2009 Jetta manual stalling

[Jeffmx5]

So my wife and I have noticed it is very easy to stall our 2009 Jetta. Both of us have been driving stick all our lives and we never had a problem with her 2000 NB and my 2002 Golf still is fine.

Every other car we have driven, both gas and diesel, give some warning that it is about to stall. Usually you can hear and feel the the motor stumbling and bucking and know to jump on the clutch. The Jetta does not give any warning.

We will be in the process of down shifting the Jetta, step on the clutch and the motor just dies without any warning. It has happened to us much more frequently with the Jetta than we have ever stalled any other car.

Has anyone had similar problems? The motor starts right up again with the key or if the car is rolling fast enough it can be bump started with the clutch.

We are coming up on 10k miles.

 

[slidemx5]

The two times I've test driven a TDI I've stalled it a total of four times. I've driven standard transmissions for 11+ years, as well as a bunch of twin plate, unsprung race disk type clutches in heavy traffic (and never had a problem)

the TDI clutch on the 09+ models has a very small engagement window

 

[darrenf]

Ditto. I've found that it's worse with the A/C running. I'm learning to adapt. I've also become much more careful to fully stop when backing up before starting forward again. It's a good idea anyway (saves the clutch) but in this car it can be downright essential at times.

-darren

 

[droit]

I have also experienced stalling on takeoff. Also a couple of time downshifting going into a traffic circle. It seems kinda random.

 

[karlthev]

I've stalled mine 3-4 times in about 8,000 miles. I have driven other manual trannies (including a '95 Jetta) for years. My '09 is a bit tricky, particularly with the AC on and a tune up too loud on the radio.


Karl

 

[Rodya]

So my wife and I have noticed it is very easy to stall our 2009 Jetta. Both of us have been driving stick all our lives and we never had a problem with her 2000 NB and my 2002 Golf still is fine.

Every other car we have driven, both gas and diesel, give some warning that it is about to stall. Usually you can hear and feel the the motor stumbling and bucking and know to jump on the clutch. The Jetta does not give any warning.

We will be in the process of down shifting the Jetta, step on the clutch and the motor just dies without any warning. It has happened to us much more frequently with the Jetta than we have ever stalled any other car.

Has anyone had similar problems? The motor starts right up again with the key or if the car is rolling fast enough it can be bump started with the clutch.

We are coming up on 10k miles.

Have found that need I to give it more fuel and be a little more aggressive before shifting... following the 2,500 RPM cold engine and 3,100 RPM for warm engine seems to help... wife has stalled it a few times, but mostly for being in third and thinking it was first... have never encountered the stepping on clutch and stalling problem...

 

[jayson9]

The manual clutch in these cars are very "touchy" when starting from a dead stop. Be thankfull that you don't own a '06. The '06's were much worse that the '09's are. But, the '06's offered more performance options to curb the issue.

For the '06's, some owners (including me) found that chiping or powerboxing the car (to increase fuel flow and timing) helped significantly! The added performance did away with 90% of the stalling issue. And BTW, increased the overall performance quite well.

Unfortunately, there are limited choices of chiping and/or powerboxes for the '09's. Until more options are available, or just deciding to live with it, increase the transition time with go-pedal and clutch to overcome.

 

[dr61]

The '09's have a fuel cut-off at just below 800 RPM that causes the engine to die immediately before it starts lugging. I don't find the clutch touchy at all but I do have to careful not to let RPM's get too low when doing a gentle start or when coming to a stop while in a higher gear.

 

[DoctorDawg]

I bet that's the ticket, alright: the '09 ECU kills the engine when RPMs drop below the idle set-point. One of the few...and perhaps the only...point on which you have to wonder what the heck the engineers were thinking. An ECU should never kill the engine, except perhaps in the case of a runaway. A car without an engine is just a flying brick. Its a safety issue.

 

[ChuChu]

Does anyone know what if any components might wear out/be damaged by stalling?

 

[DoctorDawg]

Does anyone know what if any components might wear out/be damaged by stalling?

The driver's nerves would be the first thing to go, I'd think. My Subi recently developed a bad case of the unpredictable stalls (turned out to be the MAF). Suddenly having no brakes or steering to speak of, and no go, without warning, in the most inconvenient circumstances, nearly gave me a nervous breakdown.

 

[dr61]

I bet that's the ticket, alright: the '09 ECU kills the engine when RPMs drop below the idle set-point. One of the few...and perhaps the only...point on which you have to wonder what the heck the engineers were thinking. An ECU should never kill the engine, except perhaps in the case of a runaway. A car without an engine is just a flying brick. Its a safety issue.

I recall reading somewhere on this forum that the ECU kills the engine to eliminate stress from lugging on some component.

 

[darrenf]

I recall reading somewhere on this forum that the ECU kills the engine to eliminate stress from lugging on some component.

The dual-mass flywheel, I believe it was.

-darren

 

[familytruckster]

I also found this car easy to stall and I've driven many manuals before. I also needed to teach my wife how to drive stick on our 09 TDI. She had very limited experience with driving a stick, and what experience she did have was over a decade ago. It wasn't easy. I still stall it every once in a while.

 

[Ironman24]

I test drove one the other day and on the first take off I stalled the car. My friend was laughing at me. I couldn't tell you the last time I stalled out my 01 with a worn out stock clutch.

If it is a ECM cutoff then I assume at some point it can be raised with tuning.

I bought a 09 manual Jetta today and will be picking it up tomorrow. All the paperwork/windowsticker I have and the build part of the vw website indicates a 6 speed manual. I could have sworn there were only 5 digits on the shift knob when I test drove the car.

So does it have 5 or 6 gears?

 

[birkie]

I also found this car easy to stall and I've driven many manuals before. I also needed to teach my wife how to drive stick on our 09 TDI. She had very limited experience with driving a stick, and what experience she did have was over a decade ago. It wasn't easy. I still stall it every once in a while.

My wife is new to driving a standard transmission, and oddly enough found the '09 much easier to launch than my '98. Some psychology might be involved, though, since the '98 was "my" car, and the '09 is "our" car, the first we bought together (indeed, she strongly supported the choice of the manual trans). In my experience, though, you almost have to TRY to stall the '98.

 

[MayorDJQ]

We will be in the process of down shifting the Jetta, step on the clutch and the motor just dies without any warning. It has happened to us much more frequently with the Jetta than we have ever stalled any other car.

Wait a minute....the car is stalling randomly when you push the clutch in? That doesn't sound right at all. Are you letting the RPMs drop too low before stepping on the clutch?

 

[JimDog]

I have been stalling quite a bit more often in my new '09 JSW vs. my '02 Golf. I was hoping the new car would lure my wife into getting more experience driving stick, but her response has been "You want me to practice with this thing when *you* can't even drive it properly?"

Also, I find starting on hills *way* harder in the JSW. In the Golf I could start on the gnarliest of San Francisco hills with barely any rollback, and in the new JSW I am stalling, making nasty burning clutch smells, and find myself very tempted to use the parking brake.

 

[birkie]

in the new JSW I am stalling, making nasty burning clutch smells, and find myself very tempted to use the parking brake.

That's a noble use of the hand brake, so go ahead and use it, especially if it saves your clutch! I have no qualms about it if I'm on a steep-ish hill, and/or have a car that's too close on my tail. The position of the elbow rest in the center console in relation to the brake lever makes it a an ergonomically pleasant experience.

 

[TwoTone]

After the 05.5, when the wagons came out with a 6sp, the first think I asked on this forum was if there was a SMF for it. The answer was no and I lost any thought of buying a 09. Good luck with your search for a solution.

 

[Ironman24]

Does anyone with a 09 manual have only 5 numbers on the shift knob? I picked up my car today and thought this was the strangest thing. I used 6th gear on the way home but it's not indicated on the shift knob.

 

[MayorDJQ]

Does anyone with a 09 manual have only 5 numbers on the shift knob? I picked up my car today and thought this was the strangest thing. I used 6th gear on the way home but it's not indicated on the shift knob.

That's really weird. Did you buy it used?

 

[Ironman24]

I bought it brand new off the lot this week. I even test drove it with all the plastic still on the car.

I've been thinking I was crazy all week and wasn't sure what tranny I was getting in the car. So am I the only 09 TDI owner with a 5 digit gear shift pattern on the knob? (at least they actually put a 6spd tranny in the car)

 

[MayorDJQ]

You may be insanse. Manual transmission '09 TDIs are 6 speeds.

 

[Highker]

I bought it brand new off the lot this week. I even test drove it with all the plastic still on the car.

I've been thinking I was crazy all week and wasn't sure what tranny I was getting in the car. So am I the only 09 TDI owner with a 5 digit gear shift pattern on the knob? (at least they actually put a 6spd tranny in the car)

Just have the dealer put the right knob on it (who knows how it happened!). Even if you know the pattern, you don't want a valet parker or borrower mashing your gears or causing accidents.

JimDog - Were you taught not to use the hand brake on a steep hill? Using it is SOP for safety, good driving, and clutch preservation.

 

[Matthew_S]

I haven't driven a 2009 yet but I've heard a lot of complaints about the clutch on the PD A5s. Funny thing is I've driven plenty of those and I think they have the most wonderful clutch ever installed in car. Super smooth and light and I never had any problem pulling away from a stop on a hill without any throttle input at all. As others have pointed out they do stall rather abruptly if the RPMs drop below a certain point. The older cars are quite a bit more forgiving in that respect.

 

[DoctorDawg]

Were you taught not to use the hand brake on a steep hill? Using it is SOP for safety, good driving, and clutch preservation.

+1. That's mostly what its there for. I can never understand the school of thought that claims it is 'sissy' or somethin' to use the ebrake on hills. The thing I was taught never to do with an ebrake is use it when parking (only exception being on a radical hill with no curb to turn wheels into). When a set ebrake freezes up while parked yer pretty much SOL.

 

[MayorDJQ]

If you use the e-brake on a regular basis, the likelihood of it freezing is pretty slim.

But back to the OP, please elaborate, when is the stalling happening? Everyone is commenting about stalling while trying to get moving....unless I misunderstood your post, that doesn't sound like your issue.

 

[Mondog1]

I asked my dealer about being able to adjust the clutch pedal. Nope. I wish that the pedal would "grab" closer instead of what feels like all the way depressed. I've been driving stick now for 15 years(omg) and this is the easiest car by far to stall that I have ever driven.

 

[jayson9]

I have only driven 2 TDI's ('06 & '09 Jettas), '84 gas VW bus w/5 spd, 67 gas bug w/4 spd. All but the '09, I put 50K+ on. The TDI's are more much touchy with the clutch compared to the VW gassers. And compared to any other clutch in the Fords, GMC's, Jeeps and various motorcycles etc. I have owned (on the tree/floor/bars or dash), extremely touchy. I have driven many clutches with alot of hard miles (including well used military vehicles), and place the TDI's at or near the bottom of the list for the first gear "learning factor" IMHO.

Now I will say, once you get past the first gear start, they are as smooth as they get. And the level of pedal effort is also as easy as it gets. But, that first gear start that requires either power clutching and/or e-braking does not stand up to any other vehicles I driven except for maybe a restored Model T a friend let me drive one time.

After all of that said, I still love my Jetta! Can't beat the MPG, fun to drive, options, or passenger room for the money.