Jetta starts then dies? cluster 000000 dEF?

redline808

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 23, 2010
Location
hawaii
TDI
Jetta
2002 Jetta TDi. automatic.

was running just fine, parked it for a few days, battery went a little low, slow crank with beep noise coming from the cluster area. car starts then dies immediately, regardless of throttle position. charged the battery, cranks fine, still has long continues beep noise from cluster area. still starts then dies immediately. with the key in the on position, cluster mileage shows 000000, "km" in the left corner and "dEF" under the 000000. temp gauge needle at max horizontal to the right and the fuel gauge needle at max horizontal to the right. anti-theft key light is flashing and the glow plug light is flashing.

does anyone know what might be going on with my car?

thank you.

 

kenmaira

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Location
Austin
TDI
Golf Mk4 2001 1.9 ALH
Maybe it's the actual cluster that's defective, doesn't it have the immobi there too?
 

turbocharged798

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Location
Ellenville, NY
TDI
99.5 black ALH Jetta;09 Gasser Jetta
Looks like the cluster committed suicide.Def: defective. Means there is check sum error in the eeprom. You could try disconnecting the battery, touch the terminals together, and hook it back up. This will reboot the cluster much like rebooting your computer. If that doesn't work, the cluster is toast.



This seems to becoming more and more common as MK4s age for some reason...
 

vwdieseling

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Location
Lima Ohio
TDI
Beetle, more bugs
Defective cluster the key chip responder is in the cluster. Does it run for about about 1 minute and shutdown? This means the cluster does not recognize the chip in the key fob. The immobilizer then shuts down the engine. Turbocharged is right the eeprom is scrambled. This could be a power issue as far as one of the pin connectors is loose. You can remove the cluster and check the pin connecters that plug into the back of the cluster. Check your fuses in your fuse box as well. You can replace the cluster with a used one and readopt your key. It's repairable. I've noticed other posting on this forum regarding strange cluster activity in the Jetta's VDO. Most of these regarding batterys that were allowed to run low. From swaps I've done it shouldn't be an issue, but those swaps were in Beetles which have a different type of cluster. (Side note the theft key light is flashing your immo doesn't recognize the key.)
 
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