The past week in Car repair

[cabrio2k]

Replaced the Oil cooler o-ring on my wife's 97 Cabrio after it gave her the beeping sound and low oil pressure warning while driving home from work yesterday.

The old gasket was so bad when I took it apart it had split in two. I leaked all the oil out in less than 600 miles! Luckily, I had a gasket already that I bought cause I knew I had to change it...

[Calimus]

Well, I don't know if there is going to be any repair, however, there sure as hell was some damage. Went to go to work yesterday morning, turned the key in the jetta, started backing out and heard something that didn't sound right. Stopped before the end of my driveway, looked down at the cluster and I see flames inside the dash. Before I can pull the key, the car dies, I pull the key anyway and get out. I can see the flames under the dash a bit better from sticking my head in the car as I pull the hood release. I run into the garage, grab a 10mm, come out and grab the water hose on the way.

Pop the hood, very quickly disconnect the battery, then use the hose to extinguish he flames. Here's some pics right after the flames are out.




And here is the source of the problem



That relay is to the multifunction steering wheel controls. No idea why this happened. Lucky for me, I have full coverage Ins. on the car. Called Allstate and they will have someone out on Wed to look at it and make some decisions. As much as I hope they will fix it, I'm not expecting them to. So I may be in the market for a new ride. Which sucks, cause I love this car. On the bright side though, I was able to get out and put the fire out before it engulfed the car and caused damage to the other cars in my driveway.

What a way to start a morning.

[Briano1234]

Well at least you didn't blow on it to see where the smoke was coming from, as a stoned friend of mine did in the 70's.
As the Cutlass Vert went up in flames..............................

Sorry for your loss.

[Calimus]

Very true, I know better than to do that. Don't know if it's a loss yet, but I can't see them spending the $$ on the wiring and labor to repair it. Which really sucks.

To make matters worse, I've been looking for replacements just on the chance it's totaled and I can't find a damn thing I want. Not even an exact replacement. Just have to keep looking.

[eric4321]

So sorry to hear about the car fire. I had a 97 hunday (don't care if I spelled it propely or not) that had an engine bay fire. That car was the biggest piece of JUNK I have ever owned. I did not even bother trying to fix the car. I put the fire out with a powder extinguisher and I know that stuff ruins anything electrical. To add insult to injury I could not find a junk yard willing to come take the car for free. Good luck with the insurance. I hope they will fix the car for you.

[CalAltaDubber]

Yikes William,

Glad you were able to get the fire out so quickly.

Hope it works out for you.

[Calimus]

Thx guy's. It does totally suck, but I'm waiting to see what the Ins Co. says on Wed. I have high hopes they will repair it, but I just don't feel optimistic. But it's not the end of the world, just might be the door to another world if I can't find another GLX.

[Briano1234]

Oh, drove the Daughters Cabby. Antenna needs to be replaced. Dash inop, the voltage stabilizer is wonky. Steering wheel isn't centered. GEEEEEEEEEEEE. Glad I ordered 5 of those voltage regulators.............. No Voltage Stabilizer, no Alternator light, means the Alternator won't charge....... opps hit a big Bump and all the gauges came alive. Still gonna replace it and clean the wires. As the only 2 gauges that worked were the Speedo/odo, and the clock.

[84Vert]

Good luck on the insurance. I saw a yellow one for sale this past weekend along the side of the road in Apalachacola, Fl. Did not stop and look at it we were on the motorcycle and did not want to turn around.

[kamzcab86]

That relay is to the multifunction steering wheel controls. No idea why this happened.

Eek! My grandma drives a GLX... and isn't strong enough to lift the hatch let alone a fire extinguisher. I wonder how often this type of thing has happened...

Hopefully, yours can be fixed; damage doesn't look too terribly bad.

[Calimus]

I searched the vortex a bit and aside from this happening from obvious "He he, I wired crap into my car and I only have a 3rd grade edumucazion" related incidents, I didn't find too much of it happening with unmolested harnesses.

From what I was able to see and trace in the Bentley, that relay is the multifunction steering wheel controls. I still can't imaging a few buttons and 3-4 LED's causing that kind of load, but what the hell do I know. So I think your granny is safe. This hasn't put me off getting another jetta, but it's damn hard to find any GLX with a 5-speed in 12v flavor and even harder to find one in 24v flavor with a 6-speed. Can find tiptronic all day long though. Oh and cloth seats too, blech.

I've been driving Kuklaki's Turbo Beetle so far this week and while it's a great little car, I really miss the Jetta. If they total it and I can't find another jetta, I've already found a optional replacement. Found a local 01' BMW 325i w/sport package that's clean enough to eat off of any surface in or outside of the car. Not sure I really want a Budweiser Marching Wagon, but it's a damn strong runner up at this point.

[Briano1234]

I searched the vortex a bit and aside from this happening from obvious "He he, I wired crap into my car and I only have a 3rd grade edumucazion" related incidents, I didn't find too much of it happening with unmolested harnesses.

From what I was able to see and trace in the Bentley, that relay is the multifunction steering wheel controls. I still can't imaging a few buttons and 3-4 LED's causing that kind of load, but what the hell do I know.

No but Spewing that double latte hi-fat mochochino with extra cream all over the dash last night didn't help either

[Calimus]

No but Spewing that double latte hi-fat mochochino with extra cream all over the dash last night didn't help either

Ok, now that almost made me spit out my soda all over my screen here, but no, no coffee (even that crap you just described as coffee) has ever made it's way to my steering wheel.

[Briano1234]

Replaced the Radio Antenna (whole assembly) removed the speedo replaced the Voltage Stabilizer, and re-poofed the pads with a new piece of tape, then repaired the speaker connections for the front speakers on the radio, remove the steering wheel and re-center it and the clock spring.

That was this morning between 8:00 and 11:00am.

[kamzcab86]

I searched the vortex a bit and aside from this happening from obvious "He he, I wired crap into my car and I only have a 3rd grade edumucazion" related incidents, I didn't find too much of it happening with unmolested harnesses.

I'm not too terribly worried about Grams... thankfully, she doesn't do much driving these days; of course, you wouldn't know it by looking at the car, what with the missing bumper grille (for 3 years! ) and scratches and stuff.

Those BMW 325i's are nice cars. If you can't find another Jetta (provided yours won't be fixed), I'll approve of that purchase.