Intermittent electrical issues

[nwa287]

Hi,

I have a couple of minor electrical issues, and am trying to get to the root cause.  The first is a fault with the driver's side wing mirror, which I mentioned in this thread: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,122999.msg1128081.html#msg1128081

Summary is that the joystick no longer controls the right mirror.  Both settings control only the left.  This fault has since reappeared.

The second fault is that the radio intermittently cuts out, before (usually) turning itself back on again.  That is a long standing issue, but it has happened a lot more often recently.

And another radio fault: for a brief period recently, it would not turn off automatically when I stopped the engine and removed the key from the ignition. 

It seems to me this could be:

1. Battery related - it's a good few years old, and went flat a couple of months ago.  Could an old battery in bad condition create these faults?
2. A bigger electrical fault - my worry is that these minor issues are warning signs of bigger things to come
3. Just some loose connections (the car has 90k on the clock)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get to the root cause without throwing money at a garage to speculatively investigate?  Assume minimal technical skill on my part...and no VCDS.

Thanks,

[muff1991]

probably not the answer but its not unheard of for a simple reset to sort out electrical gremlins/glitches.. we've all got smart phones & PC's to know what im talking about! Same goes for ECU's and modules on cars.

Try disconnecting the battery and leaving it for a few hours (making sure your terminals etc are safely tucked out the way and not touching anything they shouldn't) The humble mechanic says you can remove the terminals and touch them together for 10 seconds to drain the system. i prefer a good few hours or even an overnight disconnection for it to fully drain and reset.

if its not something as simple as that, you could well have a wiring/electrical issue somewhere.

[nwa287]

Thank you.  I'll try this this week/week end and report back.  Fingers crossed it's as simple as "turn it off and on again..."

If it is a wiring fault, does anyone have any experience of finding where the problem is?  Feels like it could be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[Octoparrot]

Check for broken wires coming from the a pillar to the drivers door, it's not uncommon for them to break.