Older Jetta (pre-2000) Maintenance and Repair

steveintnsteveintn Member Posts: 2
in Volkswagen
A tiny piece of metal snapped off in the ignition assembly of our 1999 Jetta. It has no part name, made of pot metal, absolutely necessary to make the car start. I'm told that his style of ignition is no longer made by Volkswagen; they stopped making it in 2003. What do I do now, any suggestions? Any way to get this style ignition on the after market or -?

Here is a picture of it.

http://tinyurl.com/jettaproblem
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Comments

  • bpeeblesbpeebles Member Posts: 4,085
    It is not unheard of for these things to wear out. I would expect that any VW or Audi dealership can source one of these for you.

    You *may* need to re-key the ignition switch.
  • jeffyscottjeffyscott Member Posts: 3,855
    You could see if a locksmith could take care of this, if you have not already tried that.
  • steveintnsteveintn Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2011
    Thanks for your replies. Perhaps in the future this thread will help somebody else with the same problem.

    I found the ignition for my 1999 Jetta with a year 2000 engine, out of California. This is a part particular to Jetta's made late 1999 with the 8th digit of the VIN being M or an H). The part is no longer made. It's used, reconditioned.

    Specalized German

    Probably good place for other Jetta parts also. SpecializedGerman.com's customer service - unlike several others I tried - is in the United States, and they know their stuff. (I had a laughable time trying at one place, probably with a call center in India, reminded me of the movie "Outsourced".

    It cost $100 plus $20 shipping to TN (2011 prices).
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    Have a 1996 that we are maintaining while our daughter is in NYC. Tried to start and drive a bit, but battery is run down. When I hook up a battery charger, the factory alarm sounds (needless to say it wakes up the whole neighborhood). I tied disarming it with the door lock but was not able to. How can I shut off the alarm so I can get the battery charged? Needless to say I will put a battery maintainer on it for future use.
  • bpeeblesbpeebles Member Posts: 4,085
    Simply dont *arm* the alarm before you start the charging-process. In that way, it is not waiting to go off.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    Sorry, hate to sound stupid, but in this case I am. This is not my car and I'm not familiar with how to "arm" or "unarm" the alarm. Could you elaborate a bit on this?

    All I did was unlock the door and pull the hood release, put the charging cables on it and when I plugged in the charger the alarm went off!
  • bpeeblesbpeebles Member Posts: 4,085
    Then I dont understand what is going on.... as soon as you use the remote to unlock door, the alarm is disarmed.

    In other words, the alarm is only armed when you use the remote to lock the doors and hear the 'beep' which confirms it is armed.

    HOWEVER: I do have another idea. you may be able to disconnect the battery and charge it while it is disconnected. It is not possible for the alarm to sound when there is no power.

    ||Safety first|| ALWAYS disconnect the negative wire 1st and connect it last!!!!

    BEWARE - If the radio has built-in security, it may go into SAFE mode when you re-connect the battery. Be prepared to enter the security-code to unlock the radio from SAFE mode.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    Okay, first off, this is a 1996 jetta and there is no remote involved. I just unlocked the door using the key, opened the door and pulled the hood release. I will try unhooking the battery and recharge and see how that works. Thanks much for your help and I will let post the results.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    Okay, finally got back to this. I unhooked the battery from the car. Hooked up the battery charger on slow charge overnight. Came back and unhooked the charger; and as soon as I hooked the battery up to the car, the alarm sounded. I shut the door and tried locking the door and the alarm continued, and finally quit I guess based on a timed sequence for the alarm. Tried starting it while the alarm was going, but it would not start. Any ideas or suggestions? I just feel it is something simple and I hate to let it get the best of me.

    Like I said, this is not my car, it belongs to my daughter who left it here while she is working in New York City. She is coming back for Christmas and will want to drive it while she is here, so I'm trying to get it ready for her.
  • bpeeblesbpeebles Member Posts: 4,085
    Every door on that Jetta has a sensor which can trip the alarm.... this includes the Hood and the Trunk.

    Also, by disconnecting the battery, you may have put he radio into "safe mode" (it will think it has been stolen.) If this has happened, the display on the radio will say "SAFE" after you hook up the battery.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    So, if I shut the hood and the driver door and lock with the key, should that turn the alarm off and put the radio back in normal mode?
  • bpeeblesbpeebles Member Posts: 4,085
    I am not sure how you would 'get around' the alarm.

    As for a radio which has gone into "Safe Mode" - you need to "key in" a special code into the front panel of the radio to get it out of "Safe Mode".

    If you are lucky, the code was written into the owners-manual when the vehicle was new.

    If you are UNlucky - the radio will need to be removed so you can get serial-number off of it, then, any VW dealer can convert that SN into the special-code you need to key-in.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
    Okay, had a tow truck take it up to the local repair shop ($86 for tow), they found that there was an aftermarket alarm on it that was causing the problem, so I had them to disable it. The factory alarm still works properly. ($102. for the repair shop) All is good. thanks for help from all.
  • bobponderbobponder Member Posts: 7
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