I have an electrical problem that has me and my mechanic stumped. Intermittently (and never during the four days my mechanic has had and driven my car), the following things happen simultaneously:
– air conditioning goes off, tho fan continues
– temp display on air conditioning unit shows interior temp, but display for exterior temp shows what I assume is the default: --C
– volume and tuning controls on steering wheel don’t work, tho on the radio, they do
– window controls on driver’s door don’t work for other three windows, but they do for the driver’s window
– when you turn the car off and pull the key, the radio stays on, but the heater/air conditioning fan goes off
– when you try to re-start, the dashboard lights go on, but there’s no juice to the starter – after several inserts of the key, it all works . . . so far.
Any ideas??? My mechanic thinks it might be the ignition switch, but hesitates to do such an expensive repair on a hunch.
Thanks for any help you might give me on this.
Steven J
It would greatly help if you could tell us the Make/Model/Year.
It does sound like it could be an ignition switch. Find a different mechanic. One who can diagnose this…Maybe an Automotive Electrical expert.
Sorry about that. It’s a 2004 VW Passat.
Here’s the ignition switch http://www.autozone.com/R,APP374361/vehicleId,2933701/initialAction,partProductDetail/store,1140/partType,00189/shopping/partProductDetail.htm Instructions on how to change it are in the repair manual.