← NHTSA complaints

2004 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG — EXTERIOR LIGHTING

fire · 1890157 · 2023-04-24

Vehicle

Make
VOLKSWAGEN
Model
TOUAREG
Year
2004
Manufacturer
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Component
EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

My SUV was sitting for a few days at the airport and I when I got in the car, it started fine but the headlights, interior lights, power folding mirrors and the voltmeter were not working. I had to leave the car there since it was night time. The next day I drove it home in daylight and started checking fuses. I noticed two fuses (#2, #12) on the driver side fuse panel were failed. I replaced the #2, 5 amp, fuse and no changes were noticed. Then I replaced the #12, 25 amp, fuse and I heard a number of systems clicking and powering on; the lights flickered. Then I smelled burning and saw a puff of smoke come from under the dash. I immediately pulled the fuse . After troubleshooting, I found the body control module 7L6-937-049-K had caught fire internally and started to burn through the casing. Had I not pulled the fuse and disconnected the battery, this could have been catastrophic. Once I smelled the smoke, I realized it was like the acrid smell in the suv the night before. The fact the fuse blew the previous day saved the vehicle. It was parked on the fourth floor of parking garage at the airport so many vehicles could have been damaged and people endangered had it caught fire. Not to mention the disruption at an airport. There were no warning lamps. The only indication of a problem was the inoperable systems I mentioned. Also thinking back, the slight acrid smell was present the day I arrived at the airport, I had mistaken it for plane exhaust and car exhaust smells in the

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11518742
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown