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Right. So I just bought a ’96 Jetta 2.0L with a 5-speed. It has 158K miles, and I picked it up for 500 bucks. It’s just got a few little issues:
The main one: Reverse doesn’t work. Or it barely does. I can make it work if I fiddle with it and am super gentle on the clutch, but otherwise it’s useless. I can engage reverse, and the car will start to move, but the car only moves a few inches before the shifter tries to jump out of gear and I get a grinding noise. All forward gears work fine. Browsing some other VW forums (and a google search or two) has revealed this isn’t an uncommon problem. I haven’t done much into diagnosis, meant to check the shift linkage but ended up busy with issues 2+3.
Issue 2: Oil light on the dash is blinking. Guy who sold me the car said it just needed an oil change (he couldn’t remember exactly when the last one had been done). Just did oil change a few hours ago, still have flashing light. Not sure if it might just take a while to reset itself or if its a sign of a bigger issue.
Issue 3: Alignment is terrible. Tried to adjust tie rods myself to fix the front toe but they’re too rusty. Is this something I should just have the local tire shop do or is it worth trying again myself?
Finally, the check engine light is on, and it’s OBD1 so I can’t just hop up to Autozone and have them read the code. The guy at Autozone said there was a way to get codes off without a reader, but they were busy and he basically told me to google it. To which I got no results.
So anyways, little things. Nothing that renders the car undriveable (and I get extra exercise from pushing it out of my driveway every morning), but things I want to fix before I start putting any real money into it.
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Issue 1: Try the linkage first but might require a repair or replace on the transmission.
Issue 2: There are two Oil Pressure sensors and the oil pump each might cause the problem. Replace the sensors first. Also make sure you are using the proper oil viscosity.
Issur 3: Soak the tie rod ends with penetrating oil over several days the get the pipe wrenches out.
Issue 4: The 96 is OBD2 and can be scanned at the autoparts store. Not sure why they said no. Port is near the ash tray behind a plastic door.You have too many issues but address the oil light first, then the Codes. The other items are convenience, tire wear and pushing.
Right. Update. Cleaned the oil pressure sensors with some carb cleaner, still getting a light when moving though. Gotta wait on new parts until payday this week, gonna replace the higher pressure sensor near the oil filter, and cross my fingers.
Been hitting the tie rod with PB every afternoon after I come home from work and trying to wrench on it, still no progress to report there. Tried putting snow tires on from a buddy’s old VW Fox only to discover that 13″ wheels don’t fit over my calipers. Derp.
And finally, the car was built 12/95, attached is a picture of the port (excuse my idiocy, I don’t touch the computer parts of cars normally.) Is that OBD1 or 2?
Sigh. More time and money. Ain’t cars great?
Well to me it sounds like you need a new engine and trans. Perhaps thats the reason for the $500 price tag. The trans problem sounds internal. A flashing oil light often means a loss of oil pressure. A loss of oil pressure often means that the internals are worn.
Right, so I finally got paid and put a little time and effort into this today. Drove the car a good 30 miles round trip. Once the car warms up to operating temp, the light stops blinking at low RPMs. It starts blinking again at ~2K, though, so I’m really not sure. Picked up a new oil pressure sensor, Autozone only had one in stock, so I’ll mess around and see if it works.
Also had them pull the check engine codes, got a p0301, p0302, p0303 for misfires, a p341 for the cam position sensor, a p0422 for the catalytic converter, and a p501 for the speed sensor. Will be doing further digging into fixing those later, I just got home and I need a break from this thing for awhile.
I’ll deal with reverse later, it doesn’t affect most of my driving, for right now I just wanna get the lights off of my dash.
I really think you should check the mechanical function of the engine before you spend any more money. Keep us posted.
I just finished my mk3 issues. The person before you had to of taken out the dash and removed the warning beeper for the low oil pressure. I wanted to shoot myself in the face while I was driving. Your oil pickup is most likely clogged or your high oil pressure sensor is bad. High as in high rpm. Also, never drive the car short distances in the cold… The oil doesn’t get hot enough to burn off condensation. It clogs the pcv and gives the oil a nice white milky color. My thermostat was stuck open and this was a huge problem. Honestly, sell the car. I know you just got it, but my dad put 2 grand on mine… I bought a 86 Toyota Camry to replace it. Problem free, other than one minor issue. Just sell it, save yourself the money and frustration. You will be thankful you did. I got rid of mine due to the floor panels being nothing but rust… I would check yours if I were you. Also check the wheel strut area in the front… expect to see a huge rust hole. Oh, but if it has the original axles, they might be worth more than the car… if you live in the Va. Area, I could sell you my mk3 lol
[quote=”dunca123″ post=45604]I just finished my mk3 issues. The person before you had to of taken out the dash and removed the warning beeper for the low oil pressure. I wanted to shoot myself in the face while I was driving. Your oil pickup is most likely clogged or your high oil pressure sensor is bad. High as in high rpm. Also, never drive the car short distances in the cold… The oil doesn’t get hot enough to burn off condensation. It clogs the pcv and gives the oil a nice white milky color. My thermostat was stuck open and this was a huge problem. Honestly, sell the car. I know you just got it, but my dad put 2 grand on mine… I bought a 86 Toyota Camry to replace it. Problem free, other than one minor issue. Just sell it, save yourself the money and frustration. You will be thankful you did. I got rid of mine due to the floor panels being nothing but rust… I would check yours if I were you. Also check the wheel strut area in the front… expect to see a huge rust hole. Oh, but if it has the original axles, they might be worth more than the car… if you live in the Va. Area, I could sell you my mk3 lol[/quote]
Well… crap. I live in Oregon, less than 2 miles from work. Also it’s January, in case anybody missed it… Yeah. Short drives in the cold is all this car gets. I loaned my old daily driver to a friend when I got this, because sue me, I like driving stick better. I’ll have to wait for a warm day and pull the valve cover off, see how sludgy it is. Figure that might give me a clue as to how deep this oil pressure issue goes, and give me a chance to look at the internals. Might do another oil change and drop the oil pan while I’ve got the car up, see what’s going on up in there.
I mean, it runs fine, there’s no hesitation, no strange noises, I checked the body, the only rust I can find is on the very end of the hood, I’d have to pull back the carpet and see if there’s anything under there worth reporting (I know mk3s have a history of being rust monsters hiding in plain sight, but this one was pretty straight from a structural sense).
Besides, I kinda feel challenged by this thing; can’t let it beat me, we’ve barely gotten started! 😛
Anyways, I’ll update again once I’ve opened it up on my next day off, snap a few pics and let the experts judge what comes out.
Okay, just got done putting a new oil pump in. No. Damn. Change. I got about 30 seconds of awesome, before the light came back on.
The longer I drive the car, the higher the RPMs can go before the light comes on. I’m out of money, out of patience, and running out of options. At this point I’m tempted to just drive it into the ground.
I’ve got 5w-30 in there right now, would going to a higher weight oil help anything or am I just gonna waste more money on ANOTHER damn oil change?
I was ready to put this issue to rest and move on, but it seems this car is determined to piss me off. The only reason I’m not abandoning this is because despite the issues, it’s still better than my other car. Selling it for something else isn’t an option either; I’m not gonna get enough out of it to cover another vehicle.
I did. I realize that oil pumps on their own don’t create pressure, but it’s also hard to make pressure without moving a sufficient volume.
Was it a shot in the dark? Totally. Would have been awesome had it worked, but it didn’t, and now I’ve got the metaphorical egg on my face to prove it. I’ve decided to just keep driving the car, and save up while I do. A new engine is between 200 and 500 dollars depending on mileage, and that’s cheaper than I really expected. So if/when this thing craps out and puts a rod through the crank case, I’ll drop a new motor in it, if only because the body is in damn good shape and I do like the car despite its faults.
Hell, might just do a VR6 swap.
Right, so I’m here to swallow my pride and pay the piper, as it were. Replaced the sensors I got from autozone with OEM German ones (at the suggestion of another mk3 owner), and the light hasn’t come on in three days. Face, meet desk.
I also was forced to put new spark plugs in it, as the #4 plug snapped off as I was trying to get it out to check the gaps. And ultimately the old plugs were gapped about twice as wide as they should be, so hopefully this clears up my missfires. Not sure what to do about that speed sensor code, the speedo works fine on this car, or at least its accurate to the point where there isn’t a huge discrepancy between me and other drivers on the highway.
But damn that oil crap made me feel stupid.
I mentioned it could have been the high oil pressure sensor. High as in high. RPM… Well, glad your oil light disappeared. Thanks for the update.
Yes thanks for the updates. In the future as you have learned it’s better to test before you start replacing parts. It can save you a lot of money and frustration down the road. An oil pressure gauge is less than an oil pump and you can use it again and again.
Thanks again for the updates and for using the ETCG forum.
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