# 94 jetta VR6 swap...BIG problems



## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

so i completed this swap a few weeks back and everything has been working perfectly. then on friday all of a sudden the car wouldnt start. i towed it back to my brothers house (it was close and he has a garage). discovered that pretty much ALL of the accessories have quit working. no lights, turn signals, wipers, radio, dome light, trunk switch, cig lighter, check engine light does NOT come on when you turn the key on...etc...
i have checked everything that i can think of and havent been able to find the problem.
all the fuses are good, changed out all the relays, changed the entire fusebox, checked all the grounds i could think of, and i changed the ignition switch. nothing worked.
I have power coming into the fusebox on the big red plug..and power on the plugs on the right side of the fusebox at the bottom. also have power at the ecu. i have no idea what else to check. 
anyone have any ideas????
pic for clicks


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## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

changed the entire wiring harness from the fusebox to the engine bay today...still have the same issue....
ANYONE!!?!?!?!?!?!?!:banghead::banghead::banghead:


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## zwogti (Jan 11, 2004)

looks like you have a short somewhere, start checking for a melted wire under the dash, check all your wires, something is grounding somewhere.


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## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

i have checked everything i can think of...pulled the dash apart looking for broken/frayed/melted wires. cant find anything wrong. ground all seem to be ok too.
one VERY strange thing though is that if you hold the test light on a wire that has power, as soon as you turn the key on the power will go away. and this happens on ANY wire with power. 
I cant make any sense of it.


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Sounds like it might be a ground problem then, or a high resistance in the system somewhere. Have you checked & cleaned the main ground strap from the battery to the frame and both battery terminals?


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## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

yes i have checked both of those Mikki. they seem to be fine. connections are tight and clean


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## zwogti (Jan 11, 2004)

a short some where, something is grounding, sounds like a positive wire touching a ground somewhere, have you try to fix, take apart or remove something from this car just before this happening?


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## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

nope...didnt mess with anything at all after the swap. it was running fine. stopped to do a lil fishing and when i got back in the car...nothing


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## zwogti (Jan 11, 2004)

do a test, disconect the radio, tail lights, head lights, power windows and try to start the car, make sure when you put the front bumper reenforcement bar, you didn't put it on top of any wires


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## phatquarter4u (Oct 26, 2003)

had an issue like that and the cooling fan shroud had jiggled to the alternator positive cable


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## spa (Jan 26, 2003)

Voltage reduction relay? I think all of the accesories run off of that circuit. When cranking, it shuts off all of those accesories to allow more electrical energy for the starter. Worth a look..


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## VWDugan (Mar 22, 2001)

problem has been fixed. had some bad grounds and a few plugs behind the fusebox that had jiggled loose.
car runs great now. thanks for the help everyone


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## jettagli_guy (Dec 12, 2007)

i have had this same problem with a mk4 1.8t.... sammmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee problems... 

funny as this sounds it was the starter...

started took a [email protected]#t and for some reason lost alllll power.. not even the gauge cluster would light up..

hope this helps


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