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1999 Volkswagen Beetle - Page 3 Questions & Answers
"I compression started my 99 beetle but when i put it in gear and let the clutch out it dies and or loses power. now whenever i put it in gear and let clutch out it dies even though battery is good.
So if I'm reading your question correctly, your problems started when you had a dead battery and had to compression start your Beetle. Is that right?
Now, presumably, the battery has a charge and you are able to start the car with the starter, but it has no power; so much so that it won't run when you try to put a load on the engine.
Unfortunately, there are a huge number of problems that can cause this kind of behavior. Is your Check Engine light on? If so, it would be extremely helpful if you could get the trouble codes from the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD-II) port.
Otherwise it's going to be a trial and error process to pin down the issue. An engine needs three things to run: air, fuel, and a spark. Since the air and fuel are all computer-controlled on the Beetle (and pretty much every car currently being made), the only thing obvious left to check is the spark.
The only time I've had a similar-sounding problem with my beetle was when one of the two coil packs went out. Since each coil pack handles two cylinders, one of them going out leaves you running with only two pistons. Get some heavy insulated gloves and try pulling the spark plug wires one at a time and see if any particular cylinder is affected. If the source of the problem is a bad coil pack, then pulling the plug wire on two of the cylinders won't have any effect, and pulling the wire on the either of other two will almost certainly kill the engine.
If all four plug wires act the same when you pull one, then it's likely something in the engine management system, and should have an indication in the OBD-II trouble codes. But without more information, it's impossible to figure out what's going on with your Beetle.
Won't turn over
Even though all your other electrical bits are working it could be that your battery doesn't have enough juice to crank the engine. It doesn't take much power to run the radio, lights, etc, but cranking the engine requires the battery to have a very strong charge. If your battery is more than 5 years old, that's very likely the issue. I'd start there. Also, be sure to check the battery terminals and ground for corrosion and clean if necessary. If replacing the battery doesn't solve the problem it could be the starter solenoid or a loose electrical connection somewhere.
Stalls when hot loses ecm connection
Check your connections.... at the ecm.. Check the grounds
VW is bad for insufficient grounding.. Does the car throw Dash Codes other wise when it does run...
My engine light comes on all the timme
There are literally hundreds of reasons your check engine light can come on, from a loose gas cap to a pending engine meltdown or anything in between. The On Board Diagnostics (OBD) connector allows you to read out codes that will tell you why the light is illuminated, but it requires a scanner to do so.
Most of the auto parts stores (O'Reilly and Autozone definitely) will hook up a scanner and read the codes out for you for free. An internet search using those codes and the year & model of your car should give you an idea of what's going on with your car. Sometimes the codes can be confusing and difficult to understand, but other times they will be straightforward and you'll know exactly what needs to be fixed.
There are many Volkswagen forums where people may have already answered the question regarding the codes you receive, and if not you can post to them asking for help diagnosing the problem using the codes and any odd behavior your car is exhibiting.
You can start out with
Volkswagen New Beetle Forums and also try
http://forums.vwvortex.com/; those should get you going in the right direction.
Third brake light replacement
The high mount brake light can only be accessed from the inside of the hatch; you need to remove the large cover first. There are two screws, one in each of the handholds near the bottom of the hatch. With those out, you should be able to slide the cover up and the whole thing will come off. From there you should be able to see the third brake light housing; there are two or three screws holding it it in place. After taking those out and unplugging it, you can pull it out from the outside of the car.
Note that the center brake light is a strip of LEDs, so you can't just replace the bulb. On mine, the contact for the plug had come loose from the circuit board and I was able to fix it by resoldering the connector. However, it's a sealed plastic housing, and if mine hadn't been broken anyway, there's no way to access the circuit board. I had to reglue everything after I'd done the repairs, and it worked fine, but if your housing is intact, you'd have to break it or cut it open to be able to do anything to the circuit board. Much easier just to get one off eBay or from a wrecking yard. Knowing Volkswagen, a new one will be ridiculously expensive. No idea if anyone makes an aftermarket replacement, so personally I'd go for a used one.
How do i adjust the paasenger seat in my 1999 VW beetle?
There is a D shaped handle on the side of the seat nearest the door. Lift up on it and the seat back will fold forward, and the entire seat mechanism will lift up and to the front, giving your passengers room to get into the back seat. Simply push the seat back toward the rear of the car to set it back in place; it will lock itself down once it's back in its original position.
Flashing red light mean
A flashing red temperature indicator means your fluid level is low. The 99 beetle takes VW-specific antifreeze; do NOT buy standard green antifreeze for it! Fluid should be added to the round overflow bottle located on the passenger side corner of the engine compartment. Fill the container to the MAX line indicated on the bottle. I use Pentosin Pentofrost SF in mine, available at O'Reilly Auto Parts. As with most antifreeze products, mix it 1:1 with water before adding.
Cars do not normally "use" antifreeze, so if you keep having to add antifreeze, you should check for leaks. Heater hoses or radiator hoses are the most common places for leaks to occur, but the plastic thermostat housing is susceptible to cracking, so check that as well. Otherwise, you could be looking at a leaking radiator or heater core. Worst case scenario would be a leaking head gasket allowing fluid to escape into the cylinders, but that should be suspected only after everything else has been checked. The only other place you would ever see a fluid leak would be a bad freeze plug on the block, but those are very uncommon.
My remote for my 1999 vw bug dose not work
The first thing to try is a new battery. Mine takes a CR2032 coin cell. Replacement isn't difficult, just pull the two halves of the remote apart; the top half with the key separates from the bottom half with the buttons, then the bottom half opens up and the battery is right there. No tools needed.
When you press a button, you should see the red LED on the remote light up. You can also take it to most auto parts stores, and they'll have a tester that will tell you if your remote is generating a signal or not. If you've replaced the battery and the tester doesn't show a signal, it may be time to replace the remote.
A replacement remote will have to be programmed for your car, but it's not a difficult procedure and you don't have to go to a dealer to get it done. An internet search should give you instructions fairly easily.
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