1. Home
  2. Volkswagen, everything else
  3. Tire wear and dim lights

Tire wear and dim lights

Two questions:

The left tires (front and rear) on my 1996 Jetta are completely worn out (no tread left) on the inside half. The outside half of the tread has normal wear, and is similar to the right tires, which have even wear throughout. The tires have about 30K miles on them, and I remember rotating them once. What would cause that? I have no discernible shimmy or wobble when I steer, so I am at a loss. I will need to get tires soon, so I can take the car with new tires to the shop, but what should I ask for, alignment, new shocks, what?

Second question, same car: I start the car and let it idle for about 30 sec to a minute. The dashboard lights and the headlights are somewhat dim during this time. When I increase RPMs to 1700-2000 (it idles at

1000), the dashboard and headlights get to full brightness and stay there, even when the RPMs go back to 1000 (such as a pump on the gas pedal while still in Park). What would that be, a relay going south, or ...?

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

Greg

Reply to
Greg
Loading thread data ...

An alignment problem causes it. You rotated once when the wear was there on one tyre but not as apparent because it was not as worn, now with more wear both tyres are showing the effects.

Get an alignment - suspension check done before you do anything else. (Note a suspension problem can cause an alignment issue). No all alignment problems will cause a noticeable handling problem.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Alignment.

Shimmy/wobbling is usually balancing, not alignment.

Alignment is usually pulling to one side although that's hard to really determine since most roads have a "crown" to them and slant slighty towards the outside for drainage which would cause your car to pull to the shoulder even with good alignment.

Get new tires first and then get an alignment (if the tire place does not do both...many tire stores are tires only and not alignment).

Weak alternator probably. Although I would also expect the alternator/battery light on the dash to stay on for longer than normal after starting in this case. Is that happening as well? My A2 GTI does this on colder/wetter mornings. It's not an immediate cause for alarm or replacement but eventually your alternator might go.

Reply to
Matt B.

Matt B. wrote: ..

Good point. You can't do a proper alignment with bad tyres.

I fear my original message may have been misleading. I should have said don't buy tyres and have the alignment some time later, the alignment needs to be done at the same time or you will just damage the new tyres.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Excellent advice, all. Thank you. Tires and alignment coming up. Alternator on the watch.

Greg

Reply to
Greg

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.