Been trying to figure this one out, but so far no luck. Even took it to the dealer, and the problem didn't happen so they didn't look any further.
2002 Jetta TDI ~180K miles.
Problem:
When first starting up the car, everything is fine. After driving about 30-seconds to 1-2 minutes, the ABS and Brake dash lights flash on once, go back off, accompanied by 3 beeps. Sometimes the pattern happens twice or three times. It ONLY happens when the car is just starting a trip; if is driving for 5 minutes, it doesn't happen again.
Usually when this happens, after the trip, when I turn the engine off, everything resets (clock, trip odometer.)
Again, the dealer couldn't figure out the problem.
I tried removing Fuse 41 (my lighter fuse) to see if it was a short in there (based on comments here: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=167657), but while it started happening less (maybe 2 times a week rather than once per day), it didn't fix the problem. And with the fuse still removed, the problem seems to be happening pretty regularly now.
Also, when first starting the car I can tell if it's going to have the problem fairly easily, because the blue backlighting on the radio isn't solid - it flickers. (Tried turning off the radio to see if the problem would go away - it didn't.)
The dealer did a charging check on the alternator and battery, and both checked out fine.
Anyone have any ideas for what I can do/check? I'm not exactly a mechanic, but I'd like to at least track down the problem to have someone more skilled fixed it, if needed.
2002 Jetta TDI ~180K miles.
Problem:
When first starting up the car, everything is fine. After driving about 30-seconds to 1-2 minutes, the ABS and Brake dash lights flash on once, go back off, accompanied by 3 beeps. Sometimes the pattern happens twice or three times. It ONLY happens when the car is just starting a trip; if is driving for 5 minutes, it doesn't happen again.
Usually when this happens, after the trip, when I turn the engine off, everything resets (clock, trip odometer.)
Again, the dealer couldn't figure out the problem.
I tried removing Fuse 41 (my lighter fuse) to see if it was a short in there (based on comments here: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=167657), but while it started happening less (maybe 2 times a week rather than once per day), it didn't fix the problem. And with the fuse still removed, the problem seems to be happening pretty regularly now.
Also, when first starting the car I can tell if it's going to have the problem fairly easily, because the blue backlighting on the radio isn't solid - it flickers. (Tried turning off the radio to see if the problem would go away - it didn't.)
The dealer did a charging check on the alternator and battery, and both checked out fine.
Anyone have any ideas for what I can do/check? I'm not exactly a mechanic, but I'd like to at least track down the problem to have someone more skilled fixed it, if needed.