About Rick O. Expertise Classic, aircooled (rear engine) 1949-1979 VW's, specializing in electrical problems, fuel injection, and Type 181 "The Thing".
NOTE: I have limited experience on water-cooled VWs (Rabbit, Golf, Jetta, etc...) but I am glad to help to the extent of my knowledge, due to the fact there are currently no other experts registered for these models.
Experience 15 years of aircooled VW ownership and maintenance.
Publications Wikipedia, VW Beetle
Education/Credentials Retired US military Electronics Tech/Master Training Specialist, Civilian Computer engineer.
Question Hi there, I have a 99 VW Golf 4 cylinders Automatic transmetion, recently I took it to an automatic Presure washing place and in my way home the car would not run as it suppose to, i give it some gas and the RPM keep fluctuating up and down and then the car stalls, I tried to restart the car again it did not start i kept it for about half an hour and try to restart it again it did start but as soon as i press the gas paddle the RPM plays again and the car would not move no momentom at all so i managed to take it back home i left the car for about 10 months period parked as i went oversease and when i got back the battery died and wont charge via jumpstarting so i replaced the battery with a brand new one and here i got a new problem:
1) I can start the car fine with no problem and when i give it gas the RPM does not fluctuate up/down
2) I took it for a road test again i have noticed a new problem which is the Transmition, it does not shift properly almost like slipping but this sometimes happen sometimes does not slip, I thought maybe because the car is cold yet so i keep it running for awhile and then tried to take a road test its the same thing transmition wont shift properly keep slipping, but sometimes i notice it does not slip it shift ok.
So i would like to know what is wrong with my car hear and how can i fix it. please give me precise description of the things i have to check before i finally give up and take it to the dealership for some diagnostic.
waiting for your replay as fast as possible. thank you very much for your time and effort.
Answer Ayman,
You gave an excellent description of the problem. Unfortunately I cannot give you a specific answer, but I believe you have an electrical problem due water in the engine compartment, or a broken contact with possibly a critical engine monitoring sensor. My advice is to get the ECU scanned for any error codes. This may help narrow down the possibilities.
