Getting wound up by windows
Well I'm missing that little hand crank now as my windows remain stubbornly closed.
It all started when I went out to my van to try and add a new key remote to my van as the range was terrible at best. I started the procedure and realized I needed the window open but when I tried to open it they wouldn't budge.
Neither window wanted to move in fact so I had a poke about at the fuses which were fine. There was no relay click either which got me thinking that I might be missing a hidden fuse or some such malarkey but no joy.
My next port of call was to hit everything with WD40 to push out any water ingress and clean the contacts on plugs. Again though I was greeted by silence from my window motors.
I read my Haynes manual which wasn't very helpful and the forums were the usual cacophony of noise with little actual help so I went hunting for anything hidden in my dash.
This rapidly turned into a complete dash removal (something I had planned to do anyway and will be discussed later) but did expose the little relay collection under the steering column of which none of them were for the windows.
This lead to more digging on the internet and pulling the wiring diagrams out to see how they actually worked. It turns out they are all CPU run with the Convenience Comfort Unit (CCU[also I have seen it refereed to as CCM]) in charge and individual CPU's in the window motor modules themselves.
This explained why I was struggling to find a relay as there wasn't one.
More Forum digging brought up lots of different problems to my own but a common issue had been water getting into the drivers switch which in some cases had caused the sudden failure of all windows.
I decided to disconnect and strip the drivers window controls to give them a good clean out.
To get the whole module out you just need to pry it out from the front carefully with a screwdriver and disconnect the plugs.
With the module free you can see the window buttons is just held in by four tabs as you can see below. Push a side of these in whilst pushing the switches down and out then repeat on the other side.
With the switch out I was able to clean out the trapped dirt from between the switches with a cloth.
More access can be found by rocking the switches and cleaning down the front and back faces of the switch.
Doing so can also give good access to give a fair squirt of WD40 right into the switch to clear out any stubborn water.
As the fault was sudden I didn't suspect wiring: even so I still pulled my boots back to see if anything had snapped and also pulled the door cards off to see if anything was amiss there but all that I found was that I had Alpine speakers. I thought the standard speakers sounded pretty good when trying out the new headunit...
I visually checked the window motors and general units themselves for anything obviously wrong but all looked dry and clean.
The next port of call was the controlling units themselves.
I had already looked at the main body control unit when I had the dash out which was clean, dry and all of the plug pins looked good.
I then hunted down the previously mentioned CCU.
This lives under the drivers seat and is easily accessed by lying down in the load area or by sliding the seat forward for a reasonable top access.
Two block connectors and two bolts need to be removed to free the CCU.
This area of the van is often missed when cleaning (that 4 motion van I started with had half a field under there) so the CCU gets some abuse.
As such I wasn't surprised to be met with allot of dust but the turquoise coated pins were a bit of a worry.
On opening the module I was greeted with a corresponding stain running down the legs (hehe) although the circuit boards themselves were clean and all other functions of the CCU had been working up until now.
By now however I was looking at component changes and the likelihood of both windows failing simultaneously or my rather frosty CCU partially dying were starting to make my mind up.
As it happened I was able to get the same CCU off of eBay for £30, a damn sight cheaper than what VW want for one (£180!?!).
It all started when I went out to my van to try and add a new key remote to my van as the range was terrible at best. I started the procedure and realized I needed the window open but when I tried to open it they wouldn't budge.
Neither window wanted to move in fact so I had a poke about at the fuses which were fine. There was no relay click either which got me thinking that I might be missing a hidden fuse or some such malarkey but no joy.
My next port of call was to hit everything with WD40 to push out any water ingress and clean the contacts on plugs. Again though I was greeted by silence from my window motors.
I read my Haynes manual which wasn't very helpful and the forums were the usual cacophony of noise with little actual help so I went hunting for anything hidden in my dash.
This rapidly turned into a complete dash removal (something I had planned to do anyway and will be discussed later) but did expose the little relay collection under the steering column of which none of them were for the windows.
This lead to more digging on the internet and pulling the wiring diagrams out to see how they actually worked. It turns out they are all CPU run with the Convenience Comfort Unit (CCU[also I have seen it refereed to as CCM]) in charge and individual CPU's in the window motor modules themselves.
This explained why I was struggling to find a relay as there wasn't one.
More Forum digging brought up lots of different problems to my own but a common issue had been water getting into the drivers switch which in some cases had caused the sudden failure of all windows.
Window Switches
I decided to disconnect and strip the drivers window controls to give them a good clean out.To get the whole module out you just need to pry it out from the front carefully with a screwdriver and disconnect the plugs.
With the module free you can see the window buttons is just held in by four tabs as you can see below. Push a side of these in whilst pushing the switches down and out then repeat on the other side.
With the switch out I was able to clean out the trapped dirt from between the switches with a cloth.Doing so can also give good access to give a fair squirt of WD40 right into the switch to clear out any stubborn water.
Doing this, unsurprisingly, made no difference. Neither did alternately removing either switch completely to see if I was getting a dodgy input.
As the fault was sudden I didn't suspect wiring: even so I still pulled my boots back to see if anything had snapped and also pulled the door cards off to see if anything was amiss there but all that I found was that I had Alpine speakers. I thought the standard speakers sounded pretty good when trying out the new headunit...I visually checked the window motors and general units themselves for anything obviously wrong but all looked dry and clean.
The next port of call was the controlling units themselves.I had already looked at the main body control unit when I had the dash out which was clean, dry and all of the plug pins looked good.
I then hunted down the previously mentioned CCU.
This lives under the drivers seat and is easily accessed by lying down in the load area or by sliding the seat forward for a reasonable top access.
Two block connectors and two bolts need to be removed to free the CCU.
This area of the van is often missed when cleaning (that 4 motion van I started with had half a field under there) so the CCU gets some abuse.As such I wasn't surprised to be met with allot of dust but the turquoise coated pins were a bit of a worry.
On opening the module I was greeted with a corresponding stain running down the legs (hehe) although the circuit boards themselves were clean and all other functions of the CCU had been working up until now.
By now however I was looking at component changes and the likelihood of both windows failing simultaneously or my rather frosty CCU partially dying were starting to make my mind up.
As it happened I was able to get the same CCU off of eBay for £30, a damn sight cheaper than what VW want for one (£180!?!).
New CCU
Whilst waiting on the CCU I did the headunit and steering wheel mod that I have already published. During the process of the later; I had the battery disconnected for an hour or so.
When all was done I was reversing my van out of the drive and had to fold the right mirror in to prevent it hitting the gate post. I automatically went for the window switch and it only went and bloody worked!?!
I was even able to program in the one touch on both windows which worked flawlessly on both sides.
I was even able to program in the one touch on both windows which worked flawlessly on both sides.
The next day however everything was back to dead and the new CCU arrived.
Now somewhat suspicious of the gremlins hiding in my electrics I swapped out the CCU.
Once I had the new one fitted; I plugged in the VCDS and programmed the new CCU for remote central locking with electric windows, left sliding door and selective locking = 69 *sniggers*.
All resulting in a big fat nothing. It didn't even improve my remote central locking range which is also abysmal.
Hidden fuses
The brief working after having the battery disconnected thing had me wondering if there was a hidden contact breaker or thermal fuse that I didn't know about.
As per usual the forums were awash with info dotted all over the place, with a blend of information from different vehicles confusing matters.
As per usual the forums were awash with info dotted all over the place, with a blend of information from different vehicles confusing matters.
I had two leads:
A mention of fuse SC37 on this forum
And another with fuse SC37 and its chums here
So where the hell is SC37??? Some say it is on a relay panel, others say it is under the SC fuse box under the cup holder. Pretty much wherever VW thought they would chuck it that day it would seem.
Well I already had a lead as I had seen a little green rectangle under all of the relays so after a few dash panels were removed I had the SC37 fuse in my hand.
Some forum members had spoken of this fuse getting hot but mine was stone cold and a resistance check brought up no issues. Interestingly though, If I disconnected the battery long enough to get working windows and then took this fuse out, I got the same symptoms as my fault.
Regardless, short of options I bought a new one from eBay for a fiver and slapped that in which unsurpringly didn't fix anything other than discount a cheep fix.
Well I already had a lead as I had seen a little green rectangle under all of the relays so after a few dash panels were removed I had the SC37 fuse in my hand.
Some forum members had spoken of this fuse getting hot but mine was stone cold and a resistance check brought up no issues. Interestingly though, If I disconnected the battery long enough to get working windows and then took this fuse out, I got the same symptoms as my fault.
Regardless, short of options I bought a new one from eBay for a fiver and slapped that in which unsurpringly didn't fix anything other than discount a cheep fix.
Back to the switch
With most of the components changed I was now facing hours of wiring checks but there was one easy fix I hadn't quite exhausted yet.
That switch could still be hiding gremlins so I chose to strip it down fully.
With the switch removed from its panel; it is possible to prise the switch rockers from the base and the followed by the circuit board and contacts.
That switch could still be hiding gremlins so I chose to strip it down fully.
With the switch removed from its panel; it is possible to prise the switch rockers from the base and the followed by the circuit board and contacts.
These received a thorough clean and inspect before reassembly.
This again did not fix anything so back on the back burner this problem went.
Roll on a week and I was fitting my cruise control for which the battery would be removed. I chose to disconnect the drivers side switch and leave it disconnected to see what happened. Well a week later of driving about and the passenger switch continued to operate the passenger side window with no problems. How strange?
On reconnecting the drivers side switch I could control the passenger side but not the drivers side window with it which was different again so for the sake of £8.99 for an OEM switch I had to discount this switch from being faulty in the first place.
With the new switch fitted however, nothing changed, Arse!
On reconnecting the drivers side switch I could control the passenger side but not the drivers side window with it which was different again so for the sake of £8.99 for an OEM switch I had to discount this switch from being faulty in the first place.
With the new switch fitted however, nothing changed, Arse!
But then it gets weirder
Since I replaced my brake pads and discs recently the windows have been working just fine.
They just started working and do so with all the switches and even by using the key in the door.
Now either there is a wiring issue that has just unshorted itself, maybe a poor connection has knitted back together or it could be something else....
I have another angle at this.
The battery I have currently fitted to my van doesn't appear to have the correct power rating. It is a 12v 68AH 570A battery whereas the batteries I have seen listed for my van (although often wildly different) all seem to be of a higher rating.
I have since fitted a Yuasa YBX5110 12V 85Ah 800A. It is wider than the one I have fitted but there is space for it. The only indicator that the original battery dimensions were right is that it had a jacket on it which wont fit the replacement battery. The replacement has cold protection built in however so ther aught not to be any adverse effect.
Regardless the new battery is in and working just fine. The start motor cranks over much faster than it did before and all other electricery seems to be behaving itself.
So in conclusion; it appears a multitude of small problems may have contributed to this issue. Or the problem may be still there waiting to come back at an inconvenient moment. Who knows? I will be sure to update you should anything new arise.
Regardless the new battery is in and working just fine. The start motor cranks over much faster than it did before and all other electricery seems to be behaving itself.
So in conclusion; it appears a multitude of small problems may have contributed to this issue. Or the problem may be still there waiting to come back at an inconvenient moment. Who knows? I will be sure to update you should anything new arise.
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