My trusty VR6 let me down last night - it would start fine, then the immobiliser would cut it out immediately. Even the very helpful RAC man (ex-VW/Audi mechanic) was about to give up after we'd tried checking the pick up coil thing round the lock, when he noticed the rear active spoiler was half up - and wouldn't respond to the switch (it has always worked fine). Further investigation revealed fuse 6 blown (EDIT - it was fuse 16, RAC man counted 6 from the right in the dark) so he replaced that and bingo - the engine fired, healthy as ever (and the spoiler started working again).
Having done a few searches on here, it sounds like the spoiler shares the same fuse as the immobiliser unit (although most posts quote fuse 16 ...). So it looks like as I drove to work and came off the motorway, the spoiler blew the fuse, but this didn't manifest itself until I tried to go home, when the immobiliser did it's job.
So, to avoid the fuse blowing again in the meantime, I've disconnected the power from the spoiler motor under the hatch cover. But when I manually wind the spoiler up and down with the manual knob on it (see, some people do use the brilliant search facility on this website!) it runs very freely - so I'm wondering why it would have blown the fuse? Could the motor itself be in need of a clean? It certainly doesn't feel as if the gears/rods/cables need any clean or lubrication, judging by the smoothness of the knob operation.
I found the link to the website (American?) that describes the tricky removal and cleaning process - which sounds like I don't want to attempt it unless necessary. Any clues as to why it might have blown the fuse even if the spoiler is moving smoothly?
'95 VR6 - bog standard. (145K miles on the original clutch and exhaust - is that any sort of record, or does it just show what a woose driver I am??? :) )
