2003 Volkswagen Jetta: check engine light

Filed Jun 4, 2018 · Engine · 184,072 miles · KS

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. While driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle overheated and the check engine indicator illuminated. The contact added water to the vehicle. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 184,072.

Filed Sep 10, 2015 · Driver assistance, Engine · 150,489 miles · MI

The jetta is defective in the car will start but needs to be engaged in ignition and the sit for 12-15 minutes before it is able to get in drive gear. Currently it will not engage in reverse gear. The temperature is mild 74-78degrees f and the car needs to be constantly serviced. Upon the incident this jetta was driving and there was a visibility probelm through the windshield . The windshielf was replaced. The engine lights are on the engine was serviced, it was leaking fluids, it was serviced by a reputable service center 9 mile eastpointe a specialist is foreign cars. Then the jetta while driving in a residential area the steering locked up and was stiff , stiffer still and unable to engage the driving rhythm I am an experienced driver and accustomed to pre power steering and this was a mechanical failure in the steering, wheels?? Currently the car is unable to be used as it wont go in gear of reverse, it moves on the consul and there is no motion. The battery and the fluids and the celanoids,belts, everything has been checked and looked over. I had to get a tow to get it serviced in oct. 2014 and will have to get a tow now too for the estimate of why the flat fuse on the battery is not able to give the engine enough power to drive or reverse. The jetta was bought used from another party, and had an accident from that owner, it was sold to me and since then the leaking fluids, check engine light have been serviced. I see 0 recalls. I realize you have over 40,000 consumer complaints but this is a safety concern as I transport human passengers of minor age and have had difficulty several times in just driving down the street to manouver a small car. This jetta is aged and has high mileage but this is a german engine? The precision and tuning I have previously experienced from an automobile is lacking in the components of the engine pieces put into action to driv.

Filed Feb 23, 2014 · Electrical · 175,000 miles · IL

Car had a burning smell coming from the engine. The engine light came on. While on the highway the car stopped moving forward and stalled in traffic, the battery light then came on. I turned the car off and restarted it. In a 30 mile round trip, this happened 3 times. Upon further inspection, the battery mounted fuse block had completely melted and was extremely hot.

Filed Oct 10, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 94,000 miles · NJ

All warning indicators (ABS, cel, airbag, ecp, battery and other instrument dash panel lights) would flicker repetitively until the car lost all power. After inspection of the engine compartment it was found that the alternator cable that attaches to the fuse box located on top of the battery was melting the fuse box and causing power distribution problems. The volkswagen dealer recommended that they both be replaced as the cable could have become high resistance thereby causing excessive heat at the fuse box. I had the alternator cable replaced with an oem part and the fuse box with an aftermarket part. On 10-9-13 with 104k miles while driving to work at 6am in the morning, the exact same symptoms were experienced again. Luckily I was on a side road and was towed to a dealer which said that all oem parts should be used and that this is common as they had just replaced the alternator cable on another jetta of the same generation. I requested the dealer check the entire electrical system including the alternator because the parts that were installed last year should not go bad in 1 year, the dealer said there was no other issue. I am not the only one experiencing a melting fuse box. At the links below are others who have experienced the same thing, even across other vw models. There seems to be a serious problem of melting of fuse boxes which can occur at any time the vehicle is in operation. (with pictures) http://forums.fourtitude.com/showthread.php?4562591 http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4682918-why-s-my-fuse-box-melting http://newbeetle.org/forums/questions-issues-concerns-problems-new-beetle/28982-battery-fuse-box-melting-04-new-beetle.html http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4705261-battery-light-flickering-on-acceleration http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4829541-burnt-black-cable-fuse-box-on-top-of-battery.

Filed Jun 22, 2007 · Electrical · 69,000 miles · NH

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. While driving 30 MPH, the check engine light illuminated. The mechanic stated that the ignition coil was defective. As of june 22, 2007, the vehicle has not been repaired. The VIN and engine size were unavailable. The current mileage is 76,000 and failure mileage was 69,000.

Filed May 10, 2007 · Electrical · 43,000 miles · NJ

Ignition coils on 2003 volkswagen jetta 1.8t continue d to fail every 3-4 months. I have gone through 6 coils in less than one year. Numerous times a coil failed while on a major highway, especially while attempting to merge into traffic flow. I could recall twice where I came very close to being rear ended because of this sudden loss of power. The engine light would briefly flash letting me know that the car was having a misfire. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for this and plenty of other problems in the past. The service manager suggested that I do a tune-up on the vehicle only 5,000 miles after one was performed. He could not pinpoint' the problem or duplicate it either. Apparently, volkswagen was aware of the problem, but had not taken action to my knowledge. This was something very serious that should be more of a priority to volkswagen considering I have found plenty of articles on this particular problem.

Filed Aug 5, 2006 · Electrical, Engine · 74,000 miles · TX

Bought a volkswagen jetta gls in 2003. Several things have had to be replaced. For example the glove box cover, wheel bearing. My mechanic told me that on most newer vehicles that wheel bearings do not require maintenance. My car has 74,000 miles. Last week I was driving and my malfunction indicator light started flashing and the car if going over 30 MPH cut out. There was a rotten egg smell. It immediately went to the dealership and they said the catalytic converter and 2 coils were faulty. They replaced the catalytic converter and ignition coils for cylinders 1&3 and cleared fault codes. The catalytic converter was replaced under warranty. But said volkswagen feels the ignition coils are a regular maintenance issue. I have done some research and am finding that volkswagen has numerous complaints on the coils. In my research I found that vw had a customer satisfaction letter that was sent out to vw owners to bring car into dealership to replace the coils. Vw representative in michigan told me that they stopped doing that in 2005. I believe that I should have not had to pay to replace the ignition coils. Vw knows that they have had numerous problems with this. I love my vw but I have had problems this car that I have never had in any other vehicle. I trade vehicles every 3-4 years but will not purchase another volkswagen. Not because I have had so many things go wrong because the strange problems I have had with the car and volkswagen doesn't take care of their drivers.

Filed May 31, 2006 · Engine · 45,000 miles · TX

Check engine light during work out of state. Diagnosis at a service station indicated both electrical cooling fans had failed. I replaced them with aftermarket fans in order to drive the car home and immediately took to the dealer. Dealer replaced both fans and found the cooling temp sensor had been shorting out. I was charged over 900.00 for the fans and told they were not covered since I had put aftermarket fans on the car. I offered to give the dealer the stock fans so they could verify they were not working but they refused. Given I did not cause the oem parts to fail and made no modifications to the car or it's wiring with the temporary fans I feel this should be covered. Also, a search of online vw user groups indicates the problem is very common, (hundreds of identical reports on one site). I was also charged for the oem cooling parts which had failed such as temp sensor, temp switch and fan control module. For the record, I called vw and requested a tow to service and was told I would have to drive the car in.

Filed Apr 19, 2006 · Electrical · 45,900 miles · UT

As I was pulling out of a grocery store parking lot, my 2003 jetta gli vr6 began to sputter and lose power. Engine light came on and would stay lit or start blinking as I tried to drive home. I contacted vw roadside assistance along with my vw dealership (strong vw, slc ut), and they informed me that I must bring it in. Seeing that I was barely going to make it home I contacted roadside assistance which was provided with my jetta and they informed me that they could tow it to the nearest vw dealership (not where I originally purchased or had my car serviced) to have it looked at. Needless to say it was actually closer for me to drop off the jetta at the nearest dealership rather than take it home, so I did that. I found out the following morning that the ignition coils were bad and needed to be replaced. That was done under warranty and apparently everything was fine. Three days later, each and every time I started my jetta a noxious smell would fill the cabin. I reported this to my original dealership and had it in for service to fix the problem. After 5 days of trying to determine what the problem was they informed that since they couldn't duplicate the problem that there was nothing they could do. Ironically it hasn't happened since. My major complaint is that in the year and a half that I have owned my jetta, I have had it in for non-traditional or non-scheduled service more than 3 times. My major fear is that when the warranty runs out what will happen next. I have been a loyal vw customer for 20+ years and haven't had this many problems with my previous 4 vw vehicles combined. Sadly enough, I possibly may never buy or lease a vw again!

Filed Jan 25, 2006 · Electrical · 41,000 miles · NC

Dt*: the contact stated the engine light illuminated four times. Each time the vehicle was taken to the local dealership for inspection and repair. The dealership repair department replaced the glow plug, the relay to the glow plug and the thermostat, however this did not remedy the problem.

Filed Jan 20, 2006 · Electrical, Engine · 59,400 miles · OH

Numerous times that the engine light has come on my 2003 jetta. First visit was 9/12/02. The others were: 2/21/03, 6/13/03, 10/21/04, 1/6/05, 12/14/05, 12/21/05, 1/9/06, 1/13/06. It is currently on and is waiting for a cat. Converter. They charged me to hook up to computer, replaced all coils & spark plugs and the light is still on.

Filed Dec 15, 2004 · Engine · 18,048 miles · VA

The check engine light stayed on while the car was in motion. When the car was idling, the check engine light blinked. I was able to drive it to fairfax volkswagen in fairfax, va to have the car checked out. Apparently there was a recall on the ignition coils, which had been out for over a year. I had no idea about the recall -- even after I took the jetta to stohlman vw for service on my audio speakers in the fall of 2004. They never told me about the recall and it should have been repaired at that time. Fairfax vw told me that checking for recalls is their first priority, and that is how the recall was brought to my attention. I am very displeased with stohlman, and the service, or lack thereof, I received.