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Anyone with VW knowledge?
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Paco500
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Mar 9, 2011, 05:53 AM
 
My stupid, hateful, boring, ugly, unpleasant and unreliable Golf is giving me yet a new problem.

It's an '02 GTi 2.0 8v petrol. I bought it used and it does not have the owners manual.

The remote door unlocks have gone wonky. Clicking once unlocks driver's door. Click twice used to unlock all doors and hatch. Now it does nothing. I can still unlock all doors + hatch from the button on the driver's door, but this is a pain, especially with hands full of shopping/etc.

Scouring the VW forums gave me some things to try (unlock the doors with the button on the passenger side- doesn't have one, unlocking with the key and holding it in the unlock position for 30 sec, then switching it to the lock position for 30 secs, than taking it out and holing the remote button for 30 secs- did nothing and I expect someone posted this just to screw with people).

The same happens with both remotes.

Any thoughts or guidance appreciated.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 9, 2011, 08:21 AM
 
Mk IV Golfs have a well-known problem with the driver's side door lock module. The usual symptom is the car locking the doors on its own and/or setting-off the alarm, though. I've not heard of the specific problem you're having.

I assume when you searched the VW forums, you found VW Vortex. I would highly recommend you post this problem in their Mk IV forum.

BTW, was the engine in your GTi a standard UK/Euro offering? The Mk IV GTi's in the US all had the 1.8 20v turbo engine. The 2.0 8v was the base Golf (not GTi) engine here.
     
Paco500  (op)
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Mar 9, 2011, 08:31 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
BTW, was the engine in your GTi a standard UK/Euro offering? The Mk IV GTi's in the US all had the 1.8 20v turbo engine. The 2.0 8v was the base Golf (not GTi) engine here.
Yes, I believe this particularly lifeless and soul-sucking GTi was only foisted on europe. I'm not sure why they bothered with the GTi name- there is no badging, styling or performance enhancements of any kind that labels it as a GTi, but it's what the ironic marketers and VW decided to call the uninspiring lump of automotive mediocrity.

I've not come across vortex, I'll check it out. Thanks.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 9, 2011, 08:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by Paco500 View Post
Yes, I believe this particularly lifeless and soul-sucking GTi was only foisted on europe.
Here in the US, we call that engine the Two-Point-Slow.
     
Paco500  (op)
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Mar 9, 2011, 09:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Here in the US, we call that engine the Two-Point-Slow.
Over here that would be considered offensive to slow things.
     
Lateralus
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Mar 9, 2011, 10:22 AM
 
I have wanted a VW for years. But every time I get serious about it, I seem to stumble across a post like this somewhere...
I like chicken
I like liver
Meow Mix, Meow Mix
Please de-liv-er
     
The Final Dakar
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Mar 9, 2011, 10:27 AM
 
Yeah, everything I've seen since the mid-90s seems to allude to VWs having strange annoying small recurring issues.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 9, 2011, 10:48 AM
 
The newer models are supposed to be much more reliable. But, yeah, buying an older VW is a huge toss of the dice. You might get lucky and get a car that has already had the problems fixed, or you might get a time-bomb of cascading problems. I think the main problem comes from VW's seemingly competing aspiration to provide advanced German engineering and (sort-of) affordability. You get cars with odd electricals, bad transmissions, and engineering that is awesome while it works, but horrifically expensive when it breaks. YMMV, of course.

My son has a MkIII Jetta. The thing has this crazy electro-pneumatic central locking system. Basically, there's an air pump in the trunk and miles of plastic tubing wormed throughout the car to each door and the trunk lid. Those air pumps are like gold to find and buy if yours goes out. Worse yet is the tubing, which is prone to cracking and leaking, rendering the system inoperative, requiring you to manually lock each door. Why VW didn't just go with a standard, tried-and-true locking system, I have no idea.

That new 2011 Jetta VW keeps pimping for $15,995 scares the heck out of me. That's just a crazy low price. Makes me wonder what they did to get it down that low.
     
imitchellg5
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Mar 9, 2011, 01:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
That new 2011 Jetta VW keeps pimping for $15,995 scares the heck out of me. That's just a crazy low price. Makes me wonder what they did to get it down that low.
They switched to a torsion-beam suspension, two-point-slow, cheaper interior plastics, and minor features such as no cup holders on the cargo pass-through. The $16k Jetta can only be had with the 2.0 and 5-speed manual, not to worry, it's still absurdly easy to get the Jetta well into the mid-$20ks.
     
bstone
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Mar 9, 2011, 02:38 PM
 
It sounds like a wonky body control module or the ECU screwing up. Surely there is a software update for it?
Emergency Medicine & Urgent Care.
     
turtle777
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Mar 9, 2011, 03:09 PM
 
Here's a remote chance: empty batteries in the remote.

My remote (2005 Jetta) started "failing". It would behave weird, like locking would work w/o a problem, but the unlock button would not work at all. I thought the remote was dead, until it started happening on the second remote.

That made me think. I changed the batteries, and lo and behold, everything is fine again.

Give it a try.

-t
     
Paco500  (op)
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Mar 9, 2011, 05:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Here's a remote chance: empty batteries in the remote.

My remote (2005 Jetta) started "failing". It would behave weird, like locking would work w/o a problem, but the unlock button would not work at all. I thought the remote was dead, until it started happening on the second remote.

That made me think. I changed the batteries, and lo and behold, everything is fine again.

Give it a try.

-t
As it happened with both remotes on the same day, I doubt it, but anything is possible- I'll get it a go.

Thanks.
     
   
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