Just left stealership. Now looking for answers.

[GermanDude]

2011 Jetta TDI manual

I've had some bad experiences with my dealership and wanted to share todays experience and possibly find some answers.

It all started with my sunroof not wanting to close. I figured I could just drive over to the dealership, let them look at it and while they are at it make an appointment for the recall (A-Safety Recall - Converter Box Wiring).

By the way: I did not purchase my TDI at this dealership.

Well, they managed to close the sunroof and told me they will have to replace the whole sunroof assembly which will take about a day. Then we started talking about the recall and they told me that they couldn't even sell any vehicles with that recall, it's a major safety recall. I read both threads about the converter box and it sounds pretty serious.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=313311&highlight=converter+box

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=312997&highlight=converter+box

They also told me that it will take at least one and a half days for them to repair that issue.

I read in one thread that they can't even fix it till mid may. I am also looking into replacing my horn, will I be able to do so after the recall? What if something they did goes wrong and they blame it on the horn I installed?

Can anyone tell me what to expect? I hate going to the dealership not knowing what is going to happen to my car, because sometimes it looks like they don't even know.

edit: one more thing, I did not receive mail about the recall I just decided to look it up on http://owners.vw.com/vww/vw_service/recalls.html

 

[DC-IT]

My TDI is affected by the recall when I plug my VIN in the VW site.

Fortunately Winter's over so there is no need to switch on the heated seats. I was using that a lot during Winter and thankfully nothing happened.
Just make sure I do not blast the horn and hope that will avoid tripping the fuse and sudden shut down syndrome.

So far no mail has come from VW to notify of the recall.

 

[marc77777]

2011 Jetta TDI manual

I read in one thread that they can't even fix it till mid may. I am also looking into replacing my horn, will I be able to do so after the recall? What if something they did goes wrong and they blame it on the horn I installed?

I know in one of my posts I mentioned mid may because that's what my dealer told me, however, when my vehicle went in this week for servicing AGAIN they told me the recall parts were slow to come in at first but now they got a bunch of them. Although with this said, it's still not clear if mine was done.

 

[Champ203]

Had recall done yesterday during 5000 mile inspection. Took them about 4 hours. They put me in an Audi A3 TDI Type S loaner car. They were really serious that I get the recall done right then versus waiting until the 10K oil change.

Peace,
Don

 

[marc77777]

Had recall done yesterday during 5000 mile inspection. Took them about 4 hours. They put me in an Audi A3 TDI Type S loaner car. They were really serious that I get the recall done right then versus waiting until the 10K oil change.

Peace,
Don

My dealer was pretty serious that I get it done right away too, so much so that they even booked me an appointment without realizing they didn't have the parts. Needless to say, that was a waste of my time.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I don't really see a bad experience here. Try something. With your car safe in your driveway, start the engine and then hold the horn button down till the horn fuse blows. I'll bet you can go for 20 minutes or more without any issues.

The thing is that any manufacturers can have problems they don't catch till several units are already in service. At least VOA is stepping up to the plate on this one. The reality is that the possibility of blowing the horn fuse is extremely remote in the first place, however VOA is 100% committed to fixing their flaky engineering on this issue because the problem could potentially be catastrophic if the horn fuse blows while driving.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

Double post.................

 

[PaulGiz]

Gee, it sounded like they were helpful, relatively honest and cooperative.

Why was that a bad experience?

Do you mean the recall? You know, stuff happens. This time VW seems to be doing right.

P.

 

[marc77777]

I don't really see a bad experience here. Try something. With your car safe in your driveway, start the engine and then hold the horn button down till the horn fuse blows. I'll bet you can go for 20 minutes or more without any issues.

The thing is that any manufacturers can have problems they don't catch till several units are already in service. At least VOA is stepping up to the plate on this one. The reality is that the possibility of blowing the horn fuse is extremely remote in the first place, however VOA is 100% committed to fixing their flaky engineering on this issue because the problem could potentially be catastrophic if the horn fuse blows while driving.

Out of curiousity, what is catastrophic about blowing the horn fuse? Is there something I should know?

 

[TDI_Timmy]

It shares the fuse with - is it the ECM? Not sure, but if it blows, engine shuts off. No more power brakes or steering and that could lead to a panic situation for some (no accidents have been reported yet) and lead to property damage and/or loss of life or just cause an accident with those same outcomes.

Additional: even though our power steering is electromechanical, when I have turned ignition off while still rolling no more power steering - I am guessing this would work same if fuse blew.

 

[mwayner69]

It wouldn't be very good if you lost control of the car while driving down the road. Especially in a situation where you needed to honk at someone/something.

I called the dealer the day I heard about the recall and they fixed mine on 4/2. The service manager said they didn't have any notification about my car yet, but he contacted VW and they told him to go ahead and do the recall. Took about 4 hours.

 

[marc77777]

It shares the fuse with - is it the ECM? Not sure, but if it blows, engine shuts off. No more power brakes or steering and that could lead to a panic situation for some (no accidents have been reported yet) and lead to property damage and/or loss of life or just cause an accident with those same outcomes.

Additional: even though our power steering is electromechanical, when I have turned ignition off while still rolling no more power steering - I am guessing this would work same if fuse blew.

I would consider this catastrophic.

As far as not being able to honk to warn people, not as much. My horn was deffective since I had the car and was only fixed this week.

 

[mwayner69]

It wouldn't be very good if you lost control of the car while driving down the road. Especially in a situation where you needed to honk at someone/something.

Just to clarify, my point was that if you were in a situation where you were honking at something and maybe needed to do some sort of evasive maneuver, it would be bad if your car died and you didn't have control of it.

 

[GermanDude]

Gee, it sounded like they were helpful, relatively honest and cooperative.

Why was that a bad experience?

Do you mean the recall? You know, stuff happens. This time VW seems to be doing right.

P.

I was talking about my past experiences with this dealership. Yes, you are right, they were very cooperative.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

Out of curiousity, what is catastrophic about blowing the horn fuse? Is there something I should know?

Well ya, on the 2011s, blowing the horn fuse shuts down the ECM (same fuse), then the engine quites running.

The recall puts the ECM and the horn on different fuses.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

Additional: even though our power steering is electromechanical, when I have turned ignition off while still rolling no more power steering - I am guessing this would work same if fuse blew.

Isn't the electric steering great? I have done that as well and the steering stays active pretty much till you come to a stop.

The steering has its own controller that is most likely fused separately from the ECM/horn so most likely, blowing the horn fuse on the 2011s would not shut down the electric assist steering on the 2011s that do have it.

Added. I miss read your post. On my A5, turning off the key while moving does not turn off the steering. It stays active till you pretty much come to a stop. Maybe the newer cars are different.

Also, the lowline Jettas for 2011 have hydraulic steering. Not sure about the TDIs, though.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

Isn't the electric steering great? I have done that as well and the steering stays active pretty much till you come to a stop.

The steering has its own controller that is most likely fused separately from the ECM/horn so most likely, blowing the horn fuse on the 2011s would not shut down the electric assist steering on the 2011s that do have it.

Added. I miss read your post. On my A5, turning off the key while moving does not turn off the steering. It stays active till you pretty much come to a stop. Maybe the newer cars are different.

Also, the lowline Jettas for 2011 have hydraulic steering. Not sure about the TDIs, though.

You are right - the Jetta S/SE/SEL have a good ole hydraulic powersteering pump driven by the serpentine belt. The 2011 Jetta TDI sedan has the electromechanical power steering.

I wonder if it feels like it stays active because you are rolling. Ever driven a car with manual steering? It is really hard to turn when at parking lot speeds (less than 10MPH maybe less than 5) and when stopped it is darn near impossible to turn. When up to speed it still requires some effort but there is a lot less resistance. I have a feeling that is what you are talking about. I don't think the electric steering is still working.

My car has KESSY and it doesn't let me turn off the car when rolling (I think over a certain speed - or something - tried and I failed and haven't tried again. I have stalled getting started from a stop and the steering firms right up. Also, when I hit the start/stop button to turn off car it goes to full off. There isn't a way to get get back to the "ON" position like a keyed ignition car without fully turning off and then hitting the start/stop button once and it's back to "ON".

And yes, the electric steering is nice and I think it has a good feel.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

vw.com says both the Jetta S (2.slow) and TDI have hydraulic power assisted steering. Am I mistaken? It does say the Golf has electromechanical power steering, too. And I thought the GLI was the only model on the new Jetta sedan platform getting electromechanical power steering.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

There are quite a few errors on the VW site. I guess proof reading is out the window.

Well, when looking at the serpentine belt and accessories on my car I see and alternator and the AC compressor.


scroll down and look here - this is the SEL - and is wrong from my understanding-
http://www.vw.com/en/models/jetta/t...el.html#/tab=60d578bca4c0fa839c5cf25422ec8a66

TDI model in standard features:
http://www.vw.com/en/models/jetta/t...di.html#/tab=e510713ce8bc59d26f2553264ab2884d

TDI model in technical data:
http://www.vw.com/en/models/jetta/t...di.html#/tab=0ddd33a9394cb98cd841741969fac4b3

Here is the press kit for the 2011 Jetta sedan - just do a text search in that doc for steering and you'll find it.
http://media.vw.com/wp-content/presskits/jetta_2011/spec_sheet.pdf

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I wonder if it feels like it stays active because you are rolling. Ever driven a car with manual steering? It is really hard to turn when at parking lot speeds (less than 10MPH maybe less than 5) and when stopped it is darn near impossible to turn. When up to speed it still requires some effort but there is a lot less resistance. I have a feeling that is what you are talking about. I don't think the electric steering is still working.

Perhaps that is the case. Maybe it just doesn't feel heavy like a hydraulic system, when the engine quites. I could be mistaken. The one time I tried it, I was moving and the key on compared to the key of feel of the steering felt the same.

There is a PDF somewhere on this site titled "Electro-Mechanical_Power_Steering.pdf" that is training for VW techs. I briefly re-read the copy I have and It did state that backdriving the p/s motor when it has no power requires slightly more force to turn the wheel then when the p/s motor has power.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

While I didn't find the article you mentioned that is on this site, google did find me this - thanks for that info.

http://vw.nate-online.com/techdocs/Electro-Mechanical Power Steering.pdf

On page 27 (actual pages not page number of doc) there is a special feature for towing. The electric assist will work if the car has ignition in "ON" position and going faster than 5mph. Unfortunately it is hard for me to stall over 5mph - but I could try going down a hill and coasting over 5mph. I'll have to try to find a safe place to do this and trick my car into thinking it is being towed.

I also have same warning lights that come on in my instrument cluster, but I think it also is for the electric steering lock with KESSY.

Sorry for getting so OT.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

So VW is providing conflicting data. I don't have a way to look up the '11s yet in ETKA. Which is correct? Hydraulic or electric in the TDI?

 

[TDI_Timmy]

I am going to go with the press kit and it being electric. I will see if I can look at the rack, but it all might be covered up.

And conflicting data - just have a read through of the 2011 Jetta sedan owners manual as well.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

Yup - all covered up. I'll try the tow test at some point.

Also, forgot this has been hashed out before.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=309867

 

[VWdecepticon]

I work for the devil aka VW dealership. We had about 7 or 8 new indoor car that we had to do this same thing to but I thought they were all 2.5 gasoline engines. But from what I gather those two circuits using the same fuse can overheat the wires and cause a fire (absolutely worst case situation) but it will kill the horn and the control module that runs everything if that fuse blows. So any recalls that come out for your vehicle you should just get them performed as soon as possible.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

Sorry to beat a dead horse. Found 2011 Jetta training manual.

Interesting read. TDI has electro-mechanical steering. Also, forgot to add - I have never seen the powersteering fluid reservoir - TDI doesn't have one.

(actual page number 27/28)
http://www.vwwebsource.com/vwtechsource/data_ssp/890303.pdf

 

[astoryatthree]

I also had an issue with the sunroof not wanting to close. For me, it was the pinch protection activating because it wasn't lubed properly. Your dealership should use some silicon lube on the track and it will work great.

 

[GermanDude]

car has been sittin at the dealership since yesterday 8am, got the harness for the recall this morning and they will start working on it in about 3 hours. Poor planning if you ask me. They could have started working on the sunroof or the door seal and they will probably need to order parts for that too, which will mean that my car will be in the shop for a couple days. What happened to thinking ahead or customer oriented?

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I feel your pain. Welcome to Dealership hell. Even with the wait, if by some miracle they actually do the work correctly and don't damage your car in the process, consider your self lucky.....................

 

[GermanDude]

Didnt take them long to install the harness, greased the sunroof track and said that the noise from the driver side door is normal, arguing that every jetta has that little wind noise, if every jetta has it, it doesnt mean it's okay. Will probably take it to another dealership because i read a couple threads about some people who got theirs replaced. The noise is really annoying when driving for a longer time.