Annoying Electrical Issue... Please Help!

The other day when I was driving to work my car was working just fine. When I left work, my remote wasn't unlocking the doors. So I manually unlocked the door and started checking the buttons on all the door panels. None of the door panels switches were working except the trunk and fuel door buttons. When I click a button on the key fob I can hear the CCM clicking but that's as far as it goes (whats stopping the message from the CCM to wherever it goes?). When I hit the unlock button on the fob, the interior lights come on, but that's all that happens. And the interior lights don't come on when I open a door anymore but when I open the rear hatch the trunk lights come on, like they should. The windows don't work at all either. They did, prior to this issue. The cruise control also stopped working... can you guys please help me troubleshoot this? Could the CCM have taken a crap? or something else? I feel like its just some silly issue since all these problems seemed to randomly begin at the same time.

Could be the CCM, but rule out the dumb stuff first. Connectors, wires, fuses. Where the wire loom goes into the door can get pretty effed up.

BobnOH said:

Could be the CCM, but rule out the dumb stuff first. Connectors, wires, fuses. Where the wire loom goes into the door can get pretty effed up.

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I've had the car apart several times, everything looked good under the dash and all fuses are good. I'll dig into the door wire looms and see how those look. Does the CCM have to be reprogrammed after it gets replaced or is it plug and play?

jjraymo said:

I've had the car apart several times, everything looked good under the dash and all fuses are good. I'll dig into the door wire looms and see how those look. Does the CCM have to be reprogrammed after it gets replaced or is it plug and play?

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Door wire looms first then check inside the trunk latch boots for broken wires. Common.

It may help to scan the controllers with VCDS if you can. That may narrow it down for you.

Will do!

JETaah said:

It may help to scan the controllers with VCDS if you can. That may narrow it down for you.

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I can't check it right now in MN, but I'll be heading to MI this weekend to do other work on the car. My buddy has access to VCDS, so I'll definitely be hooking it up to see what it can tell me. I haven't had a chance to dig into the door wire looms yet, but have a feeling that they are most likely my issue. My door lights, locks, and controls started working over the weekend again. My cruise control still isn't working and I have no CEL's.

jjraymo said:

My cruise control still isn't working and I have no CEL's.

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Do you have a blinking glow plug light?
When it blinks that's one of the things that doesn't work.
Check if all the brake lights work.

wonneber said:

Do you have a blinking glow plug light?
When it blinks that's one of the things that doesn't work.
Check if all the brake lights work.

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I do not have a blinking glow plug light, there are no warning lights illuminated on the dash. I looked at the drivers door wire loom that is common to have broken wires, last night, all the wires looked to be in great shape. I'll have to see what VCDS says this weekend.

jjraymo said:

I do not have a blinking glow plug light, there are no warning lights illuminated on the dash. I looked at the drivers door wire loom that is common to have broken wires, last night, all the wires looked to be in great shape. I'll have to see what VCDS says this weekend.

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Check the HATCH wire looms under the rubber boots....


Edit: Fixed the fat thumb issue...(was latch...)

KrashDH said:

Check the LATCH wire looms under the rubber boots....

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"LATCH wire looms"? where are these located? as I already Said, I have checked the wires in the rubber boots in the door jam, and they look great. I don't know if you're talking about those or something else.

jjraymo said:

...the interior lights come on, but that's all that happens. And the interior lights don't come on when I open a door anymore but when I open the rear hatch...

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Haha sorry that was a autocorrect from the phone...I meant rear HATCH. You have a wagon and this is the car I'm assuming we're talking about.


Just like the Golf, the wagon should have wiring running to the rear hatch door through 2 boots. One on each side. The wires break in there.


Have a read:


https://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=504001

The boot itself may be torn as my left side hatch was.

If you click the remote button twice, do the other doors unlock?

It sounds like the CCM is largely attempting to respond to things, but possible that you either have a dead door latch module, or door control module (part of the window motor, which is where ALL that door's switch information passes through and gets translated to the convenience system data bus) or possible there's a wiring issue between the chassis and door so that that door's control module (again, part of the window motor) isn't getting powered up.

VCDS definitely would go a long way towards pinpointing the issue, specifically looking in address 46 central convenience. Check for codes and can also use live data to verify what switches, if any, in the driver's door are being recognized.

The fuel door is wired independently of the other switches in the door, it does NOT pass through the door control module. The trunk release on the door panel, however, DOES.

Well, I decided to poke around the wiring diagrams just to verify a couple things.

First, the trunk release switch actually is wired independently of the window motor/door control module. It goes straight to the CCM by itself. So, it's very possible that the driver's door module is dead, or maybe fuse #38 (side of dash fuse panel) has popped, which is what powers the control module portion of ALL 4 door modules/window motors.

There's other fuses to the CCM that could also be the cause, but it's possible if all the locks aren't responding that that fuse is either misplaced or popped.

Unfortunately that doesn't affect cruise control any, as that's wired elsewhere.

Though fuse #5 on the side of the dash does power cruise control. It also powers the external mirror heating switch, but that won't cause the locks to not work.

Possible you have two fuses that are either popped or misplaced? Or maybe some water intrusion has corroded some connections under the dash.

KrashDH said:

Haha sorry that was a autocorrect from the phone...I meant rear HATCH. You have a wagon and this is the car I'm assuming we're talking about.


Just like the Golf, the wagon should have wiring running to the rear hatch door through 2 boots. One on each side. The wires break in there.


Have a read:


https://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=504001

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Ahhh!! lol! ok. I'll check that out this weekend. Thanks

Matt-98AHU said:

Well, I decided to poke around the wiring diagrams just to verify a couple things.
First, the trunk release switch actually is wired independently of the window motor/door control module. It goes straight to the CCM by itself. So, it's very possible that the driver's door module is dead, or maybe fuse #38 (side of dash fuse panel) has popped, which is what powers the control module portion of ALL 4 door modules/window motors.
There's other fuses to the CCM that could also be the cause, but it's possible if all the locks aren't responding that that fuse is either misplaced or popped.
Unfortunately that doesn't affect cruise control any, as that's wired elsewhere.
Though fuse #5 on the side of the dash does power cruise control. It also powers the external mirror heating switch, but that won't cause the locks to not work.
Possible you have two fuses that are either popped or misplaced? Or maybe some water intrusion has corroded some connections under the dash.

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Thanks for looking into it. hopefully I'll know this weekend after using VCDS. I have already checked fuses, and they all look good.

jjraymo said:

Thanks for looking into it. hopefully I'll know this weekend after using VCDS. I have already checked fuses, and they all look good.

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Sometimes part of checking fuses it to make sure that they're all actually installed where they're supposed to. Can't count how many times I chased my tail a little longer than I had to because someone else misplaced a fuse before I was asked to look into its issues.

Matt-98AHU said:

Sometimes part of checking fuses it to make sure that they're all actually installed where they're supposed to. Can't count how many times I chased my tail a little longer than I had to because someone else misplaced a fuse before I was asked to look into its issues.

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Yup!