2001 VW Jetta Wolfsburg

MARZIPAN13

MEMBER
2001 VOLKSWAGEN

I am trying to figure out what is going on with my car. I've have the following symptoms:

ENGINE:
- Hesitation/jerking
- Stalling when I am slowing down to stop and pressing in the clutch to downshift.
- Check engine light on (code reads P0172 System too Rich Bank 1)
- At cold-start, engine will idle very low and sound like it is about to stall out. When I put into gear and try to go, it will either jerk uncontrollably or engine will make low grumbling sound and vibrates very badly.

Past repairs for these symptoms:
- Pivotal canister valve replaced
- MAF sensor replaced
- Oxygen sensors replaced
- Engine seals replaced

WHEEL:
- Driver's side wheel is making grinding or banging noise when turning.
- Steering wheel off-centered (possibly needs alignment).
- Whenever I hit a bump with this wheel, the check engine light will come on.

Recent repairts:
- New brakes
- Tires rotated
- 2 new tires

DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR:
- Power window malfunctioning (goes up, when pressing to go down, vice versa)
- Buzzer indicator when door opens to alert driver that Key is in ignition or headlights are on, does not work anymore. Also, interior light does not come on when driver's side door open, but does with other doors.
- Deactivating alarm with key remote, I open driver's door and within 30 seconds alarm is reset, and will go off if engine is started. But alarm will not reset if another door is opened.
- Driver's side door locks will sometimes not lock when I use the alarm's keyless remote to activate.
- I had a dead battery a couple months ago, and afterwards both headlights burned out and they were brand new bulbs.

I also would like to note that 2 years ago, I was in an accident. The other driver backed into my drivers side door/tire. The mechanic only did body work, he said there was no damage to the wheel, engine or frame. But ever since, little problems have started to build up on that side of the car. Wheel noises, out of alignment, electrical problems, etc.

3 Replies

MIKEYBDMAN

MECHANIC
623 POSTS

This is my kind of car. :D I would look for a damaged conduit on the side that got hit and repaired. This is probably the source of all your electrical problems.
As for the steering, if it was bad when you got it back from the repair shop, why didnt you have them make it right? If it has gotten gradually worst, then have an alignment done and see what they can find.
The engine code and rich running engine problem may be related, or it may be totally seperate. However, finding the problem with your engine may lead you to the problem with the other items.
With code P0172, I would have your fuel pressure and residual pressure checked. Check your fuel injectors. Sounds like you have delt with most of the other items that could cause this.
Good luck, and let us know what fixes all of the problems.

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Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 AT 5:08 PM

MARZIPAN13

MEMBER
4 POSTS

This is my kind of car. :D I would look for a damaged conduit on the side that got hit and repaired. This is probably the source of all your electrical problems.
As for the steering, if it was bad when you got it back from the repair shop, why didnt you have them make it right? If it has gotten gradually worst, then have an alignment done and see what they can find.
The engine code and rich running engine problem may be related, or it may be totally seperate. However, finding the problem with your engine may lead you to the problem with the other items.
With code P0172, I would have your fuel pressure and residual pressure checked. Check your fuel injectors. Sounds like you have delt with most of the other items that could cause this.
Good luck, and let us know what fixes all of the problems.[/Quote:437ab67d6d]

I had to have the drivers side tie rod assembly replaced and the wheel noise is gone.
I took it in yesterday to a different VW dealership to have 80k service done and also asked them to diagnose the engine/driver side door problem. They just called me and the technician asked me if I had had my car chipped. I have no idea what that means, so I did a little research online, and I'm still a little unsure about it. Would a VW Jetta be chipped to increase the turbo or something like that? Also, would something like that cause other problems to my engine? And wouldn't the dealership I bought the car from know about this since they were doing a lot of service on the car for the first 2 years after I bought it? Was it the previous owner or the dealership who did this to my car? I am not sure what to do about this.

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Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 AT 10:22 AM

MARZIPAN13

MEMBER
4 POSTS

This is my kind of car. :D I would look for a damaged conduit on the side that got hit and repaired. This is probably the source of all your electrical problems.
As for the steering, if it was bad when you got it back from the repair shop, why didnt you have them make it right? If it has gotten gradually worst, then have an alignment done and see what they can find.
The engine code and rich running engine problem may be related, or it may be totally seperate. However, finding the problem with your engine may lead you to the problem with the other items.
With code P0172, I would have your fuel pressure and residual pressure checked. Check your fuel injectors. Sounds like you have delt with most of the other items that could cause this.
Good luck, and let us know what fixes all of the problems.[/Quote:8f8f44e197]

I took my car into VW for 82k mile service and had them do some diagnosis on the problems.
This is their diagnosis:
- fuel, pollen, air filters need to be replaced
- fuel injectors cleaned
- a slide on the clutch is breaking, needs to be replaced
- door latch needs to be replaced
- throttle cleaning
- MAF sensor replaced (AGAIN!)
- CAT convertor replaced.

Does this sound like this will resolve the problems?

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Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 AT 12:15 PM