1998 Volkswagen Jetta Electrical system Problems

“Ignition switch. I have a faulty ignition switch. With the car running, there have been occasions when my headlights have turned off, and the brake light came on. I have seen approximately 5 postings on different message boards with the same problem.”

“Failure of door wiring harness. Does not allow me to drive the car - the engin will not engage due to the electronic failure of the door wiring harness. There should be some way to override the electronic failure so that I can drive it.”

“I own a 1998 volkwagen Jetta gl. The car battery exploded while in operation. I have digital photos of the battery if requested. It didn't seem normal and so I figured I'd file a report.”

“Like others, I have had the ignition coil replaced. This happened after the warranty expired, of course. I have also had electrical problems with the windows (regulator and motor) for all of them. Now, my check engine light is flashing and the car is sputtering. I know the secondary air intake valve needs replacing but it did not cause problems. Now I'm wondering if something new is wrong??? Also, I was having problems with losing coolant and had to continuously replace antifreeze. After fixing what I thought was a small leak the entire system will not produce cool air! …”

“The ignition switch in my car is getting worse. The first time it malfunctioned was on a cold and snowy night. I was driving along and all of a sudden the lights went out, the wipers stopped, the defroster fan stopped and the ABS light went on. It was a little unsettling. The vw dealer told me it was a bad ingnition switch and it would cost about $300.oo dollars to replace. When I asked the parts department if they had the switch in stock he laughed and said oh yeah . I am now driving my car only in the daytime while I save the money to replace the switch. …”