VW recalls 800,000 vehicles for brake light failures

OK , the coffee did not kick in just yet - the group was alt.volkswagon.beetle --- oops

Nothing new with that! The last recall was to replace the black switch with a new and improved purple switch, and then VW blamed us techs for not installing them correctly. Now it's a green switch... so time will tell.

Actually that should be: for brake light _potential_ failures.

Hopefully they will handle this one better than the heater core recall or the window regulator recall. Oh, yeah, and the coil recall (although I didn't get burned by that one; by the time I even had an issue they'd sorted out their supply chain problem)

nate

Lost In Space/Woodchuck wrote: : Nothing new with that! The last recall was to replace the black switch with : a new and improved purple switch, and then VW blamed us techs for not : installing them correctly. Now it's a green switch... so time will tell.

The story I read says if you already had it replaced, you don't need to have it replaced again, all they did was expand the recall, not recall the cars already fixed;

"Volkswagen recalls nearly 800,000 vehicles because of faulty brake lights February 26, 2007 BY KEN THOMAS Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Volkswagen of America Inc. said Monday it would recall 790,000 vehicles because of problems with the brake light switch.

The recall involves several vehicles: 1999-2006 model years of the Golf and GTI, 2001-2005 Jettas, 2001-2007 New Beetles and the 2004 R32. It expands upon a recall announced last year of some Jettas and New Beetles because of the same defect. . . . He said owners of 2001-2002 Jettas and New Beetles who already had the repairs completed following last year's recall would not need to return for a second time. ..."

O.K. I get the recall thing ... but recently my ABS and Traction control lights both came on (2000 VW Beetle 1.8 T) and my vw guy said it was the rear right wheel sensor gone bad... so $130 later it is replaced. Now the lights are and off and on and off ... and I had it scanned when the lights were on and viola ... now the left rear wheel sensor is bad (so says my mechanicman).

He swears it is not related to the recall, but he is not VW dealership mechanic ... what would you guys do? Trust the scan of the lights? or skip it all and go get the recall checked first?

I can't imagine how the recall issue would be related.

The ABS/TC systems that I am familiar with do use the brake light switch as an input, so it's a long shot but I'd have the recall done first.

nate

if you are getting fault codes for wheel speed sensors, there's no way the recall is going to make the sensor codes go away.

If only there would be a recall to fix the water leaks into the passenger compartments of nearly all Jetta's since 2000. Does anyone own a Jetta that hasn't had water inside after a really hard rain?

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

I do. My '85 was the only leaker I've had.

Mine doesn't leak.

Do you have a sunroof ... and if so, are the drain lines clear?

Must be nice, mine after the rains yesterday down south reminded me of the movie "On Golden Pond".

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

Yes

... and if so, are the drain lines clear?

No idea, where in the maual is this mentioned? Actually more to the point how does one clean them and why do they need cleaning? I never heard of such before, Toyota Honda BMW etc don't seem to need 'drain lines' cleaned.

Thanks for your help!

(2002 Jetta Wagon, TDI auto trans)

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

Open the sunroof. There's a drain line in each corner. The two in the front exit the vehicle inside the front door, you'll see rubber one way valves near the hinges on the A-pillar. The rear drains exit under the car at each side of the trunk beneath the light assembly. Two ways to clear them - one is compressed air to blow then out, the other is a flexible cable about 90" long to run thru the drain lines. If you have a Bentley manual, look on page

Thanks, wonder why water that builds up in these lines leaks into the car around the door and not dripping down from the sun roof.

Thanks again for the tip, I'll sure give this a try and hope for the best, we are over the next several weeks going to be in my local rainy season.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.

My light by the visors filled up with water when mine clogged in my

Hey all ... you seem to be a pretty knowldgeable group so I hope someone responds ...

I have a '06 New Beetle Convertible, manual trans ... bought April '06 and stored starting October '06. In January of '07, I went into my shed to check out the vehicle and found that the battery was dead. When I stored it in October, I had hooked up a charger (2-watt SolarPulse) without disconnecting the battery from the car's electrical system. At first I thought it was the solar battery charger gone bad but it checked out. Then I heard about the brake light recall. Here's my questions ... could the brake lights have activated by themselves in my shed over the winter and drained my battery? If not, any ideas why my battery went dead? If you think the brake lights might have killed my juice, do the VW Tech's out there think that any damage could have been done to my battery? If the answer to the last question is "yes," do you think I can complain to my VW dealer and have them pony up for a new battery? I would appreciate any and all advice that you care to provide!

Thanks, pluto

Are you saying that the solar charger was in daylight while the car was stored so it could make a charge? Did you have the car locked and the alarm on? I think I have read that the car uses less electricity when the alarm is on.

How is the water level >>> Nothing new with that! The lastrecallwas to replace the black switch with