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"As someone who basically gets paid to hotwire cars for a living (I am a 12V electronics installer by trade.... remote starters), I can tell you a few things:
1) Main issue is breakage on the actual antenna wires leading from the reader to the cluster. They are very small...... 28ga or so. In the cold, moving the column a lot will do this.
2) The RFID pellet on the VW keys lives along the outer edge of the key.... for those of you with valet keys, the two halves of the head pop apart. You will see a torpedo shaped glass pellet. This is the RFID pellet. It is in roughly the same location on the switchblade key. It is not accessable without doing major damage to the key (irreparable) on the switchblade key. The antenna around the chamber in the column reads using it's outer edge, like 1/16" or so, and towards the interior of the car. Simply gluing the pellet to the back of the ignition switch, or even the antenna itself will not read. It is an extremely low power, narrow window for the reader (micro watts)....... and the pellet pretty much needs to be within 1/8" of the antennas fronte (visible) side.
3) On immobilizer 3 cars, a key that is not seen by the cluster in around 4 months of daily start cycles, will be dropped by the system. It assumes lost or stolen, and will remove that key from the memory for system integrety's sake.
4) The car only reads the key until the end of the crank cycle. It then could care less if a valid key is in the ignition.
5) It doesen't really care about seeing 2 keys at once... as long as both are valid keys for the car. Due to the transmission power of the system.... you would need to have both keys within 1/4" of the antenna.... not an easy feat with the size of these keys.
Dropping your key a lot will eventually crack the glass pellet... this will let moisture accumulate inside the tube, and will eventually render the circutry inside the tube inoperable (ues... there is a weee little board in that tube.....)
VW does use one of the more secure systems...... GM on the other hand uses the least secure system (PK3). PK3 can be gotten around without any programmed keys for the vehicle...... all you need is a PK3 key that is cut for the ignition. I know the procedure, but I am not sharing it.... for obvious reasons :-)
Ford, Dodge, Mits, all need 2 valid keys to program additional keys (Fords will hold up to 10 valid keys, BTW.... then it will bump #1 when #11 is leasnrd, and so forth) Dodge, and Mits are both using a Phillips system that also "marries" the programmed key to the vehicle. Once a key is programmed to a Dodge product, it can not be programmed to any other car, no matter what (unique to the Phillips system) VW, BMW, and Mercedes all require the use of an SKC for additional key programming.... Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia require the scan tool be used to get into programming mode (well... Toyotas you can do with a combination of gas pedal and brake presses... the scan tool is just easier). Mazda uses Ford keys. (and there are now 7 different Ford key based Immobilizer types, BTW. And 5 of them look pretty much the same key wise..... an interesting challenge to say the least)"
I got it working although not sure if it's anything I did. I had the battery out overnight charging, put it back and it worked. It did fail a couple times in the past week but worked fine after one try. I finally sucked it up an went to the dealer so they could read the codes. According to the computer, "has low input signal, key not to VW spec". So they cut a new key for $177 and sent me on my way. Hopefully this chapter is closed.
If nothing else though, I found this forum which I'm sure I'll be back to often. With 85k miles I'm sure I'm looking at many little surprises on the horizon.
I have a 99 and 1/2 vw jetta that just turned 100K miles, and it has been chugging for some time with the EPC light coming on occasionally (maybe 4 times over last month) but not staying on longer than a minute or so. It would only chugg after start up; like the pedal was sticking. Always runs fine on acceleration. This a.m. was the last straw I think; and the car would not respond to gas and just rolls around at about 5mph. Any ideas what is going on?
And it pulls just a bit. The service tech told me that VW has a computer chip in the steering wheel that :confuse: automatically aligns the wheel and that after a few minutes it should adjust to the road I am on and straighten itself. Does this sound right or is it BS? I don't know what to do. I'm thinking of taking it to another dealership. Help.
We also have not had any pulling ever. When it was new the steering wheel was very slightly off-center...but no pulling. Dealer adjusted this and it has been fine since.
The car does supposedly adjust steering for wind (and maybe other factors), so that you steer straight even in cross wind for example, which must be the automatic adjustment your dealer is refering to.
A VW should be ROCK SOLID on the highway up to and beyond 100MPH. Dont forget it is desigend for the German Autobahn.
The EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system is intended to reduce NOX. Neither the muffler nor O2 sensor has much affect on NOX.
I guess that running to lean could cause NOX to go up... but you did not mention that was found to be as issue.
Maybe he got spanked after VW called the dealership in response to to your report.
Checked battery and connections- OK
Pulled the starter & replaced the brush assembly and bench tested - OK
put starter back on car and I hear the solinoid click attempting to engage starter but there is no whirring or cranking. I've read that this can occur when the TCM=Transmission Control Module is at fault anyone know how to proceed????
I have a 2003 jetta wagon that has begun having a popping noise from the front driverside when turning. Anyone with ideas what it might be, and more importantly, how much it's "gonna run me"?
Thanks....
I beleive I have seen a step-by-step R&R procedure with photos somwhere on the internet. I would suggest you do some internet searches.
Yeah I know where that is. Is the fuse and relay box all in the same panel?
Anyone have suggestions on what might be wrong with it??
Thank you
The steering wheel in the'07 seemed a bit thicker. The driver's headrest, and, I think, the passenger's too, are a design which supports the head and neck actively in some way in the event of a rear collision.
I've noticed that these two items are missing from the 2006 I leased.
Are there other differences between the 2006 and 2007 GLIs?
The idle under 10 is a typical problem that I've encountered with my Jettas. I had that problem in the 91 for about 3 years before it got unbearable. From what I can gather and remember, I believe that the problem was the distributor. I've recently replaced the distributor on my 94 (and several hunred $ later) and I no longer have the idle/racing problem. With the slipping, I've also found that on both of my Jettas, but I haven't noticed it as much on my 94 since the distributor was replaced.
However it did take about 1 month for the mechanic to diagnose the problem and he was hesitant to do it due to the cost.
Overall I've found that older Jettas do have their issues, typical exhaust system repairs, suspension and an occasional water pump, but I feel as though I've gotten my money's worth out of it.
I have had my new jetta ( lux package) since July, I love it except for the fact that I can hardly get 250 miles out of a tank, sometimes more like 200. I am a city driver but no one told me this would worse mileage than an SUV. VW doesnt care of course and I am really annoyed. I had a honda before and even when it was old I filled it every 2-3 weeks. Can ANYONE relate??
IMHO - You shouldn't exceed 60mph prior to reaching 1000 miles. If you accelerate, ease your engine down. But that's just me.