was originally a tdi car we can probably figure it out but you'd have to go into the cabin under the dash and find out where it leads to in the main harness or where it attaches to the fuse box. Also would be good to know exactly what colors are in this connection.

I can't help you with my 90 B3 conversion because the harness in that is from a Mk3 tdi.

Steve
 
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