Signs of Wiring Harness Failure in Your Volkswagen

Your Volkswagen is a complex machine, made up of countless parts that keep it running effectively. While a wiring harness might not sound as immediately important as your car’s engine, it is still a vital part of your car that is necessary to keep it operational.

If your car’s wiring harness fails, it can cause several problems, including causing it to stop running entirely. Being aware of what a wiring harness does, in addition to being able to identify symptoms of a failure of it, can save you a lot of headache, time, and money.

A wire harness, also known as a cable harness, is an organized collection of electrical wires and connectors that help transmit electrical signals throughout your car. These electrical signals travel to different parts of the car, powering all the different components. You can think of a wiring harness as operating similarly as a human’s central nervous system does.

Wiring harnesses also help to save space in your Volkswagen by keeping all the wires bundled together in a material like rubber or electrical tape. This also serves to protect the wires from environmental factors like rain, debris, dust, or snow.

Beyond just helping keep your car organized and protected from outside factors, a wiring harness also helps out the technicians who do work on cars. Without these materials protecting and bundling the wiring, they would not only have a harder time working on your car, but they would also be prone to electrical shocks from naked cabling.

Symptoms of Failure of a Wiring Harness

As an electrical component of your Volkswagen, being able to tell if there is an issue with your car usually starts by identifying if you are experiencing any problems that depend on electricity. Here are just a few common issues that often occur when a wire harness is damaged or failing:

• Flickering front or rear lights: If any of the lights on your car flicker, this is usually tied to a wiring issue. A faulty wire harness, in most cases, is the cause.
• Your car has trouble starting up when you turn on the ignition: While there are numerous reasons why a car won’t start, such as a dead battery, cabling issues are often what cause problems with a car’s ignition.
• Warning lights on your dashboard are dim or do not light up: If lights that normally are supposed to be lit up, like a low gas indicator light, are not displaying when they should, keep in mind that this could be because you are experiencing a failing wire harness.

While these may not necessarily be directly correlated to a failing wire harness, these will be clear signs that something is going on with your car. Even if your wire harness is not specifically the cause of these issues, these are still reasons to have a technician investigate as soon as possible.

Oldwick Village Will Help With Wiring Harness Issues

If your Volkswagen is showing any of the symptoms that we listed above, we highly advise you to not wait to have your car looked at as soon as possible. Driving with a broken or faulty wire harness can lead to many issues, including damage to parts of your car and the risk of getting into an accident while on the road, both of which will inevitably lead to you ending up spending more money than you would have otherwise.

Fortunately, at Oldwick Village Garage, we pride ourselves on providing top-notch service and auto repairs on all European cars, including any issues you might have with your Volkswagen’s wiring harness. If you think you are having any issues with your wiring harness or any other auto issues, we would love to work with you to get these issues fixed so you can drive with confidence in your car again.

Located in Oldwick Village in Tewksbury, NJ, we are the go-to European auto shop for the surrounding areas of Bridgewater, Bernardsville, Basking Ridge, Washington Township, and more. We are happy to work with you to fix any problems your car is having. So give us a call today or come in and speak with one of our certified and highly-trained technicians!