Old Library

The GTI died again yesterday.  Symptoms again were that the starter
didn't turn over and when I tried a second time the alarm went off and
the windows went down.

Funny thing is that I put it on a 6 amp charger and it indicated full
charge in about 20 minutes.  That (and the db level of the horn)
dosen't indicate a flat battery.

When I started it this morning, it started fine and then died backing
out of the driveway.  When attempting to restart, it again became
posessed with lights and alarm.  A jumpstart got it going.  We drove
it 15 miles to the dealer.  The only good point was that it set off the
alarm for the service manager too.

Of course, I am now out of warranty (28k miles), so this will be a
hassle to convince VW that this is their ongoing problem since new.

What the heck is going on???  There is something in the system causing
a MAJOR short, but it appears to be intermittent.  I worry that this
is what is causing our cars to burn.

I plan to convert to the european headlamp switch as soon as this
stabilizes. The last time this happened, the headlamps put too much
drain on the system and kept us from limping to safety.  We needed the
help of a passing motorist and a 30 mile tow. I believe without the
DRLs we would be able to go guite a bit of distance with everything
turned off.
  ______________________________________________________________________
    
    Jay Nemeth-Johannes                       87 Merkur XR4ti
    Hewlett-Packard                           95 & 83 VW GTI
    Measurement Systems Division              71 Saab Sonett
    Loveland, Colorado                        58 MG ZB Magnette

I had a similar problem with my '95 GLX.  I stoped to drop someone off 
and 2 minutes after I had turned off my car, it wouldn't start.  when I 
tried to start it the doors would lock and the alarm would set.  I made a 
call to my dealer and they caould offer no help even though I was about a 
mile away.  after spending some time on the phone with them I tried the 
car again and it started.  When I got the car to the dealer the same 
problem hapened again.  The eventual problem was an intermitently loose 
ground wire on the fuse box.  I had the wire replaced with a thicker 
gauge wire and more securely attached.

&#106;ayj&#64;lvld.hp<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15> (Jay Johannes) 
wrote:
>The GTI died again yesterday.  Symptoms again were that the starter
>didn't turn over and when I tried a second time the alarm went off and
>the windows went down.
(snip)

In a previous article, Jay Johannes (&#106;ayj&#64;lvld.hp<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>) said:

> The GTI died again yesterday.  Symptoms again were that the starter
> didn't turn over and when I tried a second time the alarm went off and
> the windows went down.
[snip]

> What the heck is going on???  There is something in the system causing
> a MAJOR short, but it appears to be intermittent.  I worry that this
> is what is causing our cars to burn.

Jay,

I would suspect a loose connection to the battery, a shorted cell in the
battery, or maybe a defective battery post.  Maybe there's a loose plate
bouncing around in one of the cells.  If you have a dealer's shop order
for the same problem while the car was in warranty, I'm sure that VW will
fix this problem gratis.  Advice for all, get ALL problems with your car
documented on dealer shop receipts while you're still in warranty.  Also,
many states have the "three strikes and it's a lemon" law.

If you haven't checked it out yet, I just added a description of a similar
problem to the GTI VR6 archives the other day.  The direct pointer is:
http://www.eideti.com/~emerson/vw/problem/alternator.html . 
Unfortunately, I'm about a month behind in getting relevant threads into
the archives, but will be hopefully back up-to-date this weekend. 

Please keep us up to date on what you find.  There's a whole bunch of us
sweating right now.....

-Arthur (1995 GTI VR6, black, 15497 miles, ugly green heated seats)

In article <4ktvh1$1hr@hplvec.lvld.hp.com>,
&#106;ayj&#64;lvld.hp<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15> (Jay Johannes) wrote:

>The GTI died again yesterday.  Symptoms again were that the starter
>didn't turn over and when I tried a second time the alarm went off and
>the windows went down.
>
snip"


This has happened to myself and another VR6 GTI owner. Its either a battery
with a dead short in one of the cells or the main cable connection from the
alternator. The electrical charging circuit is being broken and when this
happens on this setup the voltage drops below an acceptable level.
Both GTI's are fixed and runnin fine now !
Hope this helps !

Paul
95 VR6 GTI
89 Jetta GL

Arthur Emerson wrote:
> 
&gt; In a previous article, Jay Johannes (&#106;ayj&#64;lvld.hp<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>) said:
> 
> > The GTI died again yesterday.  Symptoms again were that the starter
> > didn't turn over and when I tried a second time the alarm went off and
> > the windows went down.
> [snip]
> 
> > What the heck is going on???  There is something in the system causing
> > a MAJOR short, but it appears to be intermittent.  I worry that this
> > is what is causing our cars to burn.
> 
> Jay,
> 

I have a 95 Golf Gl and had a similar problem.  while driving all of a 
sudden there would be a mass electrical failure.  Even the digital 
display of the odometer and clock went dead.  The engine totally died 
and the alarm started going off.  The first time it happened the dealer 
said it was my alternator and put in a new one.  After 500 miles it 
happened again.  Apparently this happened to a bunch of VW's made around 
a certain time.  VW central found the problem to be a defective set of 
grounding cables from the battery. Since they changed them (and the 
alternator and battery again) I have had no problems.


-- 
Alex Zaborenko
Sales and Recruiting

PCCI (Professional Computer Consulting, Inc.)
mailto:&#112;cci&#64;planet<img src=/i/dn.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>

http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~sumoist 
(personal page with lots of car audio and other interesting links)