Malfunction Indicator light

car54

theGAME
Joined
Dec 5, 2000
Location
Woodbridge VA
TDI
2002 Jetta
Cars dont have malfunction lights. They have Check engine lights, SRS (airbag) lights, oil pressure lights, and so on. Which light is coming on? Lights come on in these cars all the time. Its ususally simple and cheap (or free) to fix. Somtimes its somthing as simple as a loose gas cap. Give us more information so we can help you. Have you ever walked into the doctors office and said "I hurt" and given the doctor no other info expecting him to fix you up? get my point?
 

JeffT

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 4, 1999
Location
Diesel is diesel is diesel!
Actually in the TDI the glowplug light acts as a MIL. It will come on for all kinds of failures not related to glowplugs, i.e. a faulty brake light switch.

The check engine light is generally tied to emission controls failures.
 

xray

New member
Joined
Sep 24, 2000
Location
Elysburg, Pa.
I have a 98 tdi jetta and my malfunction indicator light came on...Anyone ever have this problem??? What could be my problem???
Thanks for the help.....
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
A code is stored in the computer when the "check engine" light is on. In order to read this code, it is necessary to connect the car to a suitable computer. The dealer can do this, or you can find someone in your area who has a VAG-COM or VWTool software. Check the maintenance archives on these forums, there's an (out of date!) list in there.

Unless the car is giving other symptoms, there is no way to even hazard a guess of what's wrong without knowing the stored code.

And yes, it can indeed be caused by a faulty brake light switch or a bad glow plug.

Brian P.
'96 Passat TDI mit UPsolute
 
Top