accessory power comes on by itself

[96 tsi awd]

I just recently started having the problem where when I shut off my 96 tsi it acts like the key is in the accessory position even with no key in the car. The radio, radar detector , and light to my boost gauge all stay on. I have been doing sum upgrading to the car but am not sure what I could have done to cause this?? I tried disconnecting the battery and waiting a while then reconnecting, but when reconnected all the things mentioned before were still getting power without keys in ignition. I was afraid of draining the battery so I unhooked the negative cable last night before bed. When I woke up I reconnected it and none of the items were getting power until I turned the key. So I drove to the store , shut off the car and took out the keys , but once again the radio , radar detector, and light for boost gauge were all staying on again! This has got me confused any help would be appreciated Thank you


*update* Ok. I just drove to do laundry and when I got there I shut the car off. To my surprise everything shut off when the key was turned to off and removed. After about 10-15 min I went outside to smoke. When I stepped out my radio was on . I looked in the car and it was again like the key was in the accessory position with the keys in my pocket. Somehow it turned it's self on . So I put the key in turned to accessory and back to off. Everything shut off again. After a few min I came back out only to find it all on again. This time putting the key in and turning on then off had no effect . Everything stayed on . The event of it turning it's self on happened once more when I was bringing the laundry in the house. The negative cable is now once again disconnected. I am more puzzled than ever. Do I have a ghost in my car or is there a explanation to this?? Please please someone help!!

 

[91 Turbo Mitsu]

Sounds like you need a new ignition switch. Unless your key feels loose in the tumbler I would replace the switch.

 

[96 tsi awd]

Ok well I thought I'd start pulling related fuses to try and isolate the problem. When I looked at the in car fuse box It had a jumper wire going from the 30amp blower fuse to the 20 amp wiper fuse. It has been like this since I bought the car with no problems but I figured this is the first thing to check. I wiggled both fuses and found when bumped the slightest bit the 20amp wiper fuse caused the accessory's to power up and down. I puled the fuse and jump wire and tried to replace just the fuse. It would not make a tight connection without the jump wire in the contact. I am assuming this is why the previous owner put the jump wire in place. The contacts must be too gaped to hold a fuse on this slot. I believe what was happening was when bumped or jarred the slightest bit the other pole that was not making contact on this louse fuse would make contact. The blower fuse is battery powered I believe and the wiper fuse is accessory powered. So when the second pole of the jumped louse wiper fuse made contact it was feeding battery power to the accessory side of the wiper fuse. So far my fixing this "rigging" of an electrical circuit by the previous owner seems to have fixed my problem. I will let you know If the ghost returns.

 

[91 Turbo Mitsu]

Boy ya gotta love the backyard repair.Something like that would be a quick fix to get you home and then do a correct fix the next day. You dont do things like that because the last thing you want is to burn the electrical harness up. Glad you found it and I hope it solves the problem completely.

 

[airmail96]

Nice troubleshooting there, I probably would have never thought about that.

 

[96 tsi awd]

Thank you both for your comments !!

 

[Red 4G63]

Ok... not to get off subject, but you said the Wiper Fuse is an Accessory circuit?

I am currently trying to find an accessory wire so that I can hook up my Digital Air Ride Controller. If I don't find one soon, I risk frying my controller. I am assuming that when the controller comes on (at this point currently) with the ignition, that I have the wrong fuse tapped. Which fuse in the fuse box (lower driver kick panel) would you guys use if you needed to run something off an Accessory wire?

Thanks,
Jerrod

 

[Red 4G63]

Ok, just checked it and it worked!!

Thanks guys for giving me that piece of info!

I love this site!

 

[Mr PopUps]

Ok... not to get off subject, but you said the Wiper Fuse is an Accessory circuit?

I am currently trying to find an accessory wire so that I can hook up my Digital Air Ride Controller. If I don't find one soon, I risk frying my controller. I am assuming that when the controller comes on (at this point currently) with the ignition, that I have the wrong fuse tapped. Which fuse in the fuse box (lower driver kick panel) would you guys use if you needed to run something off an Accessory wire?

Thanks,
Jerrod

Ok, just checked it and it worked!!

Thanks guys for giving me that piece of info!

I love this site!

Easiest way to grab an ACC connection is to run a relay off of either the radio or lighter socket, they will switch the relay on and off that way.