madhatcher
New member
Please help me figure out what is wrong with my 98 Jetta. I love this car and have had nothing but trouble since I installed an after market radio a few years ago. The car has no power, smokes and can only be started with the temp sensor unplugged. What is the relationship or connections between the radio, glow plugs, ecu, power and starting?
Past history below:
2002 Purchased car with 40,000 miles. Turbo so strong it busted when the engine bolt was not in place. My daddy used fiberglass to repair the unit. Columbus VW reset the computer. Worked great and had oil changes on schedule until December 2006. Had minor problem with ignition switch but replaced it. Tire city did the work but could not get it to line up. Daddy worked on it and the ignition worked.
December 2006 Installed after market radio. All problems began possibly because I did not eliminate the K-line to the computer.
January 2007 Thought I had run the car out of diesel. Worked on it. Replaced fuel filter. Could not get it to run. Turned engine over and over. The back spin on the engine caused the crank shaft to eat the crank cog out. The car jumped time and blew up the engine.
Took car to R & S in Albany. They rebuilt the engine but did not find the damaged crank cog. When they cranked the engine, it blew up again. They found the problem and rebuilt the engine.
While car was still under warranty, the bolt that holds everything associated with the crank cog broke. Parts fell off down the road. R & S diesel rebuilt the engine again. But advised me that they no longer wanted to work on the car.
When I got the car back the glow plug light stayed on. I took it back and they worked on the glow plug bus. Car would start but I had to turn the engine over longer than normal.
January 2008 Had to unhook temp sensor so that glow plugs would operate to crank engine. Car lost power if you mashed the brake or took foot off accelerator on interstate. I thought that indicated that the car was out of time. Hauled car to Columbus VW.
Columbus VW found crank cog damaged and said the part had been improperly installed. My dad thinks that is ridiculous. They replaced the cog.
When I got the car back the AC and horn would not work. I took the day off and took the car back to Columbus to check the timing on the fuel injector and to fix the AC and horn because it was still not cranking correctly. They told me they could not time the fuel injector because my car was made before they got in business and they did not have the tools to time my 98 fuel injector. They also told me the compressor was gone on my AC and that I had electronic problems that they could not fix that day. I drove the car home frustrated.
Took car to Macon VW. They tried to get me to trade the car and told me the crank cog had to be the issue and that I was wasting my money trying to fix it because once that part goes it happens over and over.
Mitchell’s Automotive repairs the AC. It was the dryer and expansion valve.
Summer is over and temps drop. Same loss of power and problems starting continue. I took it to Tire City to see if it was in time.
Even though I was told the car was in time, I towed it to Pipkins. They could not get the glow plugs to work but told me the EGR valve needed to be replaced. I paid them to do that but all they did was replace the sensor. They said the car was in time. The car from that point forward was dangerous to drive due to random extreme losses of power.
Drove car home and researched problems on the internet. Came to the conclusion that maybe the radio was causing all the problems. When I took the radio out, the security system, dome lights, and trunk access button stopped working immediately. The car then went into limp mode. ECM quit working so it seemed.
Took car to Grimes. He replaced the ECM and the 180 relay but car still will not work. He said he cannot get enough info from the dealership on the electronics. He could not fix the car. He said the car was in time and the fuel injector was as well. He got the security system, dome lights and trunk back in operation.
Did more research on my on and found out that relay 109 controls power to a lot of stuff that could be causing these problems. Replaced relay 109 but problems continue but car could be stuck in limp mode. I also found out if Relay 180 is ever installed in the wrong location (spot number 12) the computer gets fried.
Found slight split in metal fuse on firewall.
My common sense tells me the car is out of time again but everybody insist it is in time. The computer for whatever reason seems to not be balancing the air to fuel mixture. The car sounds like it is going to blow up.
Help me PLEASe
Past history below:
2002 Purchased car with 40,000 miles. Turbo so strong it busted when the engine bolt was not in place. My daddy used fiberglass to repair the unit. Columbus VW reset the computer. Worked great and had oil changes on schedule until December 2006. Had minor problem with ignition switch but replaced it. Tire city did the work but could not get it to line up. Daddy worked on it and the ignition worked.
December 2006 Installed after market radio. All problems began possibly because I did not eliminate the K-line to the computer.
January 2007 Thought I had run the car out of diesel. Worked on it. Replaced fuel filter. Could not get it to run. Turned engine over and over. The back spin on the engine caused the crank shaft to eat the crank cog out. The car jumped time and blew up the engine.
Took car to R & S in Albany. They rebuilt the engine but did not find the damaged crank cog. When they cranked the engine, it blew up again. They found the problem and rebuilt the engine.
While car was still under warranty, the bolt that holds everything associated with the crank cog broke. Parts fell off down the road. R & S diesel rebuilt the engine again. But advised me that they no longer wanted to work on the car.
When I got the car back the glow plug light stayed on. I took it back and they worked on the glow plug bus. Car would start but I had to turn the engine over longer than normal.
January 2008 Had to unhook temp sensor so that glow plugs would operate to crank engine. Car lost power if you mashed the brake or took foot off accelerator on interstate. I thought that indicated that the car was out of time. Hauled car to Columbus VW.
Columbus VW found crank cog damaged and said the part had been improperly installed. My dad thinks that is ridiculous. They replaced the cog.
When I got the car back the AC and horn would not work. I took the day off and took the car back to Columbus to check the timing on the fuel injector and to fix the AC and horn because it was still not cranking correctly. They told me they could not time the fuel injector because my car was made before they got in business and they did not have the tools to time my 98 fuel injector. They also told me the compressor was gone on my AC and that I had electronic problems that they could not fix that day. I drove the car home frustrated.
Took car to Macon VW. They tried to get me to trade the car and told me the crank cog had to be the issue and that I was wasting my money trying to fix it because once that part goes it happens over and over.
Mitchell’s Automotive repairs the AC. It was the dryer and expansion valve.
Summer is over and temps drop. Same loss of power and problems starting continue. I took it to Tire City to see if it was in time.
Even though I was told the car was in time, I towed it to Pipkins. They could not get the glow plugs to work but told me the EGR valve needed to be replaced. I paid them to do that but all they did was replace the sensor. They said the car was in time. The car from that point forward was dangerous to drive due to random extreme losses of power.
Drove car home and researched problems on the internet. Came to the conclusion that maybe the radio was causing all the problems. When I took the radio out, the security system, dome lights, and trunk access button stopped working immediately. The car then went into limp mode. ECM quit working so it seemed.
Took car to Grimes. He replaced the ECM and the 180 relay but car still will not work. He said he cannot get enough info from the dealership on the electronics. He could not fix the car. He said the car was in time and the fuel injector was as well. He got the security system, dome lights and trunk back in operation.
Did more research on my on and found out that relay 109 controls power to a lot of stuff that could be causing these problems. Replaced relay 109 but problems continue but car could be stuck in limp mode. I also found out if Relay 180 is ever installed in the wrong location (spot number 12) the computer gets fried.
Found slight split in metal fuse on firewall.
My common sense tells me the car is out of time again but everybody insist it is in time. The computer for whatever reason seems to not be balancing the air to fuel mixture. The car sounds like it is going to blow up.
Help me PLEASe