Auto fix of the week...

[HyKlas]

So, we get this '06 Passat 2.0T in the shop today because it wouldn't come out of park.

I work my little magic with the shifter and pop it in to D, bang! Ok... Transmission is in limp mode (full line pressure and open torque convertor). Check...

Pulled the code U0101, no communication with transmission control module. Alright... Plug in the scanner to see if we can talk to it, nope. Ok, where is this module? For some reason Mitchell didn't have it on the list so off to the internet I go. While I was at it I checked Identifix to see what they said. No information there so I google the make/model/code. Ran across a forum thread saying a dealer charged the guy $225 to insert a fuse that was missing from the panel. Ok, silly, they had to have done something else, whatever...

I find the module, in the driver's fender behind the liner of all places, then pulled up the wiring diagram to check for powers and grounds. Ok, no power on 2 of the wires. Where do they come from? Back to the diagram... They come from fuse 24 on the left end of the dash. I then popped that fuse panel open and what do I see? Fuse 24 is missing... Uhh... What? Ok, put one in. Fixed! Uhh... What?

How the hell did this thing work prior to the failure?! I'm the only one who's ever worked on this car. Who took the fuse? Was the fuse ever there? Uhh... Hmm...

Fix of the week! And it didn't cost the guy $225, that's for sure...

 

[JURB]

Seems weird but there may be a logical explanation. I have designed some electronics and have considered tattlers. Harddrives have little weights in them that break a string or wire of predetermined strength to get them out of a bad warranty claim if someone drops them.

Sometimes the user replacable fuse on a piece of equipment might be 7 amps, but there is something inside that unit that goes off at 8 amps so that they know if someone threw in a 10 amp or put foil on the fuse. This is not that common, and on smaller items, not too expensive they just send you a new one and say just throw the old one out. Don't even waste your time taking it to the mailbox because then 90 % of the time they just have to throw it out, and throwing things out is starting to cost money.

But, one answer to your question is that they wanted to know something. If a certain subsystem pulled more than a certain amount of current. There is no other reason unless there was an actual mistake. But that is a whole bunch of engineers there and mistakes are usually caught.

There is also a slight possibility that they ran the harness up to there to facilitate fixing it rather than having to remove the gas tank, rear bumper and back seat to replace a $^%$#&&% fusible link. You know, the car DID have a warranty so they DID have to think just a little bit about how many Man hours it would take to keep up the warranty service.

Sounds like you might be a hit in the thread I just started about weird car problems. Do drop in.

 

[restorer-john]

Sounds like there was an alternative source of power you don't know about, one that was/is fused internally or via another route. Sounds like that fuse or breaker is of borderline value and the missing fuse was never factory installed.

The other scenario is one of those 'stings' where they take out a fuse and see what the mechanic comes up with for dodgy TV shows on ripoff technicians/mechanics. Nightly trash TV shows used to do that with TV technicians- they'd put a blown fuse in and take a TV to the shop. The poor tech would spend hours trying to track down the cause of the blown fuse and never find it. When he charged for his time, they'd 'expose' him as dodgy.

 

[restorer-john]

what about this, is this the fuse in question?

 

[HyKlas]

Sounds like there was an alternative source of power you don't know about, one that was/is fused internally or via another route. Sounds like that fuse or breaker is of borderline value and the missing fuse was never factory installed.

This ran through my mind last night... We will never see the schematics of the module internals, that's for sure.

And yes, that appears to be the fuse. Same number anyway, 24. I never got around to checking manufacturer data on the issue.

 

[JURB]

When you look at a fusebox in these cars, some of them will have slots where there are s nly one connector. Learn to look for them. those are the ones that are not used in that particular vehicle but the supply bus still runs there. But in those slots the other side has no connector, no copper.

now if you find some that DO hav copper on both sides, you are on to something.

This "only to be installed by dealership" is something that would take me way gar away from that manufacturer. I mean, ten grand for this piece of **** or ten grand for a 1967 Chevy Impala, I'll take the latter.