Help! I need advice....

Rotglatt

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Location
Oregon City, OR
TDI
no TDIs at present
I have a 1998 TDI Jetta with about 37,000 miles on it... and my check engine light keeps coming on.... HELP! The car has only ever been serviced by VW dealership who sold me the car. The light came on, they told me it was the wiring harness so $200 later I have a new one. 100 miles later the light is on again.... dumb blonde girl that I am I go back to the dealership and think they'll help me out.... then they say it's the glow plug relay (some plug thing) $200 more and the light is off.... 50 miles go by and the light is on again. This time I'm furious. I take it back and their response is "well we'll do the best we can" -- can anyone offer some help? I think that a 4 yr old TDI with only 37k on it shouldn't be having engine troubles... I know I'm just a young chick, but I don't want to be paying the dealership $400 for nothing. Today they said it was glow plug #4 and they replaced it for free (of course I already paid them $400 for crap I didn't need... or at least I'm not convinced I needed).... I have also noticed nice black clouds when shifting into 2nd or 3rd and accelerating..... maybe I'm a bad driver.... but... uh.... hmmm.... HELP!
 

Dave3507

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Los Angeles Area
The Glow plug relay problem you mentioned on the TDI has been around for several years. I have a 98 TDI New Beetle and my brother has an 99 TDI Jetta that had the same problem. I read about other people having the same problem. My brother and I tried to take the cars to the dealer for the glow plug really problem. According to VW the problem is in cold weather, the glow plug relay stiffens up and cannot turn fast enough to heat the glow plugs. So the ECU triggers a code for the ignition system. The code is specifically for that relay problem. To this date, I am not aware of any fixes for the problem. Most dealers will tell you they will install a updated relay, but the problem will come back when the weather gets cold. During other parts of the year, the car will not have that problem, but when I lived in San Francisco and the weather got down to about 33F it would trigger the same problem code. Since I have not found a fix for this problem, when the light comes on, I check the ECU with a OBDII compatible scanner to make sure it is the same code and then erase it. Maybe a few weeks later in the winter time, the same problem will come back. But as for the car's performance or reliability, it did not affect my car. I drove with the check engine light on for the same problem for about 6 months before I cleared the code. Don't worry you are not alone with this problem. Seems like all TDIs are susceptible to this problem. Check with your dealer and ask if they do have an updated relay. However this is not a guarantee. My brother and I were both told that the new relay is updated. But we still have the same problem to this day. Both of our car's check engine light came on the first year we bought the car. Hope that helps. Dave Kim
 

Dave3507

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Los Angeles Area
Seems like the dealer is trying to get your money. When I took my car in originally for the glow plug relay problem, they ended up making things worse. They broke my window regulator, broke my wiper switch and worse of all, they forgot to plug my glow plugs back in. The dealer might tell you oh its this part and maybe this part, but they will never guarantee it will fix the problem. As an auto technician at an independant shop, I noticed dealers will simply replace part after part to try to fix a problem without a guarantee that it will fix the problem. For the dealer it is simple for them because they have most parts in stock and will change a part then another part to diagnose a problem. They will tell you we think it is this problem... we would like to change a part and move on. Any electrical part installed is not returnable so once it goes in, you have to pay for it. Don't fall for their routine. I am sure your dealer scanned the car's ECU and the code for the relay specifically says there is a problem with the Glowplug Ignition relay. If they know this, they should not try to sell you a glow plug or other parts you do not need. Ask them for a copy of the scanner's code definition. It is called a Diagnostic trouble shooting (DTC) code. If codes DTC 00522 or DTC 01050 shows up, it is your glow plug relay codes. If you have a Autozone parts store near your place, they might offer you a free scanner reading. Here in CA they offer free DTC readings for check engine lights. Hope that helps. Dave Kim
 

Mike H

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2001
Location
Halifax,NS
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI Comfortline
If it's fixed now that they replaced #4 glowplug you should go back and get at least a partial refund since they wasted so much of your time. You probably don't want your original, but no doubt good , parts put back in.
They should have checked the glowplugs first, harness second and relay last.

Maybe you should do a 'Carrie' on their a$$ ...like in the movie.


Happy Halloween
~Mike
 

Rotglatt

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Location
Oregon City, OR
TDI
no TDIs at present
Thanks for all the infos.... I'm wondering if it is worthwhile to stomp my feet in VW stealership. The service manager is a prick, I cannot say a thing nice about him. Customer Care (VW USA) told me to get the DTC print outs, and the manager told me he'd have them ready when I dropped off the car the 3rd time. When I got there he was like "what print outs?" and I got pissed. I told him to get them, he claimed they were under lock and key and he didn't have access. The next morning I called and asked again and he said ok, but then by 3pm still nothing arrived by fax. I called again, I said "let me talk to someone else, you're being rude." So I talked to an assistant service manager and told him I'd like all of the records photocopied and everything ready by the end of the day, he said "no problem." I go to pick up the car (and at this point I'm so mad I don't care if the friggin light is still on and they didn't repair it... I'm taking back my car.) The service manager pretends not to recognize me, makes me spell out my name twice, and then sends me to the cashiers window. She hands me copies of all the invoices (which of course I have already got at home because I save them)... and I'm like "where are the print outs?" and she says "isn't this what you wanted?" and I say "no, I'm looking for the diagnostic print outs with the codes" and she says "oh, hmm, let me get the file" she gets the file, and she says "weird, the staples are here but the print outs are gone" -- so some VW prick tossed them in order to create no evidence. Jerks.
Long and short of it is .... you can buy the VW at Rey Reece VW (NE Portland, OR) for a great price from Stephen Burke (awesome sales guy, we've bought 3 VWs from him 98, 00 and 02) -- but don't go to their Service counter cause Jim is a jerk.
I think I'll start learning how to fix the thing myself, -- can't take any longer then they take!!
And, hey, I have 2 college degrees, I can do this!
 

Birdman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Location
Near Hagerstown MD.
TDI
Jetta 2001 Died by Truck one snowy day. Jetta 2003
Double check your receipts mine INCLUDE the codes on the first few lines. And call VW back the Dealer IS requried to keep all work done on your car for 2 years.
 

Rotglatt

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Location
Oregon City, OR
TDI
no TDIs at present
I double checked all the receipt/invoices - the codes are NOT on them... they describe what they did (but no codes to justify it)...
I will DEFINITELY call VW Customer Care and complain and let them know I'm seeking reimbursement. This is ridiculous... I have college loans to pay - I'm not funding VW .... grrrr

not nice of them to screw with me... I'm 25, I have years to get them to play nice... and I work in a law firm hehe.
 
M

mickey

Guest
You are wasting your time dealing with a VW dealer.

Drivebiwire just moved to Oregon, but I'm not sure how far he is from Portland. Contact him. He can probably figure it out and fix it for a lot less than the stupid dealer charges. Especially since they don't actually diagnose anything. They just throw parts at it until it stops misbehaving. That's a good thing when it's under warranty, because you can often end up with a brand new car by the time they stop monkeying with it. But it's a BAD thing when you have to pay for all the random parts yourself.

If you have a laptop, get the VAG-COM cable and software. It's easy to use, and you can combine the data from VAG-COM with Forum expertise to diagnose problems yourself. Mechanics don't mess with you if you know what you're talking about.

-mickey
 

weedeater

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Location
Reston, VA
TDI
Jetta, 2001, Baltic Green
Lawyer? Then be careful what you say here. It can be 'used against you in a court of law.'

However, it never ceases to tick me off how VW designed this glowplug circuit. It's a damned nuisance for such a trivial, non-critical part of the engine.
 

Rotglatt

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Location
Oregon City, OR
TDI
no TDIs at present
Well I'm not a lawyer, I just work for a bunch of them... a good bunch too.
So far the light has not come back on and I'm not seeing "clouds" when I shift/accelerate.... so HOPEFULLY the problem is fixed. Still though, can anyone recommend a good shop in the Portland (Oregon) area? The stealership is not so nice to me.
 
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