2004 Volkswagen Jetta

I HAVE A 2001 VW JETTA. WHEN IT GETS HOT OUTSIDE (SOMETIMES) THE VEHICLE LOSES POWER WHILE DRIVING THEN REGAINS IT. ALSO WHEN IT STARTS ACTING UP IF U STOP THE CAR WILL SHUT OFF AND U GAVE TO RESTART IT. I HAVE TOOK THE CARE TO VW THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT. REPLACED SEVERAL PARTS (THROTTLE BODY, DWN FLOW 02 SENSOR, COIL PACK PLUGS, CATALYTIC CONVERTER) STILL DON'T KNOW. THE ONLY THING THE COMPUTER IS SHOWING IS COOLING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. ONE VW DEALER SAID THERE WAS A WIRING PROBLEM THAT SOMETIMES CAUSES SIMILAR PROBLEMS. IF THIS IS THE CASE WHY IS IT NOT A RECALL SINCE THE WIRING IS FROM DEALER. THE INSIDE TEMP ON THE CARE NEVER RUNS HOT OR THE RADIATOR. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. *TR

INTERMITTENTLY ABS LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON - AT TIMES FOR MINUTES, OTHER TIMES HOURS, EVEN DAYS; THEN GOES OFF. AT TIMES IT GOES OFF WITH INTERVENTION AS DESCRIBED BELOW; OTHER TIMES BY ITSELF. AT TIMES THE ABS LIGHT TURNS ON JUST PRIOR TO BRAKING AT LOW SPEEDS/COASTING; OTHER TIMES IMMEDIATELY AFTER BRAKING, SOMETIMES ALONG WITH A NOISE AND BRAKE PEDAL SINKS SLIGHTLY UNDER MY FOOT PRIOR TO BRAKE BEING APPLIED. OTHER TIMES THE LIGHT COMES ON WHILE DRIVING ON THE EXPRESSWAY OR CITY STREETS. SINCE 12/2006 HAVE TAKEN TO DEALER NUMEROUS OCCASIONS AND 2 OTHER REPAIR FACILITIES WITH ABS LIGHT ON, DIAGNOSTICS ALWAYS SHOW CODE 00283, LEFT FRONT SPEED SENSOR MALFUNCTION, AND SENSOR REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES. ABS CONTROL MODULE REPLACED 6/2009 AT SUGGESTION OF DEALER (REQUESTED OLD PART AND IN MY POSSESSION) TO REMEDY PROBLEM, BUT ABS LIGHT HAS COME ON AGAIN TWICE IN 7/2009. *TR

ELECTRONIC FUEL PUMP CRACKS AND LEAKS FUEL ONTO LIVE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS TO FUEL PUMP LOCATED UNDER REAR PASSENGER SEAT. BY TIME YOU SMELL GAS INSIDE OF VEHICLE, GAS HAS PUDDLED ABOUT 1/4" DEEP ON THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS POWERING THE FUEL PUMP. DEALER WARNS NOT TO DRIVE DUE TO RISK OF FIRE OR EXPLOSION. HAPPENED FIRST IN MAY OF 2007 AT 64,000 MILES. VW UNCONCERNED AND DID NOT REMEDY. HAPPENED AGAIN MAY OF 2009 AT 96,000 MILES. VW AGAIN UNCONCERNED. I ASSUME IT MUST BE SAFE TO DRIVE. DOES SOMEBODY HAVE TO DIE FIRST? *TR

REAR LIGHTS GO OUT- TAIL LIGHTS, BRAKE LIGHTS, TURN SIGNALS, ETC... HAVE REPLACED THE BULBS NUMEROUS TIMES. WAS TOLD BY PEOPLE FOLLOWING ME THAT THEY TEND TO FLICKER ON AND OFF AND THEN JUST OFF. ALSO WAS PULLED OVER BY POLICE OFFICER IN SEPT. BOUGHT THIS USED @ VW DEALERSHIP IN JUNE, IT HAD APPROXIMATELY 52,000 AT THAT TIME. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY 2004 VW JETTA DIESEL TDI 5-SPEED HOME FROM WORK. IT HAS 78,000 MILES ON IT. THE MAJORITY OF WHICH ARE HIGHWAY/INTERSTATE MILES DUE TO MY WORK BEING A LONG DISTANCE FROM HOME. I WAS IN 4TH GEAR DOING ABOUT 45 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON AND WAS ALMOST HOME. I HEARD A "BANG" FROM UNDER THE CAR AND LOST POWER. FLUID WAS LEAKING FROM UNDER THE CAR, AND I COULD NO LOGGER SHIFT GEARS. I HAD IT TOWED TO A REPAIR SHOP. THEY ORIGINALLY SAID A PART OF THE CLUTCH HAD BROKEN OFF AND PUNCTURED THE TRANSMISSION CASE. AFTER ADDITIONAL REVIEW THEY DETERMINED IT WAS A PIECE OF THE "DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL" THAT HAD BROKEN OFF AND DONE THE DAMAGE. I WAS FORCED TO PAY APPROXIMATELY $2,500.00 IN PARTS AND LABOR FOR A NEW CLUTCH, FLYWHEEL, REBUILT TRANNY, ETC... TO GET MY CAR REPAIRED. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM MORE I FOUND THAT THIS PROBLEM WITH VW'S DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL IS A PRETTY COMMON PROBLEM. SEE THIS LINK FOR ONE SOURCE... HTTP://FORUMS.TDICLUB.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=137014&HIGHLIGHT=G60+CLUTCH IF THE DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL HAD EXPLODED UPWARD TOWARD THE INTERIOR OF THE CAR RATHER THAN DOWNWARD THERE LIKELY WOULD HAVE BEEN INJURIES TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE A SAFETY CONCERN TO VW. *TR

MY CAR LITERALLY TURNED OFF WHEN I WAS TURNING A CORNER...LUCKILY I WASN'T ON THE FREEWAY. THE BATTERY WAS FINE. IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE LIFT FUEL PUMP FOR MY 2004.5 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI PD BEW. I WAS CHARGED $400 BY A LOCAL VW MECHANIC. THE DEALERSHIP WOULD CHARGE $800. IF I HAD IT DONE IN TDI CLUB, IT WOULD BE AROUND $200. *TR

I HAVE A 2004 JETTA TDI, WHICH I PURCHASED USED IN 2006 WITH 80,000 MILES ON IT. AT 135,000 MILES, I WAS DRIVING IN FEBRUARY, 2008 IN SLUSHY CONDITIONS. I TRIED TO TURN ON MY WINDSHIELD WIPER-WASHER TO CLEAN OFF MY WINDSHIELD, BUT THE WIPERS WOULD NOT FUNCTION. I TOOK THE CAR TO A VW DEALER WHO REPAIRED THE WIPERS, SAYING THERE WAS AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE WIPERS THAT REQUIRED REMOVING "COWL" SO AS TO ACCESS CONNECTIONS THAT NEEDED TO BE TIGHTENED. AT 154,000 MILES, THIS HAPPENED AGAIN; IN BOTH CASES IT HAPPENED DURING COLD WEATHER, AND SPECIFICALLY AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS HAZARDOUS TO DRIVE WITHOUT A FUNCTIONAL WINDSHIELD WASHER-WIPER. IN BOTH CASES, I WAS ABLE TO STOP AT SERVICE STATIONS INTERMITTENTLY AND CLEAN MY WINDSHIELD OFF MANUALLY TO A SUFFICIENT DEGREE UNTIL I REACHED MY DESTINATION. *TR

I HAVE A 2004 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI DIESEL, WHICH HAS THE PD TYPE ENGINE. THIS PD DESIGN HAS A WELL-KNOWN DEFECT; SPECIFICALLY, AN EXTRA LOAD IS PLACED ON THE CAMSHAFT BECAUSE IT DRIVES THE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM, AS OPPOSED TO PREVIOUS VW TDI MODELS IN WHICH AN EXTERNAL ROTARY PUMP DROVE THE FUEL INJECTORS. BECAUSE OF THIS DEFECT, VW INSTITUTED A SPECIAL OIL REQUIREMENT FOR THIS CAR TO SATISFY THE ADDITIONAL LUBRICATION DEMANDS OF THIS DESIGN. INITIALLY THAT OIL SPECIFICATION WAS VW 505.01; MOST RECENTLY IT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO VW 507 OR CASTROL OE PROFESSIONAL 5W/30. I BOUGHT THIS CAR USED WITH 80,000 MILES ON IT IN JULY, 2006, AND HAVE ALWAYS HAD MY OIL CHANGES DONE AT VW DEALERSHIPS: ONE IN MERRILLVILLE, IN AND ONE IN BENSENVILLE, IL. ON ALL BUT ONE OCCASION, BOTH DEALERSHIPS DOCUMENTED THE USE OF VW 505.01 COMPLIANT OIL IN MY CAR. ON THE ONE OCCASION IN WHICH VW 505.01 OIL WAS NOT USED, THE DEALER IN BENSENVILLE, IL PUT A GENERIC OIL IN MY CAR THAT HAD NO IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS, OTHER THAN ITS DRAMATICALLY LOWER PRICE PER QUART. I DID NOT NOTICE THIS AT THE TIME, BECAUSE AT THIS FEBRUARY 23, 2008 SERVICE THE DEALER HAD ALSO POINTED OUT THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE ALL 4 BRAKE ROTORS AND PADS REPLACED, SO I DID NOT HAVE A LOWER SERVICE COST TO ALERT ME; THIS SERVICE COST FAR MORE THAN USUAL AND I DID NOT REALIZE AT THE TIME THAT I COULD TELL EXACTLY WHAT OIL THEY WERE PUTTING IN MY CAR FROM THE PART NUMBER ON MY INVOICE; I THOUGHT THAT PART NUMBER CORRESPONDED TO THE OIL CHANGE SERVICE ITSELF. ON AUGUST 8, 2008, I HAD A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE OF THE SORT THE VW SERVICE MANUAL WARNS ABOUT IF THE WRONG OIL IS USED, "...EVEN IF ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF INCORRECT OIL IS ADDED TO THE CORRECT OIL TO TOP OFF THE LEVEL." I DID NOT HAVE AN ACCIDENT, AND THERE WERE NO OTHER CARS AROUND ME WHEN THE FAILURE OCCURRED, BUT I INCURRED ABOUT $8,000 OF REPAIR COSTS DUE TO DAMAGE TO MY CAMSHAFT, VALVE LIFTERS, TOTAL EGR-INTAKE SYSTEM AND TURBOCHARGER. *TR