Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
The microswitches in the door are starting to get flakey. To fix, the door needs to be torn apart and parts replaced.
BTW: When my wife found out how much it would cost to 'fix' her 2003 Jetta, she opted to NOT get it fixed. DOWNSIDE.... the alarm and keyfob is also affected. (Cannot lock doors with keyfob...must use key in door)
1st: the horn doesnt work
2nd: you have to hold the brights on for the headlights to work.
3rd: the check engine light is on but it runs fine?
any ideas?
2. Try pushing the headlight stalk the other way. VW's normally have a "flash to pass" feature that you can blink the lights by giving the stalk a quick pull.
3. Check engine light could be one of many things. No way to know until a mechanic hooks it to a computer and finds out what code the car is giving.
Sounds like you will need to take this to a shop, at least for the check engine light.
Bel Air Car Guy
For #3, most auto-parts stores will gladly "pull the codes" from the computer for you... no charge.
Once you know the code which is illuminating the CEL (Check Engine Light), post it here so we may have to opportunity to help you.
If you are still running the original 2003 battery.... it does not owe you anything and may be ready for retirement.
Oh-- check the snugness of ALL the connections within the PDU (Power Distribution Unit) which sits on top of the battery. (They are KNOWN to get loose and may actually MELT the plastic due to poor connection.) A 10mm wrench is the right size but DO NOT let it touch anything metal while tightening (direct short across battery will result with lots of sparks!)
Within in twenty minutes of driving, a clicking sound will start from behind my steering wheel and then my radio will do one and/or a combination of the following things: sound will turn on/off; radio lights will flash; radio will just turn off by itself, all while the clicking sound continues.
Anybody have any ideas??
Have you taken voltage readings?
Is the alternator putting out ~ 14.8 Volts? (across battery terminals)
Have you removed/cleaned every body-ground you can find?
Is there any resistance: (voltage drop)
- between the engine and the chassis?
- between engine and battery minus?
- between chassis and battery minus?
The power-distribution on top of the battery is KNOWN to get resistive if you do not keep the bolts snugged on all of the fuses. In worst cases, fires have resulted. (The effects of underhood environment causes the connections to corrode and become resistive)
However: I doubt that has any association to the other electrical issues you are experiencing. Look for a blown fuse. I believe the fusebox is in the flat area of the dash which is uncovered when the drivers door is open.
There is also a Power Distribution above the battery which contains several large fuses.... (unlikely for them to blow)
Keep fixing the car or get a new one? Car has been so good to me for years until this started. I don't drive it hard either. I take very good care of my car. So frustrating!
Bel Air Car Guy
If your problem was this, you could look at the brakelights when the vehicle is parked to see if they are on.
If that is NOT your case, simply MEASURE the drain on the battery with a meter as you yank out one fuse at a time.... this will quickly isolate problem-circuit.
Have you checked for the Coolant migration problem?
Does anyone know how to get the light on the stereo to turn off as it could be a cause of the battery drain?
Thanks in advance.
As for your other complaints regarding the door, the problem is most likely with the 3 micro-switches inside the door mounted on a circuit-board.
Your choices are 3
1) Live with it the way it is
2) Fix it yourself using the photo-filled, step-by-step instructions found on the internet. (The individual uSwitches are about $5 each)
3) Pay a dealer to fix it.
You are going to need a new battery anyhow, based on its age, so I would give that a try first, and see if you problems fix themselves.
Bel Air Car Guy
Thanks
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.f11e2d0/206
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
What is the fix?
1. Check if there's loose connection somewhere
2. Check the fuse box
It could be these are individual problems that's unrelated to each other.
WD40 in the physical door latch has helped
Check door hinge areas - fix any rubber areas that are crimped
- after the above 2 items - my car hasn't had problems - but I suspect it's just a short-term fix.
Possible wiring in the doors or sensor in door is broken.
- note... I'm guessing the sensor is in the door locks - but not certain.
- Hope someone else has better answer for you.
OK here is what I have. When I turn on the AC with the fan on high my glow plug led light comes on. If I turn the AC off and put the headlights on and the fan on high the glow plug light comes on. I tested the glow plugs with the meter during these events and no power is at the glow plugs so the led light is misleading. I did notice my temperature gauge runs warmer only if the headlights or the AC are on. When they are turned off the temperature runs normal.
Also when the AC is on, the headlights are significantly dimmer.
Any ideas on how to narrow down where the short is?
However, you should start at the known trouble-spots. Check all connections that you can find. Often, I will "clean up" every ground-connection I can find.
DISCONNECT BATTERY BEFORE YOU BEGIN!!
*)Clean up the battery-posts.
*)Look for every wire which is screwed to the body/frame/engine - one at a time remove them and clean-up both the connector and body with wire-brush/file/dremel-tool.
RECONNECT BATTERY!
You mention that you have a meter so I will assume you know how to use it to troubleshoot. If the above does not help your problem, put voltmeter across battery and monitor battery-voltage when AC/Headlights are on. I am willing to bet the voltage drops.
Next- you need to determine wether it is the POSITIVE or NEGATIVE which is dropping. I assume you know how to use meter to make this determination and isolate the problem from there.
Thank you for your help!!!!
I did read the other posts, and we did check the grounds - at least all of those we could see easily, since my husband hasn't spent a lot of time with foreign vehicles and is unfamiliar with the differences. All of the grounds (4, I think) were clean and tight. There was one (driver side, closest to the front/headlights) that looks like it was at one point professionally sleeved and has what appears to be a burn mark on it. We aren't sure how likely a ground would be as the issue either, because we would assume they would be on separate grounds, wouldn't they? During our overview of the car we also found another 12v charging port in the trunk that we didn't know was there and it isn't working either.
Everything else in the car seems to work just fine, it is just the charging ports and the blower. Neither air nor heat will blow - though it is still technically on. A little bit of air will come out of the vents whether it is technically 'on' or not, and the temperature of the air can be adjusted. Blows harder when you are driving than idle, but still not enough to do much good. The AC light works too, and so does the rear defrost. Winter is coming soon though, and we can't defrost the front windshield and it is some kind of cold driving in it - the seats are the only thing that keep me from freezing to death! We can't afford to have a dealership/shop search around to find the issue, but we can't let it remain unfixed either. Any and all advice on find the issue and replacing it would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you so much.