Arrest-me

I am an owner of a '85 9284 that just turned 35,000 miles and I love the vehicle. I've recently experienced an electrical problem that is baffling. The fuse "section" for that contains the Blower fuse and others literally melted the fuse right into the Fuse Panel. The fuse amperage was correct. It didn't blow - just nuked itself. I can not find reason to this. Has anyone experienced this?

Also, I have noticed that my window relay is extremely hot to the touch, even when no load is applied to it (key off). Is this normal?

THanks!! <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Mike Schmidt

The fuse holders for the engine cooliong fans were melted on my car. In my case someone had gotten creative with the way that the fans were wired. That caused melted wiring behind the fuse box, which also melted some of the other wiring that was touching the main problem wire. I removed the fuse box, repaired the damaged wiring, and replaced the fuse block that was melted. No more problems since.

Arrest-me

Thanks, Mike. In my case, no creative wiring, no meltdown behind the fuse panel - only in the holders.

V-Fib

Check to make certain the fuses are fitting into the receptacle tight. I had the same same problem with the electric fan fuse. I tightened up the fuse connections and the problem went away. A Big Thanks to Wally P. for sharing this tip. It could also happen with the relay. If they don't fit tight, it can cause higher resistance and result in higher temperatures. Good Luck.

Anthony Tate
79/928 Silver Metallic

Robert

Greetings,

What are the suggestions for the best way to tighten the fuse connections ?

My sunroof fuse is so loose that I had to resort to wrapping some sheet metal around the blades then re-inserting the fuse back into the panel.

That fixed the sunroof temporarily. Now it doesn't open at all, but when I hit the switch I can hear the motor try for a few seconds then it stops. I can't get the cover off of the motor to use the manual crank, the screw is really stuck tight. My shotgun may fix it though...

<img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />

Rob

dr bob

[quote]Originally posted by Arrest-me:
<strong>I am an owner of a '85 9284 that just turned 35,000 miles and I love the vehicle. I've recently experienced an electrical problem that is baffling. The fuse "section" for that contains the Blower fuse and others literally melted the fuse right into the Fuse Panel. The fuse amperage was correct. It didn't blow - just nuked itself. I can not find reason to this. Has anyone experienced this?

&lt;&lt;snipped rest&gt;&gt;

</strong><hr></blockquote>


We had the same problem on a similar-year Jetta. Turned out that the problem was related to the factory supplied dealer installed 'factory air' unit. In that incarnation, the blower fuse lives in a little slip-in section of the fuse panel. That section has key slots that mate with the main panel. VW sells that one holder as a service part, and was also able to supply the electrical terminals were then soldered to the original wiring and snapped in to the new holder.

Repair time was a lot less than diagnosis time, maybe an hour or two total including the visit to the dealer for parts.

Might be worth a casual cruise by the VW parts dept for similar repair bits for your shark. We were working on a 1986 Jetta.


BTW, that car was totalled within a week of that repair, parked in front of my house, victim of a DUI candidate in daddy's new Caddy. So no report on the longer-term durability of the repair.


HTH!

<img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

Mongo

sounds like what happened to me when smoke started coming out my dash I thought I was on fire!