Help! - 99 Passat won't start because Fuse #14 keeps blowing

[tdough4]

I have a 99 Passat that seems to have a problem with Fuse #14. A few months ago, I went to start my car, and the engine wouldn't even crank. I turned the key, and nothing happened, except my dashboard panel lights all came on. My interior lights, power windows and remote doorlocks didn't work.

After doing some research in this forum, I narrowed my issue down to Fuse #14 being blown. I replaced the 10 amp fuse, and my car started right up. Over the course of the last few months, that fuse has blown about 5 times. Every time I replace the fuse, my car starts right up. At this point, I'm worried there is a larger issue.. which is.. Why does this fuse keep blowing?

Does anybody have an idea on why Fuse 14 would keep blowing? Also, I've heard that I could replace that 10 amp fuse with a higher amperage fuse, and that may keep it from getting overloaded. My Passat owner's manual specifically says not to do that. Should I avoid doing this as well?

[zorgie]

Hi, I have a very similar problem, I went in to my VW dealership because my alarm/central locking on my '97 Passat remote wasnt working even after I replaced the batteries, they told me I need a new key and a litle bit disgruntled I paid the £80 to buy a new key and have it programmed to my car. Got my car and keys back, unlocked it and everything was fine, when I got home my windows werent working, central locking wasnt working properly, alarm wasnt working etc, I had a look at fuse 14 ( after consulting this forum) and found that it had gone and I replaced it. I took the car for a drive ( abhout 10 miles) stopped at a convenience store, did some shooping, got back and everything was still working, I drove back home ( another 10 miles) and the fuse had gone again. I am assuming that the people at the VW garage must have messed something up, exposed a wire or something as this was NOT the case 3 hours earlier before I actually took the car in to have the key recoede to the car. Any ideas on this would be a great help to me as well.

[guumbah]

Are you having any problems with any of the interior lights or electrical convenience items (like power locks, windows, hatch, etc) while the fuse is still good (meaning before it blows)? Maybe you have an intermittent short, or stuck relay somewhere in one of those that intermittently blows the fuse. I don't know about your particular year, but I know in some other years, that fuse handles a lot of the interior convenience stuff, and the lights, as well as the security.

[zorgie]

Well in my case I have that my Electric windows are dead, the central locking button inside is dead, my alarm system is dead, and my Boot does not lock ( i cant even lock this with my key) This all happened after I took my car in to get the damn key recoded adn Ive not ended up with a fuse continually blowing, very weird, I think my friends at the VW dealership did something and now they want me to pay them somethign extra to fix it again ... very irritating As for before hand, Before the fuse actually goes, everythign works a charm , no problems whatsoever, and I also cannot figure out if it is anything particular that I do that makes it blow. Ive even begun to think that it has something to do with the remote locking, since this was bascily the only thing that the VW guys should have been fiddling with ( that is teh recoding part)

[tdough4]

Fuse 14 does account for a large amount of functionality on my car. It controls my interior lighting, keyless entry/alarm system, power windows and power mirrors.

I've never noticed any portion of this functionality to be bad even when fuse 14 is still good. It's either an all or nothing type of problem.