2003 Volkswagen Jetta: engine stalls while driving

Filed Feb 7, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · CA

My jetta stalls without warning when the gas gauge is at a quarter of a tank or less. No engine check light or any other any other device comes on to warn me it is going to stall. My speed does not matter. It happens at freeway speeds or around town. It does not occur if the gas gauge shows more than 1/4 of a tank of fuel. I do not know if it is an electrical problem, a fuel propulsion problem or an engine problem. From reading volkswagon forums, this is a very common problem with volkswagons of different years, including the new Tiguans. I'm sure there have been many fatalities as a result of this defect. I am surprised volkswagon has not been forced to repair this dangerous, life threatening problem before now! Maybe, a class action law suit involving products liability, merchantability, and fitness for a particular use would benefit not only owners, but the general public at large. I believe it is your duty to protect the general public from manufactures who place dangerous, defective products in the stream of commerce. Your action is required, and demanded. The first time ocurred right after I purchased the car in 2019. It has stalled many times since then, before I realized I needed to keep the fuel tank at least 1/2 full at all times. Keeping it 1/2 full at all times greatly deminishes the range of travel before I have to refill. It is inconvenient and expensive since fuel has to be purchased at places other the most economical place I usually purchase my gasoline. Thank you

Filed Dec 17, 2018 · Fuel system · 166,000 miles · PA

The car stalls while driving at any speed or while idling when the fuel gauge is around or under 1/4 of a tank. I have read up on this and people are dumping a lot of money onto trying to figure out what the issue is and there is no answer. Stalling on a highway without a median or pull-off is not only inconvenient but dangerous.

Filed Sep 11, 2015 · Electrical · 86,000 miles · FL

The fuse box in these older jettas melts because it is on top of the battery, which can cause the car to shut off while driving. Its very dangerous.

Filed Aug 7, 2014 · Engine, Fuel system · 90,000 miles · CA

Car stalls at highway speeds when at quarter tank or less. Parts replaced, still occurs. There is no known fix for this problem, it always comes back, and is most likely a manufacturers defect with the fuel pump system that is being ignored by vw of america. This is happening to hundreds and most likely thousands of volkswagen jetta, golf, beetle and gti owners. We have been connecting the dots through online vw forums and are frustrated! There have been accidents reported due to sudden power loss and therefore deceleration due to this issue. Just this morning my jetta stalled in front of a semi truck doing 65mph on the highway. This is a very dangerous problem, it's happening to a lot of owners of vw's manufactured between 1999 and 2005, and it needs your attention before someone gets seriously injured. Thank you.

Filed Jul 17, 2014 · Airbags · 130,000 miles · PA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 vw jetta. The contact stated that while driving over a pothole, the vehicle emitted smoke and stalled. The air bags also inadvertently deployed and there was smoke inside and outside of the vehicle. The failure could not be determined. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was declared destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. Updated 11/12/14*lj updated 7/27/2015

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 Jul 8, 2010 · Electrical · 111,000 miles · TN

As we were driving home, all the lights on the dash started blinking. The accelerator pedal stopped working in the middle of a busy intersection. The car engine continued running, but it just stalled in the middle of traffic and could not accelerate to get out of traffic. So we coasted the car for about 1.5 miles to a family members house. When we arrived, we turned off the car and tried to restart it, it would not start. After opening the hood we noticed that the fuse box/harness that sits on the battery was very hot. We opened it and saw the far left black wire/cable was burnt up and melting the plastic in the harness. The black wire was extremely hot. I had this problem before, it was 3 years ago, but I did not know where to look. I spent over $500 fixing what seems to me the same problem as before. On the dealership receipt it said "found generator harness at battery fuse box melted causing high resistance in voltage circuit.....replaced fuse box and generator cable". On that occurrence it was so bad the burns had ruined my battery causing it to leak. I called vw manufacturing, but they were not very helpful and just told me to call my local dealer for assistance. They said it was not a safety issue, even if there was a fire hazard. My car is currently being looked, looking for an underlying cause for this...if it is the cable or something else in the engine. The connection was reset but the wire/cable continued to get excessively hot.

Filed Apr 3, 2010 · Engine · 61,000 miles · ID

We purchased an 03 vw jetta wagon approx. 2.5 years ago. We changed the oil at the dealer every 5000 miles. We missed one oil changed and the engine stalled on the road. It was towed to a vw mechanic. We were told it a had total engine failure do to sludge-which they said was lack of maintenance. We paid 16,000 for the car, it had 40,000 miles on it, we put 20,000 miles on it. We contacted a lawyer and we were told there isn't anything we can do-it was sold as is. We contacted vw america and they told us jettas' don't have the sludge problem, it's the passat with the 1.8t engine that has the problem. My research shows it's the 1.8t engine that is the problem regardless of the car it's in. We have no recourse. The car now sits in our drive way with new tires and a broken engine. A new motor plus installation would cost more than the car is worth. Once again the working people get screwed.

Filed Mar 8, 2010 · Engine · 25,000 miles · GA

When I start my car, the engine idles inconsistently and the car shakes or stutters. If I begin driving normally one of two things will happen, either the engine will stall (happening more frequently lately) or the car will continue to have idling problems until it warms up. In the second case, the car will drive normally for about 15 minutes until I come to the first hill. If the car down shifts while going down a hill at lower speeds, the asr light will come on and from this point on the car has a difficult time shifting gears. The shifting is abrupt and the engine does not sound normal. If I stop, turn the engine off and turn it back on the car appears to function normally. To avoid the above problem, I do the following when first starting my car. I start the car, turn on the headlights and rev my engine to about 3000 RPM's. I hold this RPM for about 30-60 seconds and then I notice that the headlights flicker once and become stronger and the engine will then rev up another 500 RPM's on its own. At this point I usually do not experience the asr problem with the car. Problem first started in 2007 and persisted until 2010 when it was finally repaired.

Filed May 22, 2009 · Engine · 62,000 miles · GA

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. The contact stated that his vehicle stalls intermittently and the dealer cannot diagnose the cause of the failure. He has paid over $500 in repairs. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 62,000.

Filed Oct 30, 2008 · Electrical · 62,000 miles · WA

2003 vw jetta gls wagon with 62k miles, abruptly shut down while driving. After towing to local mechanic, it was determined the main fuse holder had shorted out and begun to melt, risking an engine fire. Part was replaced and problem repaired for $237.

Filed Aug 26, 2008 · Engine · 88,000 miles · AZ

My 2003 vw wolfsburg edition jetta continues to lose power. While I am driving the car will almost stall the power catches and powers back up prior to stalling. The lights interior and exterior go out, the radio turns off, the clock loses power, the engine loses enough power to not accelerate, but still does not stall. The power lose last for a few seconds. The interior lights also flicker. This happens several times every day. So far I have replaced the coolant fans and censor (1st diagnostic from vw dealership), replaced the 2nd coil (2nd diagnostic from vw dealership) replaced the ignition switch (lesueur car co), & replaced the control module (3rd diagnostic lesueur car co) when I picked up my car from lesueur car co I didn't get a mile away when the car lose power again. I bought this 2003 vw jetta from cardinale way of scottsdale last sept. (2007) I asked for a bumper to bumper extended warranty at the time of purchase. My car started losing power and when I took it to a mechanic I found out my warranty is not what I asked for. It's just a power/tran warranty which doesn't cover anything! I have spent almost $1300 in the last 2 months trying to fix the power lose problem and no one can figure out exactly what is wrong with my car?!?! Everytime it gives a diagnostic error, we fix the error, and the car still continues to lose power! It has been in the shop at least 6 times, twice at a vw certified dealership and the 4 or 5 times at lesueur car co which is the largest non-certified dealership in az. I have contacted cardinale way and they are unwilling to help me with this matter. I do not know what to do??? I have 3 more years to pay on a car that no one can fix!! And I can't afford to keep fixing things that aren't the problem either! If there is anything you can do to help it will be very appreciated. Thanks