[erik.wahlstrom]

I'm not much of  car guy.  Installing roof racks, and maybe new speakers comes close to my limit of expertise. However my 2002 EV (Bluwale) has a few nasty little electrical issues I'd like to start fixing up.

• Horn doesn't work
• Power mirrors don't work
• Heated seats don't work

None of these are obviously huge issues so I've neglected to fix them.  I'm wondering if there is a good place to start with respect to fixing them? Might the issues be related?

--Erik

[Cole]

The horns are located right in front of the front tires. They wear out pretty quickly. So you probably just need to replace the horns.

Easy enough to unplug them and put a test light on them and have someone push the horn to see if the light lights.


The heated seats in early 2000s VW were notorious for burning out. Are there any holes in your seats that look like burn marks? If not, check for the fuse.  If they burned up. Then you will need to replace the elements in them. Not sure if the factory element is still available but I do have aftermarket ones for sale here in the CaveVan shop. They get HOT!!!

The power mirrors may be a fuse, or the door harness on the drivers side. Its known for being installed "too tight" and wearing itself out. You can pry up the switch/take the door panel off and see if things are still connected.  Some people have had luck replacing broken wires in the door harness or replacing the whole thing.


Good luck.

[erik.wahlstrom]

I started looking at the fuses today.  Strangely my VW book that came with the car has a slightly different fuse panel layout than I actually have.

Horn: The fuse was blown but when I replaced it, no dice.  Doing a bit of googling (actually Bing'ing) I came across a few thread discussing relays. Apparently the horn is a #53 relay in spot 11.  I don't really know what this means.  I don't actually know what a relay does here, though I take it it's related to the sort switch.

Seat heat:  I disconnected the passenger side heater. Using a multimeter, I tested for power.  Now I'm no electrician, but I was surprised when the meter read 0.93.  Is that, volts or amps? Switching the red/black read -0.9 or so, so I'm assuming it's volts.  When adjusting the switch to 0, the meter read 0.0 as well.  So the switch does something t least.

Mirrors: No progress.   I'll take a look at the wiring harness another time.

[robinson1509]

I started looking at the fuses today.  Strangely my VW book that came with the car has a slightly different fuse panel layout than I actually have.

Horn: The fuse was blown but when I replaced it, no dice.  Doing a bit of googling (actually Bing'ing) I came across a few thread discussing relays. Apparently the horn is a #53 relay in spot 11.  I don't really know what this means.  I don't actually know what a relay does here, though I take it it's related to the sort switch.

Seat heat:  I disconnected the passenger side heater. Using a multimeter, I tested for power.  Now I'm no electrician, but I was surprised when the meter read 0.93.  Is that, volts or amps? Switching the red/black read -0.9 or so, so I'm assuming it's volts.  When adjusting the switch to 0, the meter read 0.0 as well.  So the switch does something t least.

Mirrors: No progress.   I'll take a look at the wiring harness another time.

It is most likely volts 9.3 Volts.  Look for the range button (or setting on dial if you have an analog) and test it directly on the battery and press the range button until you get something close to 12volts. The seat heat voltage will depend on the temperature setting on the seat heat control so you may not have 12v ,if you do have 9volts your seat should work if it is not set your meter to continuity and test the pins on the seat heat if you have no continuity your seat heat has an open circuit (broken wire). Also use your voltage tester or testlight on the horn, hold one lead on a clean ground and test both terminals and have someone push the horn button. I would test horn fuse then horn then if you dont find the problem test the relay and horn button. If your horn fuse was blown I would bank on a bad horn/s Once you find the relay you can test the pin to ground continuity while pressing the horn to confirm if the button is functioning properly. The relay is a solenoid actuated switch. It allows a low amperage / voltage circuit to switch a higher amperage / voltage.