Smoke coming from Passenger floor

Where theres smoke, theres fire, right?? Well, thankfully, not every time.

Last night, I was driving and all of a sudden noticed lots of smoke coming from my ash tray, center console, and passenger floor. I pulled over, and found that the floor mat was very hot on the passenger side. Not having any tools available, I just ripped the carpet ( I know! So easy a caveman could do it. Lol. But she has 230k miles, and hasn't been winning beauty awards for a long time.) I located the part, but I am not even sure what this wire harness is for. Could anybody help me? It is closest to the seat on the passenger side.

After finding the issue, I let the car sit for a bit while I went to go pick up my truck from the transmission shop before it closed (it rains it pours....) Then when I got back I decided to get the Passat to a better place to leave it. When I turned the car back on the ABS light was on. Then a bit further down the road, my glowplug lights started blinking relentlessly.

For the info, I did a tranny swap to 5 speed about 90k miles ago. The ASR light has been on this whole time, never haven got sorted out. I will try to post pictures of the part, unfortunately it looks like the part number is melted off.

Thanks all!

looks like the TCM, pull rug out from under door plastic transition, reach in and pull up the plastic box inside is the TCM. No bolts, screws just pull straight up

I pulled up the carpet, and theres a bit of moisture under there. Not a puddle, and didn't see any inside TCM box. There is however what looks like a single wire that has all of insulation melted off in a couple spots, and has done damage on other wires around it. So I guess its getting a short somewhere? The plastic box that melted seemed like it was just some sort of protection for the wire bundles to go through. What conditions would have to be present for a wire to get so hot that it could melt its insulation?

I plan to pull battery and clear drain holes so stop further moisture. Best solution that I have come up with is to butt crimp the wires that have insulation melted through.

Any other ideas, or suggestions?

I will some better pictures

wire bundle come from tcm:


same view as yesterday, with melted plastic "protector" taken off:


TCM pulled out, looking dry:




wire damage:


Where wire bundle from TCM comes back towards rear of car, then makes 3 way split, 1 to rear, 1 over to where first pic showed plastic protector coming under coming:

you need to break out the wire bundle separate the melted ones then deal with them. Be nice if you trace them and see where they go so you can determine their function. Are the big red wires for an amp? In any case a wire got hot enough to melt the insulation, too much current? Faulty wire? Short some where? The plastic that melted is wire protection and I reread your post and see you don't need the TCM

break them out and list colors that are melted

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate it.

The leaks:
After taking the seats out, and pulling up the carpet on both sides towards the center console, I have found what I hope are the only places that water is coming in. In the rear passenger side, about 4 years ago, I had a rock go thru the floorboard. I took it to someone to fix it, and he ended up just JB welding it. It is definitely leaking there, and have since peeled up the old stuff. There was also a plastic plug right there that was leaking as well. Also, the foam/rubber mat behind the glovebox is soaked, and it seems water is leaking in from the foam type gasket from the pollen/cabin filter.

The wires:
As I said, I did a swap from auto trans to euro 5 speed. So my TCM was unplugged. From my observations, it seems like the main culprits in my wires are both coming from the TCM, and have what appears to be melted off their insulation entirely for in large sections, which then melted many wires around it.

I am a complete novice when it comes to electrical systems. My plan was to try to find an electrical diagram, and hopefully figure out which wires are, what i have assumed to be, shorted. Then I can maybe try to figure out why. But my worry is that I will fix the wires without fixing the cause.

Could it be just the water? I don't know. Also, I was surprised that I never noticed any fuses being blown. Saying that, I am going to check if I can see any. I do also have a stereo with an amp installed that hasn't been working properly for the last 2 years, but is still connected. And when I hook up a VCDS, it doesn't fully connect and states that there is a short somewhere.

That all seems like a bunch of random information, but I thought any of it could be relevant.

Thanks to anyone with the patience to get through my best try at summarizing that epic tale

one of the wires that is completely melted is a thin brown wire, the other is a medium black wire, both coming from TCM, looping from door, by seat, then headed under center console and out the other side to drivers side. Most of the damage is done on passengers side where there are literally dozens of wires that have some sort of damage/melted insulation. But I have unfortunately noticed that both the thin brown, and black wires have melted a little bit on the drivers side. But nothing like the complete unsheathing on the passenger side

separate all the melted ones, use some duct tape length wise to insulate them turn on the key see what one gets warm

Your pictures show the TCM still plugged in. Did it melt with the TCM plugged in?

Part of your ASR/ABS problem is having the TCM still plugged in. Have you had the ECU updated for the manual transmission? If yes, unplug the TCM and open the CAN module and save the code already in it, which is 00006.

I know that it looks like its plugged in, but if you look close you'll see that the plug is actually just in the box facing down. It isn't connected . And it was not connected. Does that mean that any wires that go to the TCM could just be "capped" instead of chased down and repaired?

If it is going to the TCU then yes, cut them and cap them.

OK- I got all the wires mended, I do believe. There definitely seemed to be water coming in around cabin air filter housing. I pulled that and replaced crummy old gasket with a fat bead of roofing black jack. Also, my drain holes under the batter already have the rubber pieces pulled out, and doesn't seem that area is flooding. Also, re-fixed the 2 holes in floorboard where a rock busted through it a few years back. So hopefully no more water entry.

My glove box is still off because I want to be able to monitor the wires for a bit while I drive around to periodically feel if any are getting hot.

When I started up the car, the airbox light is on and a notification saying something like air bag fault. Then after that message it says the message that was displayed when first started getting smoke in cabin:
Emissions Workshop!
And a flashing glow plug light.

Also, my ABS light is still on, which came on when I was getting smoke in cabin as well.

When all of this first happened, I tried to hook up VCDS to scan, but it would not let me and said there was a ground fault. However, now I am all good, and was able to run a scan. Here is what it said:

Sunday,24,March,2019,21:33:50:58345
VCDS -- Windows Based VAG/VAS Emulator Running on Windows 10 x64
VCDS Version: 18.9.1.0 (x64)
Data version: 20190114 DS296.0
www.Ross-Tech.com


VIN: WVWVE63B94E275110 License Plate:


Chassis Type: 3B (3B - VW Passat B5 (1997 > 2005))
Scan: 01 02 03 08 15 16 17 19 35 36 37 46 47 55 56 57 58 75 76 77


VIN: WVWVE63B94E275110 Mileage: 369400km-229534miles
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine Labels: Redir Fail!
Part No SW: 038 997 016 K HW: 028 101 114 5
Component: RC s02G EDC G000SG 0092
Revision: 12345678 Serial number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Coding: 0000072
Shop #: WSC 66565 257 00032
VCID: 264277BC9204E47A87-5140

3 Faults Found:
19460 - Relay for Low-Output Preheating of Coolant (J359)
P3004 - 000 - Open or Short to Ground
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 150.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.16 V
Bin. Bits: 00101100
Load: 11.4 %
Bin. Bits: 10011000

19462 - Relay for High-Output Preheating of Coolant (J360)
P3006 - 000 - Open or Short to Ground
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 150.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.16 V
Bin. Bits: 00101100
Load: 11.4 %
Bin. Bits: 10011000

16486 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70)
P0102 - 000 - Signal too Low - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 924 /min
Torque: 40.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 11.70 V
Bin. Bits: 00001100
Mass Air / Rev.: 850.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 0.0 mg/str

Readiness: 1 1 0 0 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 4B0-614-517.lbl
Part No: 4B0 614 517 G
Component: ABS/ESP front 3428
Coding: 04255
Shop #: WSC 05311
VCID: 254070B0BF02EF628E-5140

3 Faults Found:
18265 - Load Signal
P1857 - 35-00 - Error Message from ECU
00287 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor; Rear Right (G44)
30-10 - Open or Short to Plus - Intermittent
00285 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor; Front Right (G45)
30-00 - Open or Short to Plus

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 15: Airbags Labels: 6Q0-909-605-VW5.lbl
Part No: 1C0 909 605 C
Component: 09 AIRBAG VW61 04 0003
Coding: 12345
Shop #: WSC 05311
VCID: 24466DB4B438166A99-5124

5 Faults Found:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
07-10 - Signal too Low - Intermittent
00591 - Seat Belt Switch; Driver (E24)
32-10 - Resistance Too High - Intermittent
00592 - Seat Belt Switch; Passenger (E25)
32-00 - Resistance Too High
01217 - Side Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (N199)
32-10 - Resistance Too High - Intermittent
01218 - Side Airbag Igniter; Passenger Side (N200)
32-00 - Resistance Too High

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 16: Steering wheel Labels: 1J0-907-487-A.lbl
Part No: 1J0 907 487 A
Component: Lenkradelektronik 0005
Coding: 00118
Shop #: WSC 05311
VCID: 2F6C9298EDFEA53274-5140

No fault code found.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 17: Instruments Labels: 3B0-920-xx5-17.lbl
Part No: 3B0 920 929 C
Component: KOMBI+WEGFAHRSP VDO V04
Coding: 13235
Shop #: WSC 06496
VCID: 275C7AB8C50EFD72BC-5124
WVWVE63B94E275110 VWZ7Z0D9140863

3 Faults Found:
01177 - Engine Control Unit
64-10 - Not Currently Testable - Intermittent
01315 - Transmission Control Module
49-00 - No Communications
01304 - Radio
49-00 - No Communications

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 19: CAN Gateway Labels: 6N0-909-901-19.lbl
Part No: 6N0 909 901
Component: Gateway K<->CAN 0001
Coding: 00006
Shop #: WSC 05311
VCID: 70EE51E43040FACA2D-5124

2 Faults Found:
01315 - Transmission Control Module
49-00 - No Communications
01304 - Radio
49-00 - No Communications

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 1C0-959-799.lbl
Part No: 1C0 959 799 C
Component: 80 Komfortgerát HLO 0003
Coding: 00258
Shop #: WSC 05311
VCID: 377CAAF815AE6DF22C-4B00

Subsystem 1 - Part No: 1C1959801
Component: 80 Tõrsteuer.FS KLO 0202

Subsystem 2 - Part No: 1C1959802
Component: 80 Tõrsteuer.BF KLO 0202

Subsystem 3 - Part No: 1C0959811
Component: 80 Tõrsteuer.HL KLO 0202

Subsystem 4 - Part No: 1C0959812
Component: 80 Tõrsteuer.HR KLO 0202

1 Fault Found:
00912 - Window Regulator Switch; Front Left (E40)
27-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

End-------------------------(Elapsed Time: 04:51)--------------------------


What do you guys think? Also, anybody have access to the b5.5 bhw wiring diagram? It would be nice to have an idea what the wires are for that I am having issues with

Thanks everybody for the comments and tips too!

I should probalby add that I drove the car for 10 minutes, and no wires felt warm

make sure battery is up clear the faults, take it for a ride and see what faults come back