I spent the last few hours searching for possible causes for this, but haven't come across anyone with the same symptoms.
The car is a 2003 Passat sedan 1.8T (Mom's). When you park the car, get out, press the lock button on the fob, the doors lock and the horn beeps telling me the alarm is armed. However, after 30 seconds or perhaps 2 minutes, the alarm starts going off.
I did some research and thought it may be the door switch or the solder problem. After looking at the convenience module with VAG-COM, it appears that one or both of the rear doors are the source of the last 4 alarms. The alarm source is 32 for all 4 blocks. *edit* After reading more, 32 is apparently for the rear door on the G/J/B platform. 32 appears to be the hood switch on the Passat.
Here are some observations:
- All of the door locks go up and down normally.
- Scanning the car for codes revealed an intermittent 'No Communication' error on the radio. I cleared the code and it has not come back.
- The alarm will go off about 98% of the time.
- Occasionally, there is a delay of about 1-2 seconds from the time that the doors lock and the horn beeps. Usually the horn beeps immediately. This doesn't appear to have any bearing on whether the alarm goes off or not. It has functioned and malfunctioned when this delay happened.
- Checked for coolant migration, plug was clean and dry.
- There was a decent amount of water in the driver's floor. I haven't been able to determine the source. The area behind the pedals is completely dry. The carpet going up the side of the shifter is also dry. The only place the side carpet appears to be wet is 6" from the front of the door.
- Fuses are all OK. Fuse panel shows no signs of moisture or corrosion.
- Pulled and reseated all relays behind fuse panel.
- In an attempt to get at the rear door latch, I pulled the interior of the left rear door. Disconnected the door pull and the 3 electrical connectors. I then removed the 6 or so 10mm bolts holding the inner door skin on. I could not remove this inner door skin, though. I gently pried along the edges (it was a bit sticky) but even with all of the edges loose, it still felt like something was holding it in.
- *edit* Forgot to mention that it doesn't make a difference if I lock the doors using the fob or putting the key in the door.
I'm going to pick up a can of electrical contact cleaner and try spraying down into the latches to see if that works, but I'm doubtful. The car doesn't exhibit any strange behavior with regards to the interior lights or the door ajar indicator.
Any ideas on how to fix this, or at least how to get at the rear door latches? Thanks.
The car is a 2003 Passat sedan 1.8T (Mom's). When you park the car, get out, press the lock button on the fob, the doors lock and the horn beeps telling me the alarm is armed. However, after 30 seconds or perhaps 2 minutes, the alarm starts going off.
I did some research and thought it may be the door switch or the solder problem. After looking at the convenience module with VAG-COM, it appears that one or both of the rear doors are the source of the last 4 alarms. The alarm source is 32 for all 4 blocks. *edit* After reading more, 32 is apparently for the rear door on the G/J/B platform. 32 appears to be the hood switch on the Passat.
Here are some observations:
- All of the door locks go up and down normally.
- Scanning the car for codes revealed an intermittent 'No Communication' error on the radio. I cleared the code and it has not come back.
- The alarm will go off about 98% of the time.
- Occasionally, there is a delay of about 1-2 seconds from the time that the doors lock and the horn beeps. Usually the horn beeps immediately. This doesn't appear to have any bearing on whether the alarm goes off or not. It has functioned and malfunctioned when this delay happened.
- Checked for coolant migration, plug was clean and dry.
- There was a decent amount of water in the driver's floor. I haven't been able to determine the source. The area behind the pedals is completely dry. The carpet going up the side of the shifter is also dry. The only place the side carpet appears to be wet is 6" from the front of the door.
- Fuses are all OK. Fuse panel shows no signs of moisture or corrosion.
- Pulled and reseated all relays behind fuse panel.
- In an attempt to get at the rear door latch, I pulled the interior of the left rear door. Disconnected the door pull and the 3 electrical connectors. I then removed the 6 or so 10mm bolts holding the inner door skin on. I could not remove this inner door skin, though. I gently pried along the edges (it was a bit sticky) but even with all of the edges loose, it still felt like something was holding it in.
- *edit* Forgot to mention that it doesn't make a difference if I lock the doors using the fob or putting the key in the door.
I'm going to pick up a can of electrical contact cleaner and try spraying down into the latches to see if that works, but I'm doubtful. The car doesn't exhibit any strange behavior with regards to the interior lights or the door ajar indicator.
Any ideas on how to fix this, or at least how to get at the rear door latches? Thanks.
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