optimism
Active member
I apologize in advance, this is going to be difficult for me to describe without using sound effects and interpretive dance...
I have a 2002 VW Beetle that broke down 2 years ago. Quit starting, and at the time we were less broke and we bought a lightly used truck instead of fixing the Bug. This is mostly important because it sat for 2 years with a mostly full tank of diesel fuel, so obviously that was an issue.
We got it running again about a month ago by replacing the fuel filter and fuel pump assembly (in tank unit), air filters, and oil filter. It ran okish for a couple of weeks, but it was really cold and was having trouble starting. By ok-ish I mean that the rpms jumped back and forth between well under 1k to just under 2k and puffs of smoke shot out the exhaust once it was put in gear (idled cleanly, the jerking didn't happen until it was put in reverse or drive). It jerked around like this until it had gotten up over about 40 mph for roughly 3-5 minutes, and then it drove fine.
Then it quit starting reliably so we replaced the starter (the battery is new-ish and we got it tested, so we knew that wasn't the issue). Now it starts like a dream, but the chugging and jerking has gotten worse, along with a knocking sound that sounds like chewbacca if he was a robot, along with throwing a Turbo/Super Charger Overboost Condition code. Also, the chugging and jerking quit going away after whatever amount of driving, so I had to stop driving it.
Yesterday we changed out all of the vacuum hoses (3mm and 5mm), but that did not change the chugging, which is also happening while idling now.
We can't afford to take it to a mechanic, and we are new to the area so we don't even know one that we could trust not to fleece us if we could. We are running out of relatively inexpensive things to try. We can afford to get more parts, but not in a willy-nilly maybe this thing is bad/I'll just throw in a new one and see if it fixes the problem kind of way.
We have a BAFX Products Bluetooth Diagnostic OBDII Reader/Scanner for Android devices, so we can read codes. We didn't run it yesterday after replacing the vacuum tubes didn't fix anything (though they were old and ****ty and totally worth replacing anyway), but we will tonight and I'll update the thread with whatever it gives us. We also have supplies for cleaning the fuel injectors which hopefully we can get around to doing tonight as well.
This might have been the worst description of car issues this forum has seen in awhile, but if you have questions I can answer them, and if you suggest things to help narrow down the problem, I will follow the advice and report back.
Aside from being broke and really needing a running car, I love this Bug and I want it to run again. It only has 160,000 miles on it and driving it reminds me of my first car (1991 VW Passat). It's one of those stupid things where I could totally sell it and by some other super cheap old commuter instead, but I don't want to. I want this one.
I have a 2002 VW Beetle that broke down 2 years ago. Quit starting, and at the time we were less broke and we bought a lightly used truck instead of fixing the Bug. This is mostly important because it sat for 2 years with a mostly full tank of diesel fuel, so obviously that was an issue.
We got it running again about a month ago by replacing the fuel filter and fuel pump assembly (in tank unit), air filters, and oil filter. It ran okish for a couple of weeks, but it was really cold and was having trouble starting. By ok-ish I mean that the rpms jumped back and forth between well under 1k to just under 2k and puffs of smoke shot out the exhaust once it was put in gear (idled cleanly, the jerking didn't happen until it was put in reverse or drive). It jerked around like this until it had gotten up over about 40 mph for roughly 3-5 minutes, and then it drove fine.
Then it quit starting reliably so we replaced the starter (the battery is new-ish and we got it tested, so we knew that wasn't the issue). Now it starts like a dream, but the chugging and jerking has gotten worse, along with a knocking sound that sounds like chewbacca if he was a robot, along with throwing a Turbo/Super Charger Overboost Condition code. Also, the chugging and jerking quit going away after whatever amount of driving, so I had to stop driving it.
Yesterday we changed out all of the vacuum hoses (3mm and 5mm), but that did not change the chugging, which is also happening while idling now.
We can't afford to take it to a mechanic, and we are new to the area so we don't even know one that we could trust not to fleece us if we could. We are running out of relatively inexpensive things to try. We can afford to get more parts, but not in a willy-nilly maybe this thing is bad/I'll just throw in a new one and see if it fixes the problem kind of way.
We have a BAFX Products Bluetooth Diagnostic OBDII Reader/Scanner for Android devices, so we can read codes. We didn't run it yesterday after replacing the vacuum tubes didn't fix anything (though they were old and ****ty and totally worth replacing anyway), but we will tonight and I'll update the thread with whatever it gives us. We also have supplies for cleaning the fuel injectors which hopefully we can get around to doing tonight as well.
This might have been the worst description of car issues this forum has seen in awhile, but if you have questions I can answer them, and if you suggest things to help narrow down the problem, I will follow the advice and report back.
Aside from being broke and really needing a running car, I love this Bug and I want it to run again. It only has 160,000 miles on it and driving it reminds me of my first car (1991 VW Passat). It's one of those stupid things where I could totally sell it and by some other super cheap old commuter instead, but I don't want to. I want this one.
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