Volkswagen Beetle Engine Problems

pepah

UPDATE: now the EPC light is on when we try to start the car. The car will start but immediately stalls. We had it hooked up to a battery charger all night and still continues to stall after turning it over. WHAT THE EPC LIGHT MEAN??? DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS WHY THE CAR WONT RUN???? :confuse: HELLLLPPPPP!!!! :sick:

PF_Flyer

I think EPC stands for Electronic Power Control, so I'm guessing you have a problem somewhere along the "drive by wire" throttle control system. In the bad old days, gas pedals were connected to throttles by a cable, but now they generally are electronic controls that operate the throttle. The car probably starts because the fuel pump regulator (which keeps pressure in the fuel line) has enough gas at the engine to get it started, but whatever the actual problem is (bad relay, bad potentiometer, etc) in the electronic throttle control system then prevents any more fuel from getting to the engine and it stalls.

I think you're likely looking at an electronic control issue rather than some physical problem with the engine and/or battery

vwfreak80

My blue tempature light comes on after driving, and if I go long distances, it starts flashing. Through research i think i want to try to replace the coolant sensor? Where is the best place to buy a new one, and does someone have instructions or a link on how to change it your self without paying out the ....

pepah

thank you very much for your input, I appreciate your comment.

fomc99

I had a timing belt break on my vw beetle 2.0 gas engine. While I was changing the timing belt I decided to change the head gasket also. I have the engine all put back to gether and have checed an rechecked the timing belts specs and it is right. In fact I even tried it 180 degress to make sure I had it right. When I try to start the car it acts like not compression. It rurns over reall fast like the motor is not turning over. It does however have compression and the psitons are ok and the valves are ok. The crank and the cam and are both turning over. If I step down on the accelerator it will backfire no matter if I have the timing belt right on or 180 degrees off. Any suggestions.

spocks_gti

It could be the fuel filter, air filter or oxygen sensor. I had a 5speed Rabbit GTi that stalled when in neutral due to the Oxygen sensor. Just a guess. Hopefully this helps you.
Good Luck with your car. :shades:

autoboy16

Make sure you also change the Water pump! Vw installed in all Vws a waterpump with a Plastic Impeller that is prone to breaking around 60k miles. Make sure to change it NO LATER THAN 80k miles! BOTH!!

The entire kit for a 2.0 is $150 on Ecstuning

Sometimes, if its flashing red, it can also mean the the car is running low on coolant. do NOT buy GREEN coolant from autoparts advanced! you MUST buy Vws G12 Coolant. Yes, its more expensive, but its the only coolant that will work in a Vw Engine properly without throwing weird codes and causing problems. You can also add some distilled water.

cardsfan1854

I have a 1999 Beetle, 86,xxx miles, 5 speed manual transmission. I was driving it out to a friends house, stayed 5 minutes, got back in the car and it wouldn't start. There is a soft hum coming from near the engine of the car. We had to push it to pop the clutch to get it to start. It ran fine on the way home, but still won't start. The battery is not dead(tried to jump it.. nothing) Please help!!!

thetutor

What makes a 2000 VW Beetle 4 cyl, 2.0 liter engine, single overhead camshaft, make a predetonation knock upon the acceleration of the throttle under 1000 rpm's?

Please Help ?!

philayres

unplug the MAF (mass air flow sensor), located on hose going into air filter box. If car runs better it is the MAF, check junk yards,..... all the junkyards..... they are hard to find used but worth the effort. A new one (Bosch) can cost 160 to 280, used should be $50. I'm fairly new to this 1.8 beetle but learning and spending quickly.

philayres

How do I change this gasket? From under vehicle or do I go from top of motor? Is this really hard? I have changed my secondary air pump, o2 sensors so maybe I can handle it??
Thanks for any input!
Phil

philayres

I have made the mistake of buying a 2001 1.8 turbo NB for my daughter. She loves it and it ran fine until the timing belt went. I had a quote of 4 to 5K so I went with a local garage who did a good job for 2k. Now it's time for a sticker and I am chasing the engine light. Did o2 sensors, MAF, plugs, coils and then noticed the secondary air pump hoses were cracked and in replacing them put 12 volts to the secondary air pump, pump was not working. This is just a 12 volt air pump that should run with 12 volts hooked up to it.
Pump is +/- $500. I went to a local junk yard and took one out of a 1997 passat (completely different engine and model # on pump but the hose inlet and outlets were the same). Be sure to take the plug from the new used pump, change the bracket and wire the beast in. Tight fit but you can get it in. Hopefully this will save someone some dough.
Also find a used MAF in the junkyards if possible, call them all, $50 instead of $250.

philayres

Any Help? Host even? Thanks

philayres

Any response to the gasket? You guys must know, lay it on me.

uncleego

Did you find out what was wrong? It sounds like my daughters beetle is doing the same thing. It just spins the engine without any resistance at all. If you depress the gas pedal it backfires??? any help will be appreciated.

uncleego

Is it fairly easy to change a timing belt on a 2000 VW 2.0L in a Beetle? I have changed them in Chevy's, Nissan's, Mitsubishi's but not on one of these. about how long should it take and what can I expect it to cost me if I do the work?

philayres

Hopefully the belt did not break already! If so one or more of the valves are probably bent. That can cost up to $4,000 at a shop, and if you do it your self (bring head to a machine shop) approx. $2,500. If you got to it before it broke you should change the water pump at the same time. I figure 6 hrs or so and $250. It is tough to get at and take your time disconnecting all those foolish connectors.

uncleego

Thanks for responding. No the belt didn't break so I hope I will be fine on that note. Good idea on the replacement of the water pump, I will do that. Thanks again.

m_jonesrn1

I have a 1999 VW beetle with 150,000 miles on it. My husband boosted it off for me and inadvertently connected the booster cables up backwards. After that my car has been acting odd. It will start for a few seconds and then die, epsecially if you put it in reverse. No warning lights come on and no fuses are blown. The only fuse that was intially blown was the one for the radio that I replaced. Any suggestions?? Often now yuo have to rev the car up to keep it started, once you get going and its been running for a few minutes, its fine!?!?!? :confuse:

uncleego

Did you ever find out what was causing the engine to do this? I am having the exact same problem except my belt didn't break it spun some teeth off the belt and would not turn the cam. It did not bend any valves and the pistons are fine. I also changed the timing belt and made sure it was timed perfect. The timing marks were set exactly where the Chilton manual says to put them. I set the timing belt tension pulley exactly where the manual says to set it. I then attempted to start the engine and it spun over quickly but did not start. The engine sounded as if there was no resistance or no compression. Also just like the person said, if you depressed the accelerator, the engine would do a slight backfire. Compression is good and there is strong spark and plenty of fuel to the cylinders. Does anybody have any ideas as to what the problem may be???

lbuzbee1

I own a 2006 VW Beetle and recently it gave me a problem on the highway. I had stopped behind a row of cars waiting to exit, and once the cars cleared out of the way I wanted to get quickly up to the speed of the other lanes, so pressed fairly hard on the gas and it slightly accelerated, but right as I was expecting it to kick up to speed the way it normally does, it pulled back and my speed dropped drastically. I tried to accelerate but it wouldn’t do anything. I pulled my foot completely off the accelerator and pressed it again and it behaved normally. This has happened once before in the life of the car, and on the first occasion all of my radio presets were on random stations when i drove the next day, although I hadn't looked right before and didn't look right after, so this could be unrelated. I took it to the shop each time this occurred and they didn’t have any answers. has anyone heard of a problem like this before?

krojas

bought a 05 beetle had been in a flood everything work, engine has slight shake while iddling. Any sugestion? Maybe injector, ignition,. DO YOU THINK THAT THERE MIGHT BE WATER IN THE AUTO TRANS.? How can I tell if trans. has water?It shifts fine. Any sugestion will be appreciated thaks

jrolf

I have a 2001 VW Beetle just got it about 6 months ago and already had to have the motor replaced. now I have oil in my coolant overflow, that is the only place I have seen it. Can anyone help me please :sick:

kmcclas

My car was running fine with no problems in the morning; fast forward to the afternoon; it's dead on the side of the freeway with a fried engine. We were driving along, the coolant light blinked red. Within seconds we heard a distinct noise, like a knock followed by a continuous sound like paper flapping in the fan shroud. We were in the left lane on the freeway searching for a break in traffic to move to the right shoulder. The oil and check engine lights blinked on and then off. Just as we found a clearing to get off the road the car lost power. We barely made it off the road. We shut the car off and water and steam spewed and shot from the back tail pipe. Water was in the front wheel well and nowhere else not even on the engine.
We expected to see a red hot engine but did not. The car had no compression. We had it towed to a VW service center. They said the engine is shot (pistons melted into the cylinder walls) and has to be replaced. They've quoted $6900 and no guarantee the repairs stop there. HELP! Anyone have ideas of how a car goes from running fine to a catastrophic event in a matter of minutes? Should I just give the car back to VW and call it a loss? I'm frustrated!!!

sylvia61

i owned a 1999vw beetle. all i had was problems of all kinds. finally i got rid of it. i say to everybody, unless you have plenty of money to spend on repairs, dont ever purchase a vw beetle.they are a sorry car :sick: :sick:

maine_man

I was changing the light bulb in my girlfriends car. Sometime while I was changing it the epc light on the dash came on, now I have to get a new bulb and replace the old one but does this sound right? Did I do something to make this light come on, somehow, while taking out the light? Will it go out when I get the replacement light, I hope

dstoneman

My daughter's 98 beetle (2.0 gas) one day just wouldn't start. Turned over, battery new, just wouldn't start. Came out the next day fired right up? Wouldn't start a few days later at her high school parking lot. Found a lot of info. on VW forums --on a whim shot starting fluid into air cleaner and she started up and ran fine for a few days. Checked fuel pump ... it is working fine. Any thoughts? Check engine light is NOT on.

smonkres

It might be the engine oil cooler. Located between the oil filter and the block. Mine had a small hole in it and it allowed water and oil to mix. Better check the engine oil dipstick you may have water in the oil. You can check the cooler by taking it off and submerging it in water and use air hose to pressurize if it hase hole you will get bubbles.

smonkres

Mine did mix oil and water. You can test the cooler by taking it off sumerging it in water and pressurizing it with an air hose. If you get bubbles it has hole in it.

smonkres

You jus need a plug socket with an extension. The plugs set at an angle so you can get to them. The hard part is gettin the wires off you have to have something to get hold and pull the cap.

bc43

Has anyone else had problems where the gas door won't release? Ours finally got stuck permanently. Mechanic showed us a release wire we can pull, from inside the trunk. I'm not the incredible hulk but I'm not all that weak either and it's almost impossible. My wife tried once and gave up. Now we just leave it closed but not pushed closed so it latches. Lots of little problems like this but this is the latest.

kennedy789

Did you ever figure out the problem with this? my gas 98 beetle finally will crank after the shot of starting fluid in the air cleaner, but whenever i put it in third or basically get above 30 it has a heavyloss of power and feels like it automatically shifts down to 2nd... now this is a manual car, and thoughts? Some kind of electrical components inside gone bad? :confuse:

norine47

I have a 2006 covertible beetle and I've been having the same issue off and on for almost a year. I keep taking it to the dealer and it seems like the problem hasn't been resolved. Was your issue fixed? I love my car but this problem is scary. Any info you could share would be great. Thanks!

hotrodss69

I have a hessing noise coming from the motor and the brake pedal is hard to push.
I know it must be a vaccum leak .There is a small can like item around all the vaccum lines ,could that be leaking or bad? what is that part?Thanks

lbuzbee1

The issue was never formally identified, but my check engine light went on a couple months ago and the car started acting up even worse, so my oxygen sensor was replaced under the suspicion that it turned on the light, and I haven't had any problems since then! The dealer did say that sometimes a faulty oxygen sensor can result in minor lagging of the car, so I'm assuming this was the cause of my problem, even though the dealer was not aware of any case as drastic as mine.

paulmf

I just had a similar problem with a 2003 New Beetle Turbo with only 42,000 miles on it. I haven't gotten in back yet but it's going to cost about $7000. Did you have any luck with VW on you issue?

zoey1808

I have a 2003 new beetle convertible and whenever it gets to be under 40 degrees it gives me a hard time starting. Has anyone seen this before? and If so any advice. Please please I need my car to work.

randy2000

I push the pedal and it bucks at idel speed, out of gear it will not increase rpm. stalls like no gas,but contunes to idel normal.
after complete worm up, works normal.

taylar1023

Me and my wife just tried going to church and we didn't even get halfway down the street when the car started shaking. It doesn't have a full tank of gas, and we were going at fairly low rpm when it was doing it. We parked it for a bit to decide what to do, and when I drove it back to our house, I went a bit faster to get the rpm going, and it basically stopped. Also, the check engine light is on, and came on RIGHT when the shuddering happened. Any ideas?

vwgirl92

I just replaced my Radiator, Mass Air Flow Sensor, and Auxiliary Fan Control Unit on my 2002 VW Beetle TDI, when we put everything back together and drove it was fine for about 3 miles then it started "jumping" when I accelerated. I don't know if it was something we did when working on it or if it is something new. Any idea what could be happening?

slloyd

My beetle is a 2.0ltr petrol and the engine light cameon so i booked it in the garage and the computer found that the lamard sensor was faulty,I left the car and the job was done then the garae phoned me to collect the car,when i collected the car the car would not rev little smoke was coming out the car is just a mess now hard to drive as when you press the accelarator pedal the car will not rev just sounds flat with the odd back fire but if you rev the car very slowly the car revs perfectly with no problem its just when you rev as normal it does not like it,the garage asked me too take the car a hey had no room to store it so now i need HELP !!! :confuse:

msmeltzer

My daughter owns a 2003 VW Beetle Turbo. After the car is sitting in the sun for several hours and gets hot, when she shuts the engine off there is a grinding noise. The battery and starter were just replaced. Any clues?

kssd

I am having the same problem . The car was bought in Arizona and now lives in Colorado. When it gets under 30 degrees it does not start (it starts and dies ) I have had the imobilizing sesor replaced but it is still doing it, did you ever find a solution to your hard starting problem?

grandpa54

I have a 2001 beetle have the same diagnosis by several mechanics they say it's the radio had stereo shop check it out said no way radio is hooked up properly check engine light been on for over a year can't get car smogged because of it could it be the gas cap. When a couple of mechanics tried to find the code there machines blew up could it be the gas cap or something else

grandpa54

how do you get the check engine light off after doing all these repairs . Is it possible to disconnect the battery cable by leaving it off for a period and hope it resets itself can that be done?

hrumland

For a year or two, the check engine light has come on and the VW shop's computer indicated a faulty or blocked mass-flow sensor which I have solved with MFS spray. Ironically, it had a beetle on the sensor screen. This fixed the problem for a while until my car was hit in the right rear fender. This turned on the engine light because it broke the carbon cylinder of the emission control system which had to be replaced ($500)!
If your check engine light stays on and the shop has checked/cleaned replaced the mass-flow sensor and/or the oxygen sensor, have them check the carbon cylinder, it may be cracked, thus affecting the vacuum.
Good luck

muncy

my 1999 vw will start and run great for around 30 mins then stall need to wait 20 mins till it starts, got codes said problem in my evap emission control sys malfunction, any help please

mdove0829

I need help trying to figure out what my cars problem is. I've only owned this car for 2 months now and I'm having a lot of problems out of it.
1. After running the car lower than I normally do on gas, the gas light comes on and I go to the gas station to put gas in it, and now it won't start for a few minutes. It takes like 5 minutes to start. It cranks but won't start.
2. After I cut it on and off so many times, like if I have a couple errends to do in town it takes like ten minutes for it to start back up. Again it cranks but won't start.
It's like it gets too hot but my tempature gauge doesn't show anything on it. It doesn't blink red or anything to let me know it's overheating.
I have a few codes that come up on the computer that diagnosed it, egr valve, turbo coolant malfuntion, o2 sensor bank 1 running to lean. I've replaced the o2 sensor and it's still saying it's running to lean.
Please I need help and ideas for how to get my car running right

belaircarguy

I see your engine is a turbo. Those do run hotter than a non turbo engine. I have been told that if you just idle the engine for perhaps 30 seconds before you turn off the motor, it will help cool off the engine somewhat and will lead to a longer turbo and engine life. You might want to give it a try, as it sounds like you car is starved for gas and to cool down before it will start again. The gas may be evaporating as the engine is hot.

Bel Air Car Guy

hans15

We have a 1999 VW Beetle that we bought used with 17k miles, it now has over 200k and runs great. We buy gas and tires in addition to regular service. The Beetle is a great car.