Volkswagen - Cabrio :: 2002 - Sporadic Ignition Shut Down
Jan 31, 2011
2002 VW Cabrio @80K miles no major repairs 1 1/2 years ago the car died while in motion - as if the ignition switch was turned off. While "dead in the water" I tried several things, cleaning battery cables (although horn & lights were strong), letting it cool, & jumper cables to no avail. It was towed to a local garage (who have been pretty good in the past) & the starter was replaced (they were puzzeled too, but that worked!!??). Fine for many months. Then another cutoff while in motion (30-40 mph). This time it started about 15 minutes later on its own. I drove it home & turned it off. When I went to move it into the garage it wouldn't start. After pushing it into the garage once again, cables were checked, the battery charged (again horn & lights were strong, but what the heck), checked all fuses, & looked for anything possibly suspicious. No luck.
In desperation I replaced the starter again (I know, it was probably just superstition at this point) & while at it cleaned every wiring connection I could find under the hood. It worked. The car started and ran fine, but I took it back to the original shop to see if they could find anything else - to avoid mid roadway flame outs! Understandably they were skeptical of finding the problem while it was still working. They ran it, drove, checked it, for several days & it did just fine. When I went to retrieve it wouldn't start!! Now they had it while in cardiac arrest, but before anything was diagnosed it came back to life on its own. It has been running fine for many months more.
It did it again today!! This time the 15 minute wait worked & it is back in our garage and as you can imagine my wife is not crazy about driving it again. Just some side notes: - When dead, all of the electrical system is out EXCEPT the ignition circuit - not even a click from the solinoid. - Previous to these "attacks" my wife has noticed some odd electrical occurences a day or two before, but not enough to disable the car. (dash lights flickering, acceleration stumble on takeoff, the radio going to safe mode when the power was never disconnected) - The only vague possible electrical anomoly is the installation of a Sirius radio receiver under the dash to the cigarette lighter. I haven't clue at this point.
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When I fill my 2002 VW cabrio, the fuel nozzle keeps clicking off. I took it to the service department at the dealership and the service manager told me that there is no vent tube to clean out, no carbon filter and the sensor for the ORVR is at the inside bottom of the tank and the only POSSIBLE solution would be to replace the gas tank. This doesn't feel right given the other discussions on this board. Could the dealership be misleading me?
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My 2002 Volkswagen Cabrio won't start when it is hot, only when it is cold. Several times in the last few months, similar experiences such as the following has occurred. Yesterday, I drove approximately 15 miles, ran into a store for about 10 minutes and went back to the car and it started. Then drove about 10 miles and shopped for groceries for about 45 minutes, returned to car and it started. Drove about 10 more miles and went into a store for about 30 minutes...car wouldn't start. The engine does turn over. As the temperature gauge descends each line, I try to start the car and it will not start again until the gauge is completely at the cold line. My husband has replaced the battery, both temperature sensors, changed the fuel filter, changed the ignition coil and the starter in March.
One other time it gives me problems which is different than the above scenario is I have driven the car just one or two miles and had it off for only two minutes to five or ten minutes and could not start it for an hour or so.
An OBD scanner at an auto parts store gives several code readings, some of which say it is the fuel pump primary circuit, cylinder 1,2,3 & 4 injector circuit low, secondary air injection system relay A control circuit, evaporator emission system purge control valve circuit is shorted and, finally, evaporator emission system leak detection pump control circuit low. I have had readings done before by an OBD scanner and the problem didn't have anything to do with what the scanner said so I don't have much trust in those readings.
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my 02 VW Cabrio has the nasty habit of the cruise control disconnecting at random. A tech supposedly diagnosed a faulty Cruise Control Module. Now the diagnostic is the vacuum pump. He did a throttle body alignment, the steering column switches check out, brake light circuit checks out, vacuum hoses all good, electrical connectors all tight and sealed with goop... so what could the problem be? It seems to work when cold and at lower speeds, but after warming up and doing freeway speeds, it's dead in the water and won't reset...
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I have a 2002 VW Cabrio (convertible) and the back window is beginning to peel away from the canvas roof. We called a mechanic who says the entire roof needs replacing. This seems crazy as the the window just appears to be glued to the canvas.
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My friend is willing to lend me her Cabrio that she had let sit for about a year. I replaced the battery and tried to start it. The alarm went off (we lost the key-remote thingy) and it did not start. The lights all worked but once we tried to turn it over it just went Click-click. The alarm shut off once we disconnected the battery.
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2000 VW cabrio, and the car alarm has been going off and why? It has gone off in empty parking lots, and much to my neighbors annoyance, several times in the middle of the night. Other than unplugging the battery when I get home what can i do about my alarm?
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My 88 VW Cabriolet convertible has been having car problems since I got it, 1st the Clutch went out. Then we had the hoses in the engine fixed and a new Alternator. After that 5th and 3rd gear would pop out of it's gear, and that was fine because I could hold it in gear, but now the car can't move, you can turn on the car but you can't get it to move in any direction, the gears make sounds, as if they are moving but the car doesn't move.
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Brake lights do not work on my 1997 vw cabrio fuse lights and break switch are good.....
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from time to time when applying breaks there is a feeling and noise like I have hit an ice patch - pump breaks twice and all is well - Breaks are 1 year old / break fluid is full ?
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2002 vw Passat GLX 4motion... Car has been driving fine with no issues. Then out of the blue it just won't start back up. Battery is 6 months old. And wouldn't start with a jump. I think it is a completely different issue. The power windows stopped working but other features do work like stereo power seats interior lights...Main problem is no lights on dash whatsoever. But when key turns from accessories position to starting position nothing happens. No clicking, no resistance between positions it is as if the ignition is just missing..?
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I have a 1998 Volkswagen Cabrio GLS 4Cyl2.0L. the wheel that raises and lowers the back of the seat has come out. The small plastic interior part appears to have snapped. Is there a way to order a replacement part and replace this myself?
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My '98 Cabrio recently had the headlights both go out while driving at night on a curvy state highway. I pulled onto a side street and tried to figure out a way to be able to continue my drive home safely with lights. I found that by turning the ignition key to the right and jiggling the key I could get it to temporarily stay in a position to allow my lights to remain on.
In time, that solution was no longer an option and I discovered that by pulling the brights lever (it should be noted that it usually clicks into place) and holding it towards me, the lights would work, albeit on bright mode which tends to irritate fellow motorists. Strangely, the heater fan and wipers would only work while in this new found method of illuminated driving by releasing the brights switch and pulling it a second time towards me (remember, it doesn't lock into place as it should). How to repair this problem? It defies all logic as to why things on this car work or don't work.
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I have a 1997 vw cabrio. I'm having problems with my signal lights. They start blinking super fast or not at all. When they do work if I hit the brake they stop working until I release the brake.
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My 2.0L Jetta had an intermittent misfire, only at idle. I took it in to the shop, and they fixed a vacuum leak and replaced the plugs. The car drove home fine, but the next morning it was misfiring at all speeds. When it got back to the shop, they said that the coil pack was bad. I wonder if they might have done something to cause the pack to fail, since it seemed to be working fine before I took it in. Their explanation was that the coil had become accustomed to sparking at an adjusted (more powerful) setting to account for the vacuum leak, and when it tried to go back to the factory setting, it quit working. Also, all of the stress from running at a higher output wore it out.
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Got a 1996 Volkswagen Cabrio with around 125k miles. Recently the check engine light came on. Had the code pulled (P0133 02 Sensor Circuit Slow Response) and reset but it came back on shortly thereafter. I've also noticed that the car idles strangely, generally after it has warmed up a little bit. Basically it will idle rough and sound as though it might choke out but if you give it a little gas it goes back to a normal, even idle.
Right now it's getting around 20+ MPG average which seems a little low but I only purchased it 3 months ago so I don't have much to compare it against. One other thing I've noticed is that the plastic molding around where the gas nozzle goes in is cracked which makes it difficult to fill it up since it doesn't make a good seal unless you position the gas nozzle just right.
Any thoughts on whether either of these problems might be related to the weird idle? How hard is it to change the front 02 sensor?
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I haven't had a check-engine light yet, but at idle, my 1996 Maxima has a sporadic misfire -- there's no rhythm to it at all. Does this sound like a symptom of a coil going bad? What would be a good way to test them without having to replace all 6 of them? The car has about 175,000 miles on it. I just put in a new set of NGK iridium plugs, and hope I didn't damage any wiring in the process (that doesn't seem likely, but I guess I can't eliminate that possibility).
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2009 Ford Focus. Six months ago got in car returning from 60 mile trip. Turned ignition key heard fuel pump hum but no juice to ignition. (Not anti-theft lockout--security light behaved normally.) Would not take jump. Ford Roadside assistance tried everything else possible. Nothing. Towed to nearest Ford dealer. On arrival, car started immediately. Took to local Ford dealer who found absolutely no problems but ran TSB 10-21-8 reprogram PCM--test OK. Had no further problems with car until a week-and-a-half ago--same thing happened. Car towed to dealer again. Started immediately at dealer! Picked up from dealer, that night same thing happened. Did not phone roadside assistance--after 45 minutes car inexplicably started. That was a week ago. No problems since then. Feeling a little panicky w/car that may fail at any time--winter coming.
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This just started today and when I turned off my car and removed the key from the ignition, the radio stayed on. Also, when I opened the door, the door chime came on as if the lights were still on and now I'm not able to lock the car or set the alarm using my key. I've read that some vw cars are wired so that the radio stays on after the car is turned off, but this has never been the case with my car. My main concern is battery drainage and being unable to lock and arm my alarm.
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I have a 2007 Jetta with 75k miles on it. What I'm running into is that out-of-the blue, the car will not start. Generally, it turns over, but never starts. One time, it started but shut itself off after 3 seconds. Warning lights that flash are the steering wheel indicator and sometimes the traction control and immobilizer lights. I replaced the battery hoping that that would fix it, but it hasn't. Notably, the engine light is usually on when starting and goes off after 3 seconds, but now it doesn't go on at all.
The issue first started a few weeks ago, but I could successfully start it 15 min later. No issues for 2 weeks, until the traction control light came on and stayed on while driving. Nothing for a few days, and then suddenly could not start again (tried over a period of 3 days). Towed to a shop, where it started after two days.
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My daughter drives a 2005 Passat station wagon, has a small child and one on the way. She has had intermittent problems with the car just not wanting to crank. After sitting 15-20 minutes it will crank. But the wait and not knowing if it will crank is taxing me and her. Especially since she has another one on the way. She has taken it to a reputable mechanic. They kept it for 3 days, cranking it on and off without a problem, and told her they couldn't find anything.
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