p1296 solved!!!

[adisman]

Found it...just bought the part at the dealer and will see if it fixes my problem too. The plastic must just be slightly cracked (I can't see a crack in it).

Is This The Thermostat Leaking??

[vwuser1]

Hi All
Just had my 2002 NB 2.0L give me a check eng light today.
Stopped at Autozone on way home from work and had them plug in and give me the code. The hand held code reader said 1 of 1.
"P1296" on the first line.
"Fuel Air Metering" on the second line.
This code also has something to do with coolant temp???
Help

[adisman]

Yes, I ended up changing both the t-stat and the temp sensor because just changing the temp sensor did not solve the check engine light problem. Turned out the t-stat was getting stuck open so the engine was running too cold. Better problem to have than it getting stuck closed!

[vwuser1]

Ended up getting and changing the temp sending unit (green one) and the check engine light is now off after about 100 miles. Only lost about 1/2 cup of fluid during the change out and it took about ten minutes. Thanks for your help.

[bhenry]

Worked perfect!!
The check engine light was on with the same code P1296.
Thank you Autozone for getting me the code.

Changed the Coolant Temperature sensor and all is well.
Once it was changed the light went off on the first start.

Removed horseshoe clip.
Pulled sensor straight up.
Removed o-ring that was still inside hole.
Put in new sensor (green) with o-ring.
Removing wire harness was a little tricky. Didn't want to break it.
Replaced horseshoe clip.
Put on wire harness.
Piece of cake. Like they said, 15 minutes and very little coolant lost.

Total cost with o-ring $24

[soccer_hooligan]

This is a great post that saved me a lot of money in repairs.

My check engine light came on with the P1296 error code. I replaced my temperature sensor and the check engine light has been off ever since. The advice and pictures made the replacement easy. Thanks to all of the contributors to this post.

[PJChilds]

Thanks a ton for the helpful hints on taking care of my error code P1296. Nice to know I can get it back on the road without dealing with the stealership.

I've got an '02 New Beetle Sport (1.8T) which I bought new. It's been pretty error free car, but over the years I've had a few issues which I was able to track down and fix with a reasonably inexpensive ScanGauge I bought on Amazon for about $70.

It is a scan tool which will indicate your trouble codes and then lets you reset them, and it can also work as a supplemental set of digital gauges, giving you access to all kinds of cool information like realtime MPG, battery voltage, and water temp, etc. I usually leave it hooked up and use the gauge function. You can even change the display colors to match your gauges.

Hate to sound like a salesman, but the thing paid for itself right after I bought it. I had just installed a new battery and while squeezing it in I must have pulled the electric smog pump connection slightly loose, so the check engine light would come on every 3 days or so. The service rep was telling me it probably had a short and a new one would be about $600. When I went home to think over the major expense I was about to eat I was able to go back through all of the connections and found the loose one.