Jetta problems

[Derick]

Hey guys (holy I feel like I haven't posted in ages!)

A coworker of mine has been having some recurring problems with her '03 Jetta 1.8T the past few weeks. After having a dead battery replaced last month, the car seems to be experiencing various electrical problems...

- Engine lugs and feels like it's about to stall, and then DID stall yesterday
- Trip odometer and radio reset themselves (power seems to flicker)

The battery is new and the connections are solid. The dealership has taken the car but given it back saying they can't find anything wrong with it.

This girl is seriously at her wits end and doesn't know what to do. The car has been into the dealerhip 3-4 times with no results. Anyone have any ideas on what it might be, or areas to look at?

[Stonewall]

Re: Jetta problems

Alternator?

[Kor]

Re: Jetta problems

Corrosion maybe on the battery cables? When I replaced the battery on my rabbit I had some problems kinda like this, there was rust/corrosion on the cables so I replaced them too (in the Canadian Tire parking lot). Fixed me up. I know you said connections are solid but double checking can't hurt.

Maybe she got the wrong battery too. I thought I read somewhere that a larger battery was recommended for TDI's (although Simon L had a tiny race battery in his and was ok).

Wow, what a coincidence, the dealership can't find anything wrong that they might have to fix under warranty >:( I say keep it until they do fix it.

Alternator is a good idea. Also check for cracks in the plastic that covers the ECU or wiring harness and make sure moisture can't get in there. She could try a non-dealership garage. They could try grounding the engine better, lots of people believe in that (I don't really).

I don't know crap about TDI's :(

Try here:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2905637

[Stonewall]

Re: Jetta problems

Psst Kris it is not a TDI.
I would also have the dealership check the grounds that are underneath the battery tray.

[bart]

Re: Jetta problems

i think something is shorting... clusters don't just reset their mileage. its stored in mem and they have no battery. its also necessary for the car to run with the cluster, as it contains immo and vin numbers, without it car can't run, so if it got zapped it might be the cause of the car dieing.

[Triple G]

Re: Jetta problems

Maybe its resteting trip mileage, not total.

I had the same problems when my battery wasn't getting charged. Turned out to be a bad ground between the engine and body.

[Derick]

Re: Jetta problems

Maybe its resteting trip mileage, not total.

I had the same problems when my battery wasn't getting charged. Turned out to be a bad ground between the engine and body.

Yeah, it's the trip mileage that resets, not the odometer. A bad ground seems like a likely culprit, so makes me wonder why that wasn't one of the first things the dealer would look into? Hmmph

[Kordain]

Re: Jetta problems

Id also test/feel the alternator after youve been running it for a while see if its super hot or listen to it running to see if its extra noisy, with the battery dying the alternator could have been affected and as a result is no longer supplying power as efficienly and you may be noticing the possible 'bad ground' a lot more coz the alty cant overcome it.

hmmmm wonder if that could have caused a bad battery in the first place, not sure just thinking out loud.