Melted F16 Fuse

My lights recently went all wonky (half of them were not working) so I checked the fusebox and my F16 fuse was melted (controls the following):

Right Front Turn Signal Lamp -M7- 30a
Right Rear Turn Signal Lamp -M8-
Right Brake Lamp -M10-
Right Taillamp -M2-
Right Parking Lamp -M3-
Right Back-Up Lamp -M17-
Right Low Beam Headlamp -M31-
Right Low Beam Headlamp -M31-
Right High Beam Headlamp -M32-
Right Front Fog Lamp -L23-

I recently had a low beam out so I replaced both low beams and did the fogs at the same time (I got Sylvania Silverstar Ultras for both sets). My question is, could the new bulbs be overloading the circuit? I should mention I have the following 2 lighting-related VCDS mods:

• Fogs as DRLs
• Run high beams at the same time as fogs

That second one has got me thinking - could that setup be overwhelming the 30A fuse?

The only other thing I can think of is my satellite radio antenna has been shorted for a while, along with a secondary radio antenna - I can't see this affecting the lighting circuits though.

Seems rather strange, and I do not think the Silverstar bulbs draw a huge amount of power to be the cause of your problem.

That's a pretty common and known fault in the fuse panel. There was actually a tsb out for certain models and years where they replaced the panel. My '11 golf tdi melted fuse F16 too. VW's solution for the cars not covered in the tsb was to supply a special fuse with a zinc coating on the blades.

turbobrick240 said:

That's a pretty common and known fault in the fuse panel. There was actually a tsb out for certain models and years where they replaced the panel. My '11 golf tdi melted fuse F16 too. VW's solution for the cars not covered in the tsb was to supply a special fuse with a zinc coating on the blades.

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That's good to know, thanks! For now I stole the windshield wiper motor fuse for my lights and replaced the wiper with a new 30A fuse. Do you know if those zinc-coated fuses are available anywhere? I'll keep an eye on it, but I don't feel like taking it to the dealership just for that.

I bought mine from the dealer parts dept., but you can order them too:

http://www.surplus-electronics-sales.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=149