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The VW service could not find a problem after doing they said a system pressure test.
At first the reservoir was below the minimun line, so we have added 20 ounces of fluid to the reservoir in say three months. You can smell antifreeze at times when the car is parked. It appears to be slowly going somewhere. Now the reservoir is above full and the light for needed fluid is coming on again.
Anyone have any ideas before i go back to the dealer and they say it's ok?
Thanks.
"Did see some oil from the front struts. But struts seemed to work fine, axle, CV joings etc and rest of front were tight. Rear wheel bearning were grinding and while new suspension put in rear 9 months ago seemed to be knocking a bit but nothing serious. All the roads are horrible this time of year. Next spring you might budget for some new front struts. Chris I would definately put new rear wheel bearings in but that would not cause the jerking."
Just drove the car back home, no problems. It is quieter with new rear wheel bearings. Am thinking, cold (its been a lot colder), snow, small frost heaves, weight of car balancing to the front.....strut frezzing to cause a jerk?
One of those mysteries. Still will entertain some ideas.
Thanks again!
Last winter, I developed an awful "Shimmy - Shake - Vibration" in my passat (not a jerking as you describe, but a huge difference in a normally smooth ride). It could be felt at slow speeds and prevented me from going much over 30 mph. It turned out that during a snowstorm, hard packed snow froze on the inside of the alloy wheels. This block of snow was like a wheel weight on one portion of the wheel and as it rotated with the tire it caused the car to really shake or jump. It was not obvious at all as it was on the inside of the wheel: I really had to look carefully to notice the snow. A trip to the car wash solved the problem (I was surprised it hung on so well, but it was the right combo of ice and snow).
Mike (also in NH but far enough inland to have missed the blizzard of '06)
Long story short, they added some coolant and said the problem was resolved. Not so. And sadly, I found out after the warranty ran out.
Bottom line - I ordered a new expansion tank online for $18 + tax, installed it and haven't had a problem in over 3 months. It appears that the sensors in the tank were defective.
This maintenance is very simple and it was worth the cost not to have put up with dealership. Afterall, my time is worth much more than this repair cost me.
If you do a search on this forum or on vwvortex you can get the diy for this maintenance and save yourself a lot of worries. I did! Let me know if you want the online parts store I ordered the tank from.
Thanks. Well I went to the Dentist in St. J this morning from my home in Franconia. Not much going, on the way back I could feel it. Nothing grabbing like down in my test run in Lincoln after my daughter parked it. But still there. As you know it is an almost balmy near freezing.
I was coasting in neutral, and could feel a tug to the left on the downhill. Strut, bad power steering assist unit, one of those Vermiters hiding out of sight trying to mess with what is left of my mind. I could call it the Bode thing but...it is too small a village
Think I am going to have to take it to the "good but fix everything" foreign car garage. Want my car back from the daughter, although I will miss the heated seats.
i've noticed recently that every now and then when i flip on my high beams or a turn signal the radio will turn off for a split second, then come back on but at a very low volume. today i was backing out of my parking spot (my car had been sitting for a day and half) and my car stalled. i turned it back on and noticed that as i continued to back out it was idleing very very low, and i felt the car losing power. when i pressed on the gas to try and keep it from stalling it felt like there was no power going to the gas pedal. i managed to pull it back into another spot before it could stall again. at that point it began to idle normally again. i backed out of the spot without a problem and parked it down the street a little further. my friend noticed that my daytime running lights were not on at that point. i let the car sit for a few hours then drove it a few miles with no problem. Thanks
I wish you luck in the great north woods (also far enough inland to have only experienced the Fizzard of '06).
My gut reation to my car's problem last year was that something major had let go. It was sudden, noticeable and quite shocking. In reality, it was a minor issue that was solved with a $9.00 car wash (and a bonus clean car). I would not have thunk it so simple (and an unscrupulous dealer or repair center could have taken me to the cleaners!). It only happened once, and was the perfect combo of rain, snow, ice and wind that resulted in big blocks of snow and ice forming inside the alloy wheels.
Mike
WITH THAT SAID: I would sooner think that if your plugwires really were found bad - it is because somone pulled them off of the sparkplugs without using the spoecial tool. That could easilly break a plugwire internally.
I beleive that if you had never had the sparkplugs replaced, you would have NEVER had any problems with the plugwires.
I know that the plugwires for my daughters 4-cyliner VW are over $80 just for the wires..... I can only guess that for the VR6 engine, they are over $100.
I am Sooooo glad that my VW does not even have sparkplugs nor wires to replace. (I have TDI)
Yesterday was even milder weather. Stopped at the shop to set up Friday, then on the way to work and tried to make it do the thing. Nada. Not even a hint I could feel on our frost heave covered roads. Some variation of your ice fur ball theory is looking pretty good -
So now does Dad let daughter keep "his car" because the Jetta might revert back to its ugly side when the next cold front passes through (Friday night of course after the shop closes and when daughter returns for weekend before leaving again). Decisions.
The window regulators were never a "recall" item... but they were covered under a TSB (Technical Service Bulliten) offered by VW. You *may* be able to have a VW dealership look up your VIN to see if the window-regulators have already been replaced and if VW would cover them.
You may also try these URLS and search for yourself.
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
But anyway. I have recently (as in..2 days ago) purchased a brand new 2006 Jetta 2.5 with automatic transmission and package 1. This morning I went to start the car to go to church and the first two tries....it wouldn't start! The power came on (radio, dash display, etc.) but nothing else happened. The engine didn't even sound like it was trying to turn over, there was no noise at all. It finally started on the third try, but needless to say, I am disturbed by this since the car only has 71 miles on it! Also, it was very cold this morning - 14 degrees farenheit outside (very unusual for the southeast US) and the car was not in a garage. Does this have something to do with the cold, or should the dealer take a look at it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I know this is unusual, but, is this option possible/feasible to add on? From the factory it only adds about $200 to the cost. I woudn't mind paying more to get it installed if it can be done "aftermarket".
Any one know?
Dont forget that the ESP system has the capability of APPLYING the brakes at any one wheel indipendantly. (Think ABS in reverse)
I am SOOOoooo glad that I "held out" for a Jetta with ESP. It may be the very best option for driving in the snow....and is inexpensive too. It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to make the car go into a skid. (yea.... I have tried it)
Anyway, in 1999, I purchased a used Jetta GLX (my heart-throb!) with a warranty of 2 months left (bumper-to-bumper) and had and had the same problem almost a year after that warranty expired. With a sick feeling of dread, I drove up to Jack Ingram VW in Montgomery, AL. I was stationed at FT Rucker at the time and they were my closest VW people. I will never buy a car there due to their salesmens' attitudes, but their service dept always treated me good. I told them I was out of warranty, and asked if this is something VW hard-wired into the system. They immediately said "No. This shouldn't happen," and they took care of the problem.
It all depends on how you approach them. You SHOULD HAVE (don't you just love hind-sight?) immediately taken it to a dealership garage and built a rapport with them BEFORE any problems happened.
Did you get your other window up? I messed with the motor button while pushing up on the glass until it finally slid up into the channel. Then I took some small, black rubber tubing and wedged it down between the glass and the upper door panel trim to create a sticky wedge. That kept it up until I could get somewhere.
Good luck and keep us posted on what happens.
Talked to my plow guy this morning. MechEng student at UNH, daughter's contemporary, think he is on break. "Oh yeah, going downhill jerks and all sorts of nonsence on my mother's Audi. We pulled the wheels a couple of times to get rid of the ice on the inside of the rims. You know we live on a dirt road and we think that contributes to the problem".
Why do I think mom's car is now parked every night in that nice heated slab floor garage that the "boys built" to work on toys.
The simplest of solutions. Again, I kind of freaked and thought the worst when I suddenly experienced the carzy vibration. But, considering a small weight (like 1/4 oz.) can be used to create "balance", a frozen chunk of ice will certainly create "unbalance".
Glad it worked out for you.
Mike
Any answer would be appreciated, because the clicking will drive me insane.
Consuming oil - by itself - is not a big deal. HOWEVER: Allowing the oil to get so low that the pressure-light comes on may damage the engine.
My daughters each have a 2001 VW (Golf and NewBeetle). The Golf consumes oil while the NB consumes none at all.
Check your oil at every gas-fillup and carry a quart of 5w30 at all times.
Also, check your snowscreen and clean it often. Most of the oil is being sucked thru the intake (PCV system) and keeping the snowscreen clean can reduce the amount of vacuum in the intake plenum.
If you follow the VW recommendations and use the proper engine-oil and only run hi-test gasoline, I am certain you will not wear out the engine before the rest of the car wears out. (well over 150K miles )
Mike
Higher octane means SLOWER BURNING fuel as compared to lower octane. Using too-low an octane in a turbocharged engine is asking for PRE-IGNITION. This can put a hole in a piston.
Do yourself and your engine a favor... follow the recomendations for fuel and oil. German automobiles especially need to follow the recommendations. Squeezing that kind of performance from a small engine means that the engine is under more stress.
I also was turned away by the requirement for hi-octane fuel in the 1.8T. I ended up with the TDI... it is ALSO turbocharged.... and gets up to 56 MPG.
Any suggestions / assistance would be greatly appreciated
Some of the 1999-2001 models had a letter sent out about a factory "extended warantee" for the MAF sensor.
I have a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS that always has the check engine light on. Last week I was rushing to an appointment and was on empty but was in a hurry so I put about 1/4 tank of gas. When I left the appointment and turned on my car it somewhat shuttered and hesitated, but started. Later on in the day I turned my car on again and it had a very weird noise, it was humming over and over again with only about a second in between, as I pulled out of my driveway the battery light turned on and the car just stalled (I replaced my battery back in January). We were able to turn on the car after several attempts by pumping the gas pedal but a cloud of smoke came out of the back. The car was fine for about 2 days but now whenever I try to turn on the car it hesitates and practically sounds like a boat turning on (very deep, low, gurgling noises), unless I pump the gas at that point it won't turn on (a couple of dashboard lights come up when I'm trying to turn it on, including the battery light), once it's on there's no driving issues. Also, when it doesn't hesitate to turn on, it starts but with a really peculiar noise after the start that kind of sounds like a belt pulling. A couple of mechanics have told me it's either a problem with the starter or alternator, but wanted to make sure I got a neutral opinion before I began spending enormous amounts of money on repairs. Please help!
The error codes that I did not know about seem to indicate that there is a problem with the Temperature Sensor. the codes are P1296 and P1255 which translate to DTC 17704 and DTC 17663. I am in the act of trying to identify if I have a repair manual so that I could determine the feasability of replaceing the sendor my self. I will also look into the MAF sensor as well.
I have googled quite a bit even jeeved a couple of times, but I am unable to find an online repair manual ( other than one I could buy and have shipped to me) Are you aware of any type of online service manual?
I have googled quite a bit even jeeved a couple of times, but I am unable to find an online repair manual ( other than one I could buy and have shipped to me) Are you aware of any type of online service manual
The "coolant temperture sensor" (CTS)is KNOWN to have issues. It has been superceeded several times. (I assume that currently available temp. sensors are now reliable)
Although I have never had to replace the CTS myself, I understand that is is simply a matter of removing the electrical connector, then pulling off a clip and it slides out. (Dont forget to drain some antifreeze 1st into a clean container so it can be reused)
NEVER EVER use standard "green" antifreeze in VW engine. Use only G12.