Rough idling , misfire code, check engine light flashing

Asked by GuruY1GW6 Mar 15, 2018 at 12:39 PM about the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have had my jetta for two years. It started acting
funny when driving and car would loose power. So I
replaced spark plugs , spark plug wires and battery.
It was fine for a few months . Then it started idling
rough when at stop light and when light turned
green it takes forever to accelerate so I replaced
the ignition coil. Worked ok then started shaking
worse and check engine light keeps flashing and
cooling is worse.  I took it and had it diagnosed  
and it read camshaft portion censor was bad and it
was misfiring. So I had it replaced , got an oil
change, tune up , new rings , and the put new spark
plugs and spark plug wires. But it is still continuing
to do the same thing. Also when it shakes when in
gear and still taking forever to accelerate. Does
anyone know what it could possible be ?

25 Answers

25,630

This can be caused by a bad camshaft position sensor. If you paid for the repair you describe recently, take it back to the shop and demand that they fix it correctly. Don't forget the receipt they gave you, the type of warranty they offer must be printed on it.

10 people found this helpful.
100

Hi did you found the solution,mine does the same think

10 people found this helpful.
40

Same thing need help replaced the sensor and everything

4 people found this helpful.
190

The problem is water in our tanks. It happens to me every 9 weeks or so and I add a bottle of iso-heet and it goes away in a couple of miles. I have no idea how the water is getting in other than condensation.

5 people found this helpful.
210

GuruHGV4W How do you know about that? did you get a p0300? i'm having the same problem hard start (i have to go halfway with the gas pedal to start) P0300 (random misfire) sometimes it only shows cylinder 1, 3 & 5 and sometimes it shows all 5 cylinders is nuts!!! embarrasing and seems like is gonna die in the freaking stop light. i already replaced camshaft position sensor, cranckshaft position sensor, all spark plugs, couple coil packs, MAF, VVT sensor, oil, Some air vac hoses, stupid air filter and problem persist!!! i don't wanna put no more money into it. =( i'm gonna put fire on it!!! >=( Stupid jetta!!!! what else can i do!!!???? i bet i replace the whole engine and problem is gonna persist with the new one haha! Help guys! please!

21 people found this helpful.
190

Yes, I get the p030X. I have tried now to change my driving habits to rev the engine more. I used to drive very conservatively and low revs. I do not use highways very often (do you??) so I think it has something to do with it. I have not had a missfire yet, but carry the Isoheet in the glove compartment anyway.

7 people found this helpful.
230

My jetta was doing the same thing. Had the spark plugs changed last week. It did the same this morning. I was taking my kid to school and it kept jumping in downtown traffic. So embarrassing. The car cut off at one point. Once I was on a long stretch of road the car was fine. I’m sitting here idling at work now and it’s not doing it. I’m going to try to ISO-heet. Crossing fingers and toes that’s you’re right and it works. I can’t keep taking off work to fix the car. Ridiculous.

6 people found this helpful.
230

Is it making your check engine light come on & the traction control? Mine is.

17 people found this helpful.
120

Seriously, my jetta is having the same problems, I’m in school so I left Orlando to go home for spring break and at one point on the highway Thee car refused to accelerate and the check engine light and epc light was on. Had the codes read and I was told to replace the Camshaft Position Sensor. Had that replaced and the car is even worse now. When the RPM gets past 3 the epc light comes on and cruise control stops working then traction control light comes on and the car starts slowing down by itself and I’m like this is I-95 somebody’s gonna hit me if I can’t get off to the side quick enough. I honestly want to report this so it can be recalled, because if we al have the same problem and nothing is fixing it we’re not in the wrong here something else is up.

12 people found this helpful.
80

I had the same problem after I just purchased one went through everything I could find a problem and all related to a misfire in cylinder two The plug-in cylinder two was bad it fell apart when I took it out but it was not the whole problem camshaft sensor was and wasn't the problem The sensor wasn't bad itself but if you look at the wiring and the wires that split I soldered it back together and liquid taped it and it worked great

8 people found this helpful.
190

I've dealt with Isoheet everytime and I think it's just coincidence. If I get the misfire now I let the car sit to warm up. After 15 minutes I turn the car off and wait 5 minutes, the car it's fine after that. It seems to me that it typically happens after rains or high humidity. Maybe the spark plug wiring its faulty and grounds with humidity? Maybe that's why when it's warm it does not happen (dries up). I am baffled and irritated.

7 people found this helpful.
70

Having same issue like it does not want to go this is the second time it has done this to me the first time I replaced the ignition coil and spark plug wires ignition coil did not fix the issue but the spark plug wires did I'm ready to just crash this I was told by a former Volkswagen employee to call them and ask if there is a bulletin for this issue I have called and left a voicemail so as soon as I get a return call about it I will let everyone know just an FYI my car only has 59,000 miles so I am not sure why this is happening I have put seafoam in it as well as heat =/

7 people found this helpful.
60

I have had this happen to my car twice. The first time was shortly after I had the 40K service done at the dealership. Three of the four spark plugs were bad. They replaced them and it was fine for about 10K miles and then it happened again. Only one spark plug was bad this time. It was broken... Not sure how. The dealership has no idea what is happening. They called the VW tech line and they had no idea either. The service manager looked online and couldn't find an answer. It seems to be fine right now, but I'm nervous and not sure I want to keep my car. It's only a 2016 and only has 54K miles. It's my third Jetta and I've loved it until now. Hope someone figures something out.

6 people found this helpful.
40

I am having the same problem for my 2014 jetta VW. It started when I stopped at a light then tried to push on the acceleration to go. The car started to shake and started to move slowly down the road. I barely got it to the shop. At the shop they said cylinder four was not firing correctly. The engine was putting to much fuel into the cylinder making the cylinder fire to frequently. They still dont know what's wrong.

4 people found this helpful.
30

I took my car to VW finally for this issue.. they said it was ignition coil, wires, and spark plugs, my abs and air bag light came on for that it was the left front speed sensor.. $1423 later she works. I was assured that I wouldnt need to replace any of that for remaining life of the car!

3 people found this helpful.
50

I had the same issue you guys were having. If you guys have already replaced ignition coils spark plugs go and check lpfp and hpfp. Make sure the low pressure fuel pump isn't whinning. Also change fuel filter which the regulator tends to get locked up which doesn't deliver correct fuel causing misfire. I change mine every 20,000-30,000 miles. After replacing lpfp and regulator. As is well happy hunting

5 people found this helpful.
40

Has anyone got a proper solution for this ? Mine has that issue too

4 people found this helpful.
20

Have a 2015 jetta. It will run rough at idle and looses power at speed. It has died 3 times. I am in the beginning phase of trouble shoot and jave not yet put a scanner on it. It feels like something is shorting and causing a misfire. The wife Jas complains of a intermittent hiccup when driving. It was taken to dealer, they found nothing....

2 people found this helpful.
10

I have a 2006 Volkswagon Jetta, few miles on it. The transmission would jerk badly when shifting into certain gears so we cleaned the solenoids. Then the other day my car started shaking, I parked it and came back and hour later and it was doing the same thing. Then I decided to check the codes it was throwing and it threw 18: cylinder 1,3,4,5,2 were misfiring, misaligned camshaft, leak in the intake, and catalyst efficiency is low (I refuse to fix the last one because there is no need to). When I shut the engine off and turned on the car I cleared the codes. When I went to start it, it would try then kill itself. I recycled the key to restart because it won't start from the same state after killing itself. I decided to look to see if any sensors were unplugged under the hood and they were fine. I pressed the gas a little in order to start it and went to my house to have someone pick me up from my town's co-op station (automotive shop) and saw it threw more codes. When I shut the car off and turned the key on, I plugged the code reader back in, read the codes, and erased them and now it works like a dream. I don't exactly know why it is having these problems, but if anyone has the same misfires, camshaft, and intake problems, maybe try and check/clear the codes. No guarantee that it will work.

1 people found this helpful.
120

Hey all. It seems that everyone is having the same issues i was having. I have spent months working on these very issues. The slow acceleration as mentioned above for me was solved by changing the fuel filter, and the lpfp. Car drives like new on the highway or straight roads. The rough idle was challenging. I joked that my car was jumping rope, mine too would shake so bad the traction light came on. This was several solutions. PCV (oil separator), cam sensor, purge valve, fuel filter, lpfp, and the coils. Also, ran some seafoam to clean the fuel injectors. Car is running well as of now. Hope this helps some.

12 people found this helpful.
70

Stop throwing money and parts at it. Find a REPUTABLE shop and get a proper diagnosis

7 people found this helpful.
40

When the EPC (Electronic Power Control) light comes on, it deliberately throws the car into less than half the power mode. This causes the car to become sluggish, slow, dns causes it to shudder. The reason the EPC light comes on could be many. Sensors Fuel system Electrical issues with the ignition system Etc It’s seems to me, the EPC light is a after sale, replacement parts cash grab by the VW company. Seems, they drain people of their money making them replace one old part after another, making $1,000s per car. Seems like thousands of cars have this same problem every year. VW's making $millions a year just from this. Some consumer protection agency of media company should conduct an investigation into this.

4 people found this helpful.
60

I own a 2013 jetta s model which is the standard , i also went thru the whole EPC light ,engine light flashing, and loosing acceleration while driving especailly when reaching a high rpm, misfires...This fixed my problem and since then i dont encounter those problems. Been 2 years and my car runs normal again.... All i did was replace the spark pluggs and the wires that come with coil boots... hope this helps out

6 people found this helpful.

@ozzie do you know the part number you got? Im having same issue and i have the same car

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