Vexing Electrical Problems - '02 Passat

A few months ago, my 2002 Passat GLX developed some kind of short that was blowing fuse 5. As a result, no climatronic, no steering wheel controls and no heated seats.

I removed the climatronic unit and the heated seat modules to see if they were faulty, but the fuse kept blowing.

I brought it into the dealer where they pulled all the wiring and modules, and couldn't find a problem. Basically, the systems started working again and the mechanic at the dealer couldn't figure out why.

I know they also ran some tests to make sure moisture wasn't getting into anything to cause a short, etc.

Unfortunately, the problem came back again today and I am not sure what to do.

A few months ago, I was also having an issue with the car not turning completely off even though the key was out of the ignition (and also getting the "electronic lockout" display on the dash. I know those are symptoms of a possible bad igntion switch, but this problem hasn't cropped up in many months.


I'm also not really sure about bringing it back to the dealer, since they were unable to fix the first time around. If anyone can recommend a good VW mechanic in the Queens or 5 borough nyc area, that would be great.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and assistance.