Volkswagen Electrical System: Fuses and Circuit Breakers

Volkswagen is recalling about 71,043 vehicles over a problem with the electrical system. Should this happen while the vehicle is being driven, the engine could stall, or the headlights or wipers could turn off unexpectedly, potentially leading to a crash without warning.

Campaign
11V196000
Manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Reported
29 March 2011
Vehicles
71,043
Built between
Not published
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
21 April 2011
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2011 Volkswagen Jetta

What the defect is

Volkswagen is recalling certain model year 2011 jetta vehicles, manufactured from march 2010 through march 2011. These vehicles may have an electrical wiring and fuse layout where the converter box is protected by the same fuse used by the signal horn and the anti-theft alarm system. Should that fuse be blown, the converter box will be disconnected from the power supply which, in turn, will shut off applications such as the engine management system, lighting system, and wipers.

What could happen

Should this happen while the vehicle is being driven, the engine could stall, or the headlights or wipers could turn off unexpectedly, potentially leading to a crash without warning.

What gets fixed

VOLKSWAGEN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS WHEN SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES OF REPAIRS KITS ARE AVAILABLE. DEALERS WILL SEPARATE THE WIRING FOR THE HORN AND THE THEFT PROTECTION HORN FROM THE POWER SUPPLY OF THE CONVERTER BOX AND ROUTE THE WIRES TO SEPARATE FUSES TO CORRECT THE CONDITION FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING APRIL 2011.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA29 March 2011
  2. Owners notified21 April 2011

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 29 March 2011.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand