P.O.S. 2001 Jetta
My girlfriend drives a 2001 Jetta. She bought it 2 years ago after a drunk driver totaled her other car. At the time, we thought (I helped her shop for it…now I’m starting to feel bad) it was a good deal, and aside from a few cosmetic things, the car seemed to be in great condition. Today she told me that her check engine light was on.
That was the icing on the cake so I took it to autozone to get checked out. In addition to the check engine light, she has been having problems with her rear break and turn signal lights. They keep going out!!! First question: is there a place (the owner’s manual has disappeared) I can look online to get legit answers as to what bulbs to put in to replace the burnt ones? There are 5 sockets on each side of the car, and every time I go in to autozone, they always tell me 7506LL…I swear those aren’t the right bulbs but I don’t know. Anyways, the break lights are working again, but the turn signals still either don’t work at all, flicker randomly, or crap out after a few blinks. Any ideas to what could be behind that?
Back to the check engine light. The OBDII said the error was P0171 – fuel mixture too lean/rich in port one. Last year I had the same problem on my own car (exact same code too on my 99 Saturn SL2) and I replaced the o2 sensor and the problem went away. But! from what I’ve read on various websites, it is more likely that the MAF sensor is dirty or faulty, and I should start by cleaning that. The car shows no symptoms of any kind; it seems to run just fine. Sound like a good plan to start with the MAF?
Oh, and another thing!!! The temperature gauge works about 15% of the time. Most of the time it rests at “”cool”" and doesn’t seem to register any kind of temperature reading. Could someone link me to a forum or website with information, or give me some advice on that? I seem to remember reading something about it being really easy to replace, but I have no idea where it is….any tips on that as well? Thanks in advance, this website has already been extremely informative.
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297 Said,
August 7, 2007 @ 6:53 am
- Is this the 2.0L or the turbocharged 1.8T or the VR6?
For any of these models, your first problem with the signal lights sounds like the brake light switch. This is under warranty and can be replaced free of charge at the dealership. If you would rather avoid the dealership, the part is less then $20 and takes around 15 minutes to remove the old part and install the new one.. actually maybe only 5 minutes now since the newest version has a simpler locking mechanism.
Your check engine light does sound like a dirty or faulty MAF. Try cleaning it. Place the entire MAF housing (remove the hose clamp and two screws) in a ziploc with 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol. Gently tip the bag so the alcohol runs through the interior of the housing. Don’t shake. Let the housing air dry then reinstall.
If your temperature gauge isn’t working it may just be that the sensor is faulty, which means replacing it.
For any of these DIY sort of jobs your best resource is the forum at vwvortex.com.
Any of their help and what I wrote above, being DIY, are done at your own risk. I can certainly say that all of this is not difficult, but that’s relative. Some folks don’t even like the idea of touching the dipstick.
Good luck.