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Newbie trying to make lemonade

2076 Views 20 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Brett Starr
Hey all! Im new to the beetle owners club, and am looking for some serious help.... I recently acquired a 99 2.0 automatic beetle....wish it was a turbo 5spd but oh well lol... Was going to buy it but when I went to get it we couldn't get it running. Long story short previous owner didn't want to invest a single penny into it so he decided that if I could get it out of his driveway I could have it.... My lucky day! That's the good news, now the bad.... I will try to give as many details as possible.... WARNING, IM LONG WINDED...lol

"Santa" (previous owner) says the car was parked for almost 3 years. The car was parked because it leaked water into the car and Ms. Claus didn't appreciate the humidity in the car? Plus the a/c went out and it developed a coolant leak. The coolant issue was fixed allegedly but the bad rep of the car caused it to be parked. Santa says he drove it a couple times in those three years (when he moved) but mostly it sat unused. When he tried to start it he got nothing, assuming it was a dead battery he put it to charge. I went the next day to try and get it running but basically the car does nothing when the key is turned. Today I played with it for a couple hours to see if I could coax it start with no avail. The battery is good. The head lights come on when the key is turned. The horn works etc etc so I'm pretty sure it's not the battery. I checked all the fuses when I realized the I wasn't hearing the fuel pump when the ignition was switched on, and every single fuse is good. (although quite a few of them had some white corrosion on them, I scraped/sanded them before putting them back in). Then I moved on to the relay panel with the help of google (which led me to this amazing forum btw). Which was almost no help to me since I don't know what to do with relays....lol but on the upside removing the fuel relay and putting it back in kicked the fuel pump on for a couple seconds like when they key is turned... Since I am stumped by this I figured I would see what worked in the car and what didn't to see if someone might have experienced this before. So here's the list.... Windows don't work, radio doesn't work, no lights in the dash when the key is turned, the speedo and gauges do illuminate though. Power locks work as do the trunk release and gas latch release. Emergency Flashers work but the turn signals don't and ac controls are non responding as is the sunroof controls. That's pretty much all I had time to diagnose before the mosquitoes began the dusk attack. At this point I have no idea where to look or what to check so any advice is much appreciated !!! I really need to get this car running ASAP. Sorry for the novel here but I figured the more info you guys had the better the advice can be. Thanks in advance!
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Sound like a very good possibility; the ignition switch or barrel has failed, that way it cannot start the car and the other accessories won't work. This thread should be helpful:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/questions-issues-concerns-problems-new-beetle/87505-issues-starting.html
The car was parked because it leaked water into the car and Ms. Claus didn't appreciate the humidity in the car?
The drains for the sunroof are probably blocked causing the water to come in, easy fix but it has probably stained the headliner.
When I get the sunroof to open I will check the drains. Thanks
Welcome to the great and wonderful ORG! Many fantastic cars, people and answers lurk in this great land. If you haven't done so already, take time to fill in your profile and post a few photos so we can ORGle them!!
When I get the sunroof to open I will check the drains. Thanks
If you pull the plastic switch surround off, there is a hex key in there you can use to manually open the roof. Just pop out the key and put it into the hole... Should be easy to find.

BTW welcome to the org! We are glad to help.

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Billymade, thanks for the advice..I went and got a new ignition switch and success! The car turned on after a couple of tries.... That made me very happy! The engine sounds real good nice and even .... Took for a test drive only to be disappointed by the transmission.

Now to troubleshoot again... Definitely not shifting like it should seemed to be stuck in second gear but I got it past 80mph so I'm guessing that's third?!?... Anyways it seems to be stuck in this limp mode I keep hearing about as I tried to reset the throttle position sensor by holding the accelerator down turning the key etc etc etc..... Now I'm stuck again..... Lol ideas??? Do you agree about limp mode? Anything I can do without a code reader?!? Is this common? also , side note blinkers and wipers, sunroof or ac controls still aren't working at all... Anyone know if this could b a specific symptom of anything?!?!? Again any information or lead will be greatly appreciated and followed up on! Thanks!
If you pull the plastic switch surround off, there is a hex key in there you can use to manually open the roof. Just pop out the key and put it into the hole... Should be easy to find.

BTW welcome to the org! We are glad to help.

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Thanks Matty as soon as this rain passes I will try that!
What kind of scanner do you have; get a vw type scanner from amazon.com; vag405 or the newer vs450, both under $50. That way you can read VW specific codes and we can try to help you figure things out. Valve bodies on the 01M are a known issue for going out but some people, have had luck with a fluid/filter change.

Check these guys out for fluid/filter:

VW Automatic Transmission Fluid - How To Change VW Transmission Fluid
I don't have a scanner yet,I just rented one from autozone and only read some misfire codes ( it started misfiring before I put the scanner on it kept doing that for a while then it went away after some more test drives... . Im hoping it was some fluke maybe dirty gas or something) does anyone recommend any specific code reader?? Can these devices tweak tunes for the ecu??!?! 2 of my brothers have VW's and have been talking about trying to get hp gains from tunes..... Just wondering since I'd like to ideally invest I something multifunctional ..... As far as my bug the "seller" had originally told me the car ran fine and was even willing to give me a 30day warranty which leads me to believe the car really was running fine when he stopped it because otherwise he wouldn't do that.... I was thinking about switching the tranny fluid but I kinda want to hold off to be sure about the electronic aspect before I do that.... Again thanks for all the help!
The above scanners are BASIC VW specific scanners (amazon.com; vag405 or vs450); and then there is VCDS which can do pretty much everything ($250/$350 requires a windows pc to run): Ross-Tech: Home

Post up any and all codes you are getting; we will do our best to help! :)

Coil packs that are failing/physically cracked; are common issues on the 2.0L.
Automatic not shifting correctly..

Considering this car sat for a very long time--I'd pick up a haynes manual for the basic stuff. And also change the fluid and filter in the transmission. (instructions are on this forum, just gotta search) :p

With any car sitting for a long time, the rubbers wear out and dry rot. Any internal seals also 'can' give out and create issues. But the first thing to check is always basic maintenance first! And I would change the fluids in the ol' girl first.

S-
Just ordered a scanner from Amazon , will post more info tomorrow.
Cool, definitely post up those codes when you get the car scanned and we will do our best to help you! :)


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Alright guys got the scanner and was hoping a quick reset would help since I have read that has happened to some but no ran the car and got the same results. Rchecked the tranny codes and the same 8 codes came up. They are as follows....
N88 (00258) shift solenoid 1 (pic. Was tying to upload all the pics but for some reason my iPad will only allow me to do one at a time? Idk... Whatever)
N89 (00260)solenoid valve 2
N90 (00262)solenoid valve 3
N92 (00266)solenoid valve 5
N94 (00270)solenoid valve 7
(00660) kick down switch/ throttle position sensor ------ sporadic
(00293) multi function switch (F125) ----------- sporadic - undefined switch condition
(00297) gearbox speed sensor (G38) --------- static - no signal

If I had to guess i would blame the last code since that makes the most sense in my head but I'm not a vw tech so I hope someone with more knowledge/ experience can help.... Also side note the display doesn't show what gear the car is in when in park it shows "P" but when changed to I any gear it goes to "D" and either stays there or doesn't highlight any gear. Idk if that helps or not.. Anyways hope to hear from u guys. I also have more pics or can take some if anyone has a specific request...lol

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A possibility of why some of your electronics might not work is from the water leaks the car had. Could have corroded some of the wires. I imagine the car has to stink a little, mine had a pretty bad water leak when I got it and I just finally got rid of the smell. Also something you should do asap is a timing belt, water pump, tensioner, and accessory belt to save yourself some hassle of bent valves shortly. Good luck with the car! Mine was a total bomb when I got it and I love it!
A possibility of why some of your electronics might not work is from the water leaks the car had. Could have corroded some of the wires. I imagine the car has to stink a little, mine had a pretty bad water leak when I got it and I just finally got rid of the smell

I hadn't considered the possibilities about corrosion but I think it def is an issue as the car has a lot of rust in places I wouldn't expect and there was a lot of corrosion on the fuses and such..thanks I'll keep that in mind. Do you think maybe ill just need to go replacing switches inside it' needs ie, turning signals or wipers?? And yeah the smell is pretty bad .... Where was your leak? I was in it in a heavy Florida downpour and didn't notice any water coming in... I'm was checking the sunroof mostly though.. Any beetle specific issue you know about?
Here are some code definitions for the 01M and possible solutions to problems:

Audi Workshop Manuals > A3 Mk1 > Power transmission > Automatic gearbox 01M Self-diagnosis > Self diagnosis, V.A.G Inspection Service > Fault table > Fault codes from 00596 to 65535

More transmission info for the 01M; at the end of this thread:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-liter-turbo/85194-putting-back-together-need-some-help-2.html

If you are trying to clean plugs/connectors: I really like this product:

CRC 05101 QD Electronic Cleaner - 4.5 Wt Oz.

https://www.google.com/search?q=CRC...ome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8
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I hadn't considered the possibilities about corrosion but I think it def is an issue as the car has a lot of rust in places I wouldn't expect and there was a lot of corrosion on the fuses and such..thanks I'll keep that in mind. Do you think maybe ill just need to go replacing switches inside it' needs ie, turning signals or wipers?? And yeah the smell is pretty bad .... Where was your leak? I was in it in a heavy Florida downpour and didn't notice any water coming in... I'm was checking the sunroof mostly though.. Any beetle specific issue you know about?
Mine was the sunroof but it was leaking from the front drain tubes which come inside the car and it was going down into the passenger front and rear floor pan area. Created a horrible smell and mess. I don't know to much about Florida weather and its effects on your car but if you have a ton of rust inside your car. Like coating all the metal behind the dash, steering column, little areas Volkswagen didn't spray from the factory. You might have a flood car on your hands. Which sometimes can be okay, you sound like your only have some minor issues which can be resolved pretty easy with some guess and check work of trying different switches in your car and doing some wire tracing, and power testing with a test light or, multimeter. Plus its a free car, even if you do replace some switches and so on. You still will most likely have less then a 1000 dollars in it and you can't buy a car for that anymore.
Quite a few codes with a common area of concern.

Me thinks it might be damage in the wiring harness. Perhaps rodent activity chewing wires. I know they can't get into the transmission itself, but the harness from the computer to the transmission might seem like a tasty treat for our little munchers.

One or two codes in that area I might think the usual valve body issues. All those common codes? The harness really needs to be checked. All it takes would be a broken ground wires--which would be common to the bulk of those codes, or a chewed/damaged harness.

Just my .02cents. Might be the issue, or not?

S-
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