Very sad day!!

[a_happier_me]

Had a very sad day yesterday.

My NB 'Bailey' is a 2000 2.0 automatic.

About a week or so ago she started having a bit of trouble picking up speed rapidly, like overtaking, and pulling out from intersection. It was as if she was 'laboring' to get going if you know what I mean. It wasn't noticable when the car was cold, but I work 30 miles from home, and it would get worse the further I drove.

Yesterday I had hubby drive her to work so he could see what I was talking about.

The closer we got to our business, the more 'labored' the driving was. We stopped on the way in to a buddy of ours that has a diagnostic machine so he could plug into Bailey and give us some insight as to the problem. (Up to this point the engine sounded fine when idle).

We had to turn the engine off for part of the diagnostics, and when we turned her back on...she sounded like crap!!!

The diagnostics showed she was misfiring on 2 cylinders. So, having done the diagnostics, we left his shop and headed towards ours. (Less than 2 miles).. Figuring we'd take her to our mechanic later in the afternoon to have him look at her. We never made it another mile down the road. Bailey lost ALL acceleration. So...we pulled her into a parking lot, and by this time a very hot smell was coming from the engine.

Hubby called our mechanic, who came to get Bailey with his flat bed... The agony of seeing her struggle to go up the ramp. It took 5 attempts by the mechanic to finally get her up there.

First diagnosis was that the coil pack had packed up...so they changed that. Good news is now she's atleast idleing great. Bad news is she still has no acceleration. Being Saturday, and only being open a half day, they won't be working on Bailey again til Monday... I'm going through withdrawals!!! The mechanic figures it's one of, or a combination of things. Timing belt, MAF sensor and or Cat. Converter. We'll know more on Monday.

Poor Bailey!!

Anyhow, sorry for the extremely long post. Guess I'm feeling sorry for myself cuz my baby's sick.

[peapodtdi]

ooohhh! so sad! i hope she gets better!

[MichelleRoze]

How aweful!! I sure hope it's not the TB!!! That could mean some serious issues and possible engine damage. Poor Bailey! I know what's it's like to have your kid at the shop and be borrowing something else. It sure does give some massive withdrawls. Hope Bailey gets better soon!!!

[Yello_jellybean]

Oh, I am so sorry. I hope your baby gets better soon. Keep your chin up, it will be okay. I had the Turbo go out on my NB last year. Lucky for me it was under warranty. I don't know if that my be what is your NBs issue, but it kinda sounds like it. I hope not. Good Luck to you.

Edit: Does the 2.0 have a Turbo?

[a_happier_me]

Thanks everyone!!

Originally Posted by Yello_jellybean

Does the 2.0 have a Turbo?

Not sure. But mine doesn't.

[a_happier_me]

Update:

Bailey is still in the hospital

So far, the mechanic has tested:

The fuel pump, it's ok.

The MAF sensor, it's ok.

Exhaust is fine, so it's not the catalytic converter.

still has no acceleration.

Next to test, I believe is the timing belt.

[Beetlescott]

I wish you luck on Bailey. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if it happens to be the timing belt, it is better to catch it now rather than if it broke. Anyway, good thoughts and plenty of prayers your way that it won't be as bad as you fear. HUGS

[MichelleRoze]

gosh I hope it's not the TB! Though I don't know if a broken TB would cause no acceleration. I think the engine would make a really awful noise then over heat and die. But I'm not 100% sure on that either. Keep us posted!

[wawalker]

Originally Posted by MichelleRoze

gosh I hope it's not the TB! Though I don't know if a broken TB would cause no acceleration...

A broken timing belt would absolutely cause no acceleration--no running at all in fact.

[Fl_bug]

Originally Posted by wawalker

A broken timing belt would absolutely cause no acceleration--no running at all in fact.

But she runs, so thankfully it may not be the TB. Very weird. Was she overheating? Hows your thermostat?

[dnyed]

The 2.0 is not a turbo engine.


I hope your NB is fixed up soon!

[FarrisK]

As others have said, it's not the timing belt.

There's NO WAY the engine would still be running if it was the TB, and as far as I know, they fail catastrophically, not incrementally.

Have you checked the compression or to see if there is oil in water/water in oil? My guess is that it's the head gasket.

[a_happier_me]

Update:

The good news:

It's NOT the compression/head gasket.

NOT the TB.

NOT the injectors.

NOT coil pack, leads or plugs.

NOT the fuel pump/filter.

NOT the MAF/oil/temp/o2 sensors.

The bad news:

She starts and idles. Put your foot to the accelerator...she coughs, sputters and pukes.

Conclusion:

The ECU is in some way corrupted.

Now the search is on for an ECU for her. Need to have the dealership code it...etc....

[a_happier_me]

After what seemed like 3 very longs weeks...Bailey is out of the garage.

Bailey actually had more than one thing wrong with her..

She was misfiring, and only running on 2 cylinders. To fix this we replaced the coil pack (known to go faulty in beetles). At the same time, the plugs and wires were changed. We figured that while he was changing the coil pack, we'd just have him do it all (prevention rather than necessity).

She then, wasn't starting. She would start as long as the key was in the crank position, as soon as you let it go to return to the run position, she would die.

We bought a reconditioned ECU, which helped, but did not cure the situation.

On further examination, it was evident that the ECU wasn't getting live data (which means that something was preventing the ECU from powering up and distributing the correct information to the rest of the car, causing the car to cut out). Relay by relay, our mechanic pulled and tested relays. End result: Relay 100 (located under the air filter box) was faulty. After replacing that, she started right up, and ran like a dream!!

Not that money grows on trees or anything, but while the mechanic had Bailey so far apart, we had him change the known problem issues that beetles are notorious for (fuel filter, pollen filter, MAF sensor, timing belt/water pump kit). Again, prevention rather than necessity.

Happy days!!

We still have one more issue tho, and she just started doing it today... As soon as you start the car, the coolant fans (both of them) come on, and go straight back off, within a few seconds they come back on, then off again, continuously.

Any thoughts??

[gamefoo21]

It's the temp sensor, it's gone bad.

My gf's Beetle did the exact same thing, one moment it would read coolant temp at 120c then the next would be -60c.

[akasha1963]

If the timing belt went she wouldnt start/move at all. I know. My bug is still in the shop after losing the belt.

Originally Posted by MichelleRoze

gosh I hope it's not the TB! Though I don't know if a broken TB would cause no acceleration. I think the engine would make a really awful noise then over heat and die. But I'm not 100% sure on that either. Keep us posted!