Immobilizer - 2002 Jetta

Viz

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2001
Location
Vernon, NJ
TDI
2001 & 2002 MKIV, 2015 MKVII
Jumped back into the car after a brief stop Friday evening. All the dash lights light up after inserting the key, including ones I've never seen before. Temp and fuel gauges rolled full right, then full left, full right, then left, then stopped. Immobilizer light was on (although I didn't see this at first). Car would start, then die. The usual immobilizer woes. Further attempts were futile, only succeeded in aggravating me, and changing the dash display to "lights out" at times before starting, then it dies again.
VW 24 Roadside Assistance had me try to flip the key (NG) and try my other keys (all 3 keys did the same thing). So they had it towed to the dealer where they'll look at it this morning.

No idea why this crapped out, but I know it's not uncommon. An even bigger mystery though is why did both the odometer and trip odometer suddenly change displays? The odometer suddenly rolled up an additional 10,000 + miles !!!!! And the trip ododmeter would flash " def. " when I'd try to start it.

Any clues as to what's going on, both with the immobilzer and even scarier, the odometer? Does this indicate that the ECM's memory for the actual, accurate mileage on the car is now corrupted ? I already alerted VW and the dealer that this is to be looked at before the attempt to reprogram anything.

Viz
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
Sounds like the cluster went south. Those dial movements are diagnostics.

How many miles?

A low/dead battery can do this. Or a loose connector/broken wire.
 

Viz

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2001
Location
Vernon, NJ
TDI
2001 & 2002 MKIV, 2015 MKVII
Car has (legitimately) just under 17,000, odometer rolled to 27,000 +. Battery has been ok, although I didn't check it. No one has monkeyed around with any wiring, including me. No word yet from the dealer.

Any idea if the stored mileage (the 16K) gone ?

Viz
 

scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
I think the car stores it in a couple different places for precisely this reason. Your trip odometer maybe be gone for this trip though the regular one should come back after the proper repair.
 

Papachristou

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2003
Location
Memphis, TN
TDI
2012 VW Passat SE DSG
maybe the dealer can find out the actual mileage, but i had a 98 nissan frontier with digital dash, i went to the junkyard and bought a new cluster (with a tach which i didnt have) and computer, this way my miles always stayed under 36k, dealer never said anything and even worked on some of the area around the dash so you might be SOL, if the cluster is out the dealer will put in a new one and adjust the mileage to where it should be so they might can keep it from the 27k
 

VWWV

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2003
Location
Florida and WV
TDI
passat 96, candy white
papachristou, when my cluster went south and I paid the $4C to have it replaced, the dealer didn't adjust the milage. They said that the mainframe info at VWOA would show the milage at replacement and this would be consulted for warranty considerations.
My odometer now shows 6700 but the actual is 66,000. If it doesn't, wouldn't that be nice? I probably won't make the 100K before 2006, anyway, so it is acedemic for me. Good luck with the cluster. Somewhere on this forum somebody told me that "they aren't making the clusters for my 96 Passat anymore". If mine goes again, I guess I'll be looking for a junkyard. Regards to all of you. I'm learning something every day.
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
It switched to displaying KILOMETERS.

17000 MILES =~ 27000 KILOMETERS.

Some kind of electrical glitch (loose connector? overvoltage? whatever) caused the cluster to reset and change modes. This should be easily resetable with a VagCom. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

PlatinumGLS

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
Location
Las Vegas, NV
This just happened to some girl with a 2002 Jetta over at vwvortex...the dealer replaced a few things including the ECU. Total was something like $900...that's all I remember.
 

Viz

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2001
Location
Vernon, NJ
TDI
2001 & 2002 MKIV, 2015 MKVII
Where would I check the harness for coolant migration?

Re: Kilometers now displaying. I never thought of that. The actual mileage "was" 16,994. Odometer displayed 27029. If it was kilometers, shouldn't that read 27,344 ?
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
Open the hood. Find the coolant reservior. Look for an electrical plug on the resevoir. Remove it and check for wetness around the pins.

Distance is stored in the cluster as kilometers. It is converted for display. The conversion is not exact.
 

Viz

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2001
Location
Vernon, NJ
TDI
2001 & 2002 MKIV, 2015 MKVII
2 days of phone calls to the service department, with no reponse. Finally reached the service manager and was told the entire instrument cluster is being replaced (when the new one arrives in the morning). Does this make sense ?
 

tadc

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 13, 2001
Location
Stumptown
TDI
Golf GLS TDI, '01, Black
[ QUOTE ]
Viz said:And the trip ododmeter would flash " def. "

[/ QUOTE ]

"def" as in defective. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The odometer (only when new) can be set one time and one time only. Weird that VWWV's dealer didn't bother.
 
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