Weird problem

We have a 1999 Jetta Wolfsburg (A3 body). It's my wife's car, so I'm relaying this second hand. Lately it's been behaving strangely. Sometimes, when started the lights won't work. Turning the engine off and restarting, the lights work! Similar issues with the AC...

Something else very strange. Sometimes when putting the car in park, the engine will turn off.

The cruise control will work at 40 MPH, but not at 80. (That sounds like a different issue).

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Stephen Long Beach, CA

Reply to
Stephen Green
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Maybe electrical part of ignition switch.

restarting,

Reply to
Woodchuck

I have to agree w/ Woodchuck. Its probably the ignition switch. Have your wife "jiggle" her keys in the ignition switch when this happens. The lights will probably miraculously work. Get this fixed immediately...your lights could shut off while your driving. Trust me because that's exactly what happened to me (at night). Not fun at all. BTW. I also have a Jetta Wolfsburg (1998). Since that happened I keep two sets of keys. One set of car keys and another w/ the rest (work, home, etc.) VW tells me that two many keys on your keychain can cause stress on the ignition switch and cause it to fail.

Reply to
Altoid

I know that this sounds stupid, but shouldn't VW be able to design an ignition switch that can handle the weight of a large set of keys?

Reply to
Pete Cressman

Jim B.

Reply to
jimbehning

I just find it odd that our 1998 Caravan ES has a good 2-3 lbs of keys on it's ignition switch, yet it has never shown trouble. Our 2003 NB is on it's second ignition switch, with only 2 other keys on the same ring.

Reply to
Pete Cressman

Obviously it's not the weight. It's just a bad design flawed POS.

Reply to
Peter Parker

I find it odd that your 98 Caravan is still running...

;)

Reply to
Biz

meh....it's been a good van, as Dodge products go. We bought it out at the end of it's lease, and it has more or less been a business write off for my Dad. It's got 150,000 kilometers on it, and hasn't given us any trouble to speak of. Can't say I can actually complain about it...I think that the Dodge Caravan is the only minivan I would buy if I had to (heaven forbid!)

Reply to
Pete Cressman

Well that may be, but than many other car manufacturers have the same flawed POS design. I known several people with different cars that have had ignition switch problems and were told the same story - too many keys, too much weight. I have also heard the "Car Talk" guys mention this some issue several time, again concerning various American, Japanese, or German cars.

Reply to
Jaime

Thanks Altoid and Woodchuck!

As you suggested Altoid, my wife tried jiggling the keys the next time the lights weren't on and voila! They turned on.

Thanks for your bang on help.

Stephen

Reply to
Stephen Green

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