Help - 97 Passat TDI - Trunk Warning Light Stays On

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EtherNut

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Location
Richmond, Kentucky
TDI
Passat, 1997, White
I Just bought my 97 Passat TDI and was driving it home today when my Trunk warning light came on in the instrument cluster. I fiddled with the trunk pop button but it didn't do any good. I also opened the trunk and closed it but the light doesn't go out no matter what I do. From what I can tell, my Moon Roof, Trip Meter, and Clock are also affected as the Moon Roof doesn't work at all (it did about 30 minutes before) and the Trip Meter and Clock both reset everytime I turn off the car.

Help is very Much appreciated!!!

Thanks!

EtherNut
 
R

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
The clock and trip meter resetting is a classic symptom of a weak battery on a Passat. The instrument cluster is vulnerable to permanent damage (requiring replacement) from low battery voltage, particularly when starting, so replace the battery unless you know the existing one to be fairly new or tests OK under load. This is a very common Passat problem.

Its likely that the trunk lock problem is unrelated to a weak battery and that the mercury switch in the lock actuator is the culprit.
 
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brownnugen

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Charleston, SC
TDI
2015 GSW TDI, 2011 JSW TDI & 2018 Atlas 2.0T S
You know I had a problem similiar to this and it ended up being expensive. I had gotten my car back from the paint shop where they had touched up my door. When I got it back, the door locks and sunroof were not working. Seemed one of the fuses was blown. Simple enough, replaced the fuse adn was on my way. On the way home, I noticed my trunk light came on and stayed on. When I got home, I checked the fuses and the fuse had blown again. I put in another and it instantly blew. Something was wrong, causing this fuse to keep blowing.

The next morning, I drove over to the electrical shop (since I didn't have a clue). As I rolled the windows down, I noticed the driver's front window went down at a really funky angle. Turned out my window regulator went out and ended up taking some wires with it, resulting in a really "whacked" out electrical situation.

About $300 later, everything was good. Hopefully your problem isn't as complicated as mine.
=Nick
 
Dubwillbob

Dubwillbob

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Location
bloomington illinois
TDI
b4 passat tdi, 84 deisel rabbit
Did you ever get this figures out??? Got the same problem justvhappend tonight haven't looked at fuses yet but wondering if I should just go ahead and get a new battery (my current one is weak I'm aware)
 
Dubwillbob

Dubwillbob

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Location
bloomington illinois
TDI
b4 passat tdi, 84 deisel rabbit
Did you ever get this figures out??? Got the same problem justvhappend tonight haven't looked at fuses yet but wondering if I should just go ahead and get a new battery (my current one is weak I'm aware)
 
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