Any Volkswagen experts in the house?

[Don Holg]

I’m looking at TSBs for a friends Volkswagen Beetle and this one looks related to his problem:

Service Bulletin No.: TB-01-12-04
Component(s): ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING NHTSA ID Number: 10043602

SUMMARY:
VOLKSWAGEN: GASOLINE ENGINES HAVE ROUGH IDLE, HAVE SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF POWER OR STALLING WITH REDUCED PERFORMANCE. *PE

Anyone have any idea what the cause of the rough idle is and what the suggested repair would have been? I’m just wondering if his problem is one they maybe should have caught.

Thanks!

Topic

[college man]

see if this helps. What does the tsb say cures the problem?

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues

[EricTheCarGuy]

If you could post the year and model that would be helpful. With that information I might be able to look up common problems for that vehicle. Otherwise, check the basics as pointed out in the article College man posted.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Stephen Bowen]

One thing I HATE with a passion. Looking for information—finding someone has it… And it defaults over to a pay site.

That being said. I do a lot of work our own VW beetle, 2001. Engine is a 2.0 with a code of AVH.

What are the symptoms? Can you have the onboard computer scanned? (is the CEL on?) Need to know more before we can help. Sadly even the nhsta (probably got that spelled wrong, but who cares) wanted “fees to research”. That being said? Need a lot more to work with.

Please let us know exactly what the specs are..and what the car is doing/not doing right. We have a lot of resources here!

S-

[Bill]

I went through the same B.S. while searching for an answer for you. As near as I can find out there was a recall on Coils (COP) for several VW models. If they fail and cause a misfire the catalytic converter can overheat and cause a fire risk.

I have replaced several of those coils myself. The updated ones are better but still fail on a regular basis.

Phone the dealer with the vin# in hand and ask them.

[Lorrin Barth]

It’s NHTSA or http://www.nhtsa.gov

A few years back I ordered all the TSBs for my car from them. There was a minimal charge that I don’t remember ever being billed for. Noticing there’s more TSBs now for my car I went to the NHTSA site and couldn’t even find where to order. Maybe the Obama Care programmers are maintaining the site.

[Stephen Bowen]

Naaa, most likely it’s a division of the IRS and their mystery of the vanishing emails….

In all honestly this information the dealership should be able to provide at no cost or charge.

As Eric knows from my other posts, I do work on other groups and can normally find some of these little gems of information. (and pass it along at no charge LOL)

VW’s are very unique cars, and many techs/mechanics run away out of fear. They are actually not to hard to work on. The onboard computer systems seem ‘overdone’ but are, with the correct scan tools (VCDS and VCDS-Lite) one can pretty much figure things out pretty quick.

HOWEVER–they also can be overly complex when it comes to electrical gremlins. That’s where taking your time and using a lot of common sense helps. The amount of different engine styles, even for the 2.0L4? Several different types used–all with the same traits—and others that are maddening. Design defects with the coil packs, both in the 1.8Lturbo and the 2.0 are well documented. (ours had the faulty coil pack. It blew small pin holes out of the towers the wires attach to. Get one damp day? Nothing but P0300 codes all day longgggggggggg.)

So to the OP? Please let us know the details, and we’ll use our combined talents and resources to help.

S-

[Stephen Bowen]

Heard back from one of the guru’s over at the other group. They do not believe it is a true valid TSB. As they haven’t heard of that exact one before–and the blanket application of VW’s it belongs to is a big red flag for them.

**shurg** Gave it a shot.

S-

[Chris]

barnyeb-http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/flatfiles.cfm Looks like there is a Zip file you download and unzip to get the list of TSB’s. I did not download it so YMMV.

Teddy here is a site I found. http://www.carsafetyreference.com/volkswagen-jetta-2003/engine-and-engine-cooling/ The citation is the third one listed.
Seems to be a problem related to cooling or the coil as has been mentioned. I had about the same luck as others searching for this TB. When I own VW’s I call German Auto Salvage on 4th ave in Berkeley Ca. Someone there usually knows whats up.
I also agree with Teddy that the dealer should just tell you what the fix is for that TB if you call and ask.

[Chris]

OK this bugged me so I ran it down. German Auto Salvage was no help and apparently has changed a lot since I Last was in.
The local dealer looked it up for me and it appears the fix is a software update. I think you may have to go into a dealer to have it done. You should ask if there was a recall on this problem before scheduling and paying as the guy I spoke to who was reading the info out loud said recall a couple times.

Good Luck.

[Stephen Bowen]

I’ll not only double that…I’ll triple that statement.

Our little Beetle I know first hand has had recalls from time to time. All cars do! Our local stealership wouldn’t even bother to look up our VIN to see what was done or not—until we twisted the idiots arm by continuing to bother him. As for software updates? He refused to help us beyond saying “NO software updates have ever been offered for your car”. (He was being a putz)

S-

[Author]

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