Lots Of Problems On 98 Tdi

[jamiedolittle]

i have recently purchased this and have found a few problems with it.

1 and mainly, needs a new air flow meter = where can i get one?
2, central locking unlocks but wont lock.
3, little alarm? led's dont work on/by door locking pins.
4, the lights flash when i unlock it but no lights/alarm when locked.
5, key fob wont lock/unlock, no little light (have changed batteries)

so it is a big :1zhelp: from me!!

[minty0_10]

my 98 tdi car has the same sort of problems sometimes it even seems to fix its self:biglaugh: i just learn to live with it. you can get a air flow meter from euro car parts or ebay a lot of people will say only fit a geuine one but i bought one from ebay for £65 over a year ago and had no problems with it.

[jamiedolittle]

taking it to vw on monday so ill see what they got to say

[shooey88]

with all them problems i would point it to convenience unit.....if it dosent lock via the cetral button on the drivers side

[minty0_10]

wheres that by? my car does the same wont lock with the remorte but will unlock

[shooey88]

the cetral locking button on the drivers door...near the elctric windows..does it lock via that

[minty0_10]

yes

[shooey88]

how many keys do u have? if you have a second key u can code it urself easily bt have to have second key...also if you have a second key u can rule out the possibility of the key being faulty.
i would be inclined to look at the convenience unit under the carpet and wiring from it...take the connectors off and look for water icorrosion (greeny white marks). you may have had a water leak at sum point from the pollen filter seal and now got water in your convenience unit

[minty0_10]

i only have the one key. the remorte locking dident work for over 2 years now all of a sudden the red led,s near the door pins work the lights on buzzer works. anyway what part of the carpet it that box under

[shooey88]

front passengers footwell....its a black box that unclips and the ecu is inside...check the two connectors for corrosion of terminals...and water inside...u may have water under your carpet..u ever had water leak before? owning a 97 passat u must have had a water leak at sum point surely

[minty0_10]

no beleave it or not 260k and bone dry inside well as far as i can tell. cant say ive ever realy looked either mind but i would think i would have noticed a damp smell if it was.

i know the later models are known for leeking water into the foot wells

[shooey88]

yeah ur rite....urs is a 97 model..and not sure if they suffer as an older model....but take a little bit of the carpet up and have a look..easy and worth a look if there is water there or before u bought it may have had previous repair?

cheapest and obvious choice wud to try coding the blipper again..but you mentioned loads of other problems that would suggest a link and point to the direct source of an convenience ECU as a educated guess

[minty0_10]

i,l have a gander at that tomorrow and see what happens. would be great if i could get it to work off the remorte. as the drivers door loyk is buggered to lol

[jamiedolittle]

oi thought this was my post minty!!.....lol

[jamiedolittle]

checked down there and its all dry, bloody electrics!!!

[shooey88]

jamie dolittle....do u have only one key? as you may have a faulty key....if you have two keys you can simply code them yourselves and also you can rule out this as a possibility as unlikely both keys wudnt work.

you can try disconnecting the black connector in the A pillar for a few minutes and reconnect...found sometimes the convenience goes to sleep.

[jamiedolittle]

Yeah ive only got one key too!, might try disconnecting it like you say tho:beerchug:

[shooey88]

does the unlock button on ur key look damaged indented at all.......
as it may be the transponder on ur key broke....

[jamiedolittle]

took it apart to change the battery and the button was in bits, put it back together and it seems ok but doesnt "click" like the other one

[jamiedolittle]

well got it back from vw today... can certainly say i will never be going there again!! was advised by an independent garage that my airflow meter was broken, he didnt have the time to do it so took it to vw and asked them to do it. also told then about a few other faults i.e. sqeeking from nsf, passenger door pin keeps popping up when centrally locked, rear elec windows wont go down but can hear them working, and remote key fob not working, car radio needs code.
so i took it in yesterday evening and got a phone call at 10 thismorning asking why i want the airflow meter changing... tell them why etc etc, so they turn round and say that it might not be that could be numerous things (fair enough i thought) so she advised me that they need to diagnose the problem thereself 3 hours labour at £75 an hour!!! so i said no thanks just fit the air flow meter.
then an hour later she phoned to tell me there were numerous faults with the convinience unit and it would take at least another couple of hours to find the fault (again at £75 an hour!)
the sqeeking i am told is suspension straight arm and an anti roll bar parts £238.21 plus labour
but she could do the key for £80.99 (which would only do the same as mine now because the centrall locking isnt working)
and the radio could be coded for £47!!!!

so all in all they wanted £375 to find the problems plus parts etc etc

so in the end i just had the airflow meter fitted for a grand total of £175.96

[minty0_10]

ow dear! air flow meter on ebay £65 10 minuet job to fit i know a lot say dont buy them but i did and its been on my car for over a year and 20,000 miles.

[jamiedolittle]

was going to do that but like you say everyone says not to etc etc... know what to do next time tho ay!!