Car won't start, no lights in dash on passat 2003

Hey. I have a passat 3b6 2003, i dont know if its a b5 or a b5.5. VW isnt my strongest side.

But a few weeks ago, the problems started. When i turn on the ignition, NO lights in the dash works, except the ESP and battery light. The car starts, then dies after a second, like the immobilizer is on.
And the windows wont move up or down.

Ive tried using a obdII scanner and VCDS, but i cant connect to the ECU.
Someone said it can be the cluster, but i dont know.

Do anyone know what can be the problem? Im thinking about changing the whole cluster, but i cant get the pin number, so it probably wont help?

Sorry for the bad english, im from norway

I would check every fuse to start.

Do any of the other ignition-fed accessories work, like the heater fan or the headlamps?

Have you checked for water under the carpet on the front left side? Maybe some ground or CCM issues are going on as well.

What message was generated with vcds? My tcm was swimming and caused a k1 short to ground.

there may be an immobilizer in the instrument cluster, at least in Audis of that year I believe there was.

Windex said:

I would check every fuse to start.

Do any of the other ignition-fed accessories work, like the heater fan or the headlamps?

Click to expand...

Checked every fuse.. And yes, everything else seems to work.

vwztips said:

Have you checked for water under the carpet on the front left side? Maybe some ground or CCM issues are going on as well.

Click to expand...

I do have a waterleak aswell, from the front right and rear left, through the hole to the speakers..

stamp11127 said:

What message was generated with vcds? My tcm was swimming and caused a k1 short to ground.

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I don't remember. It wasnt me who tried, but it couldnt connect, or find a connection.

Mine wouldn't connect either but gave a message. It will make it easier to troubleshoot if we knew the message.

There are people who will repair your instrument cluster. Google. Some in Britain advertise for about 130 pounds, with lifetime warranty. That might fix your problem. They could tell you if your cluster has an imobilizer.

Did you check your battery?

Ill check it out.


Changed the alternator a week before, and the battery was bad. But it works fine now tho. But i can check anyway.

A battery that is truly bad doesn't get better by simply changing the alternator.

MariusE36 said:

Ill check it out.


Changed the alternator a week before, and the battery was bad. But it works fine now tho. But i can check anyway.

Click to expand...

If your battery was bad then it hasn't changed.

Alternator was broken, and i drove home without it working. It drained the battery, then i charged it again.

Like i said, im gonna check the amp.

Everything looks fine.
And by the way, the odometer shows "dEF. And the milage is all wrong.

Maybe it is the cluster then?

Hey. Still have the same problem. I still can't connect with the ecu.
I think it's because of the cluster, but if im gonna change it, how can i get the old SKC?
Is it even possible?

Im pretty sure this is why

take the positive terminal off the battery short the positive and negative leads, leave it shorted for an hour, reconnect see if it helps your problem