Pending Recall for VW Atlas and Cross Sport

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,440
Location
Huntington WV
Looks like there is a recall coming for drivers door wiring harness and door control module. It appears the connectors on the wiring harness are subject to "micromovements" especially in cold weather.
Last winter and this winter too I've had random window lowering mostly on the drivers door and when you go to roll up the window it would reverse and go all the way down and then go up. I assumed it was snow and ice causing interference and the safety prevented undue pressure when trying to close.
Two weeks ago in addition to the divers side rear window rolling down an inch alerts that the drivers door was open and ACC was off appeared. Took to dealership and they ordered the parts, two to three months expected delivery time.
Found this today calling out the coming recall


It details that this condition appears in cold temps which is what I've experienced. It just goes to show how precise electrical connections have to be when cold temps cause contact problems btwn the wiring harness and the module.
 
Fretting corrosion? Connector grease like Nyogel 760G is supposed to prevent that.
It think the micro movements are grinding the contacts away so I dont think corrosion is the right word but I may be completely wrong.

Edit. Googled it and it is wearing the connectors down.
"Fretting corrosion is the name for a buildup of insulating, oxidized wear debris that can form when there is small amplitude fretting motion between electrical contacts. The oxidized wear debris can pile up enough at the electrical contact spots that the electrical resistance across the connection increases a lot."
 
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Read an article on this today - quite a spectacular failure mode with the car braking itself (putting parking brake on?), window rolling down and warning lamps and alarms.

This is not good for VW.......door wiring harness are pretty well protected from the elements and this failure mode is pretty dramatic and could cause an accident. They have had trouble with door wiring harnesses for quite some time now dating back to the MKV Jetta/Golf where they were installing harnesses that were just a hair too short and stretching too much which caused problems.
 
Read an article on this today - quite a spectacular failure mode with the car braking itself (putting parking brake on?), window rolling down and warning lamps and alarms.

This is not good for VW.......door wiring harness are pretty well protected from the elements and this failure mode is pretty dramatic and could cause an accident. They have had trouble with door wiring harnesses for quite some time now dating back to the MKV Jetta/Golf where they were installing harnesses that were just a hair too short and stretching too much which caused problems.
That's what I've seen talked about is that is a bit too short and putting pressure on the connection
 
Read an article on this today - quite a spectacular failure mode with the car braking itself (putting parking brake on?), window rolling down and warning lamps and alarms.

This is not good for VW.......door wiring harness are pretty well protected from the elements and this failure mode is pretty dramatic and could cause an accident. They have had trouble with door wiring harnesses for quite some time now dating back to the MKV Jetta/Golf where they were installing harnesses that were just a hair too short and stretching too much which caused problems.
The article is not exactly objective in wording. It seems to mix up uneducated opinion with facts unfortunately. I wish it were more subjective as it’s hard to believe much in it.
 
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