2002 Volkswagen Jetta from North America - Comments

I had a 1996 Golf GL. Very nice car. Not perfect, but faithful and logical. It was still running well when I donated it at 225,000 miles. I replaced it with a 2002 Jetta 1.8T. If I had known then what I know now I would have left it on the lot. I did purchase the extended warranty.

My problem is with the air conditioner. After running the unit, restarting the car produced a noxious smelling gas that is not present if the A/C has not been operated. I took it to the dealer where it was purchased and they told me that it tested o.k. They put some kind of disinfectant into the system which masked it for a few weeks. It is winter now so it is not an issue. However, summer will be coming around again and it gets really hot in Sacramento for a few months. Any help from anyone experiencing this problem would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Golf GL 2002, and I'm on my third battery. The radio dies, then eventually the battery. I brought it to a mechanic (NOT the dealer) today and he said the alternator is fine. He said the radio is not working properly and the wiring is not correct, and it's draining the battery. At last, I have a solution. Thanks to your posts too, I know I am not alone.

Just had the battery problem with my 2002 Jetta. Another thing to pile on the list of problems with this car over the years.

First the antenna shaft broke off. The next day, just after scanning the Internet for a replacement antenna, I noticed the radio wasn't working at all. Today, the car was completely dead.

I just bought a new car the other day, same exact day the antenna came off the Jetta. Funny, its as if the Jetta knew I was about to get rid of it and was having one last tantrum. I would never buy another Volkswagen or and Audi for that matter. I used to have a Honda Accord, and never had a single problem with it.

Glad to hear I'm not alone. I just wish I had read this site and had tried the fuse trick before the battery drained.

Thanks for all the great info. Perhaps I missed it, but dash airbag light is on and couple of others, radio not working, car won't start without jump, (new battery yesterday) pulled the #42 fuse and nothing changes. HELP!Not happy. 64k miles... like new. Just started doing this last week. I have had it since May 06.

Wow, I have owned a 2002 Jetta since new. There are so many things I enjoy about the car, but I have had this battery issue since early in ownership. I rarely drive the car and have less than 20,000 miles on it. I was told by mechanics that my rare use was allowing the computer to run down the battery, but now I see from all of these posts that there is a bigger problem... apparently the radio is not turning off. I have been close to selling this car so many times. I have a question, has anyone figured out if a new, non-factory radio installed will solve the problem or is it the mechanical working of the wiring that is the problem? Thanks for the posts and helpful sharing.

Hi all, I've had the same troubles with my 2002 Jetta. Passenger window fell into the door (luckily it was still under warranty). And now for the second time in six months, my radio system will stop working and then my battery will die a week or so later. I really want to trade in my car, but I won't be able to for a few months. Will someone please let me know if replacing the radio system entirely helps? Otherwise, I have a seven year warranty on my battery and will probably have to replace it over and over until I can trade it in. If you're shopping for a used 2002 Jetta--beware!

I have a 2002 Jetta TDi, and I had my mechanic look at the lighter (which didn't work when I bought the car) and he said it was just the fuse, and replaced it for free. Apparently if you jam plugs into the lighter outlet at the wrong angle it bumps something that causes the lighter to stop working.

I just had the problem with my radio, so I will try your fix tonight. Hope it works!

What exactly do you all mean when you say your radio "died"? does nothing come on at all? My radio comes on, but will not do anything. The power/volume knob is the only thing that functions. it appears to be playing a cd if there is one in it, but no sound comes out and none of the other buttons do anything. has anyone encountered this problem before? I'm about to have a third radio put it under warranty and the dealership has absolutely no idea what is going on. please help!!

2003 Jetta GLI with Monsoon system, added on factory cd changer, mtx thunderform sub with built in amp.

I have an '02 Jetta with a constant Engine Light on. I had the light code checked and it read "Catylist threshold below bank 1 crossed". But the car ran fine. To be safe, I decided to have a pro look at it. Took it to the mechanic and they said it was my O2 sensors ($600) and/or my Cat converter ($300). So I got the O2 sensors fixed because I had 85k miles on it and they tend to go bad around then. 1 Week later the light comes on again. I get it checked again. Same light code. So this time, I get the cat converter fixed. 1 week later the light shows up again with the same code. The car is still running smoothly. No other problems what soever. Mechanics are stumped and say that in theory, all that was done to the car to fix the light, has been done. They thought that maybe it was a switch that VW had to turn over or something. I think they might be right, but want to know if anybody else has had the same prob. Let me know.

-Rich

richworld1979@yahoo.com.

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI. The radio suddenly stopped working. Thank you, thank you to the genius who said the way to fix this is to pull out fuse 42 and then stick it back in again.

I tried to do this at night and it didn't work. Then I realized when I tried to do it in the daylight that I had miscounted the rows to find fuse 42. Because I don't have seat heaters or some other option the bottom row of fuses is almost empty. Therefore, I didn't count that row because I couldn't see it. When I counted again, I ended up on a yellow 25 bus fuse. Pulled it out, put it back in. Amazingly, the radio works now! It must have needed a reboot or something... I cannot drive without the radio, so many thanks for sharing this solution.

Had a 1986 Jetta 4 door sedan. Sold at 130,000 miles. Was happy with it. Bought a 2005 Wagon 5 speed TDI, biggest problem so far was the CD player not working, it was under warranty so they replaced it. It was sporadic. Now this morning the coolant light came on, not sure if the fact that it's been below zero for days has anything to do with it. Overall, been very happy with the Jettas.

Regarding jetta radio/power not working.. I have a 2002 Jetta GLS and about 3 weeks ago (mid-January 2007), the radio simply stopped working. I tried the fuse 42 fix, but no luck. Yesterday, my battery died (it was the original car battery) and I had to get a new one installed. Presto! The radio now works. Seems the power loss to the radio was a harbinger of the dead battery. I did have complete power loss to the radio a couple of years ago and the fuse 42 trick did work that time. Just thought I'd share this with others who may experience what I did.

I just had a heck of a time with the CD player not working. It would play some, but not others, then the ones that wouldn't play one day would be fine the next day. I was SO glad it wasn't working when I brought it in. They just replaced it. Been very happy with my 05 TDI, my coolant light went on so I just added more coolant. Ended up going to the VW place to buy it, not sure if I had to, but nothing I had in the garage was even the same color. I am hoping it fires up this morning, we've got 20 below zero temps here, it's in the garage, so far so good. People say the diesels are a pain in the cold weather, but haven't had problems...yet. LOL.

My 2002 Jetta has been an absolute gem and now has over 90,000 miles on it. The only two problems have been with the passenger side window that mysteriously disappeared into the 'window well' (same thing occurred on my '99 Jetta). Today's mysterious and sudden disappearance of the radio/CD function brought me to this wonderful website.

My personal thanks to all of those who recommended the removal of the now-infamous Fuse #42. THE SYSTEM WORKED!!

Alas, my condolences now go to the local dealership who wanted to charge me $49 just to look at it.

Thank you fellow Jetta owners ~ and thank you Fuse #42!

Finally fixed radio in my jetta. Our 02 jetta has had check on th screen for the past month. we have tried everything to get it going. We pushed buttons 1..2..3..4 and it actually flashed our radio code.. Then it turned on and is working fine now... Really strange. Also been through a transmission. and now it idles really rough when cold. I will never purchase another volkswagen again unless it's a old bug.