More car trouble.

Skeith

I really hope I don't make a habit of posting these threads. Okay, so my car is having an issue with power. When it first starts up and is running in low gear, it kind of chugs along; once I get into second gear and start going on flat ground or downhill it runs normally. However, once I start going uphill, the chugging gets worse than ever on a flat surface. There's also a smell of burning oil and sometimes a rattling noise. First thing I did last night was check the oil, dipstick showed me as being low, so I added 3/4 of a quart, but that didn't do anything. Neither did removing the filter and hitting some of the dust and stuff out of there. I'm going to change the oil later today, along with the air filter, and if neither of those work I'm taking it in to a mechanic (which I'd have to do anyway, it's almost at the 100K mark) within the next few days.

So, until then, what do you fine fellows think the problem might be? The car in question is a '99 VW Jetta with a 2L engine.

Zeon

Could be weak spark. The 99 jetta 2L uses coil packs right? You might have blown a coil pack. No "check engine" light, right? A bad O2 sensor can also cause those cars to run like shit, but it will throw a check engine light for sure.

wmelon

Could also be a clogged fuel filter or plugged catalytic converter. I'd probably start with the fuel filter as it's easy and cheap to change.

Skeith

Zeon wrote: »

Could be weak spark. The 99 jetta 2L uses coil packs right? You might have blown a coil pack. No "check engine" light, right? A bad O2 sensor can also cause those cars to run like shit, but it will throw a check engine light for sure.

Check engine light is on. Also blinks when the chugging is really bad. Didn't get a chance to change the oil or filter today, but I have another car I'm using in the meantime so I'll be getting to it in the next few days (hopefully). If it makes any kind of a difference, this problem first cropped up when I was driving the car up a slope; about 40 feet from where I made the turn on to the hill it did the chugging thing.

Varinn

when check engine lights blink, they usually have a pattern. It may be worth knowing what that pattern is. My old car used to blink x amount of times for each digit, then pause, then blink for the next digit, followed by an extremely large pause after it gives all the digits.

wmelon

Skeith wrote: »

Zeon wrote: »

Could be weak spark. The 99 jetta 2L uses coil packs right? You might have blown a coil pack. No "check engine" light, right? A bad O2 sensor can also cause those cars to run like shit, but it will throw a check engine light for sure.

Check engine light is on. Also blinks when the chugging is really bad. Didn't get a chance to change the oil or filter today, but I have another car I'm using in the meantime so I'll be getting to it in the next few days (hopefully). If it makes any kind of a difference, this problem first cropped up when I was driving the car up a slope; about 40 feet from where I made the turn on to the hill it did the chugging thing.

That does sound a lot like coil pack failure. if you can make it to an auto parts store they can pull the codes for you and tell you what's going on.

MushroomStick

I used to have a Neon that did this and it turned out to be a bad egr valve. But yeah, if you can cel code that'll help a lot.

Spudge

Blinking means you have a big problem (pre-OBDII {1996 and older} cars would blink a pattern, but not any more)

Get that car to your local AutoZone, Checker or Advance and have them pull the code. It should be free; if they try to charge you, go to the next store in line.

Bring that code here and we'll help you get it figured out

Zeon

Since its a jetta, and since the check engine light is one, im definately gonna go for either blown coil pack or bad O2 sensor. Both are relatively cheap to get fixed. Get the code pulled, find out what it is.

The 99 Jetta 2L had a recall for improperly installed headgasket, was yours done? Without getting that fixed, the car will eat O2 sensors pretty regularily, though it wont cause any real problems with the car other than burning a relatively high amount of oil (about a liter a month under normal driving conditions) and burning extra fuel.

powerss

Flashing while chugging = running on 3 cyl = COILPACKS.

Change all four.

Skeith

Zeon wrote: »

Since its a jetta, and since the check engine light is one, im definately gonna go for either blown coil pack or bad O2 sensor. Both are relatively cheap to get fixed. Get the code pulled, find out what it is.

The 99 Jetta 2L had a recall for improperly installed headgasket, was yours done? Without getting that fixed, the car will eat O2 sensors pretty regularily, though it wont cause any real problems with the car other than burning a relatively high amount of oil (about a liter a month under normal driving conditions) and burning extra fuel.

Honestly, I don't know about the headgasket; I bought the car used almost two years ago, and I'm fairly sure the person I bought it from no longer lives on the island.

How difficult are the coil packs to change on this car, and what kind of an expense am I looking at?

wmelon

It shouldn't be too difficult to change. It looks like it's just a plug for the ECU to drive the coil pack and then spark plug wires. Looks like you can get a cheap one at advance for around $120 and more expensive MSD coil packs for around $150

Skeith

Obviously I'm hoping the car lasts longer, but I don't think it'll last too far beyond the 130K mark; if I go with the cheaper ones, will those last me the remaining life of the car?

Spudge

As long as you don't go with Bosch you should be fine

Have you gotten the code pulled for posterity yet?

Skeith

Not yet, which is why I'm holding off on actually buying anything at this point.

eternalbl

Skeith wrote: »

Zeon wrote: »

Since its a jetta, and since the check engine light is one, im definately gonna go for either blown coil pack or bad O2 sensor. Both are relatively cheap to get fixed. Get the code pulled, find out what it is.

The 99 Jetta 2L had a recall for improperly installed headgasket, was yours done? Without getting that fixed, the car will eat O2 sensors pretty regularily, though it wont cause any real problems with the car other than burning a relatively high amount of oil (about a liter a month under normal driving conditions) and burning extra fuel.

Honestly, I don't know about the headgasket; I bought the car used almost two years ago, and I'm fairly sure the person I bought it from no longer lives on the island.

How difficult are the coil packs to change on this car, and what kind of an expense am I looking at?

When I worked at Mazda we had web apps that showed us if a recall was done to a vehicle by VIN. VW must have something similar.

Zeon

Spudge wrote: »

As long as you don't go with Bosch you should be fine

Have you gotten the code pulled for posterity yet?

Arent Bosch what comes OEM on a VW? For an american or Japanese car id say steer clear of Bosch, but for a VW it should be fine.