My car makes weird noise and doesn't accelerate... I don't know what it is.

140

Asked by Prescila May 21, 2015 at 09:18 PM about the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GL 1.8T Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Okay so about two weeks ago My
mechanic did an oil change and
everything seemed fine that day.
After getting out from work that night
I turned on my car , and as I was
making a right turn my cars engine
made this really loud sound as if I
had pressed the gas pedal all the
way down but my car was only going
about 10 mph. I kept pressing the
gas pedal but the car wouldn't move
any faster and the sound of the
engine was just loud. The
tachometer arrow went almost
completely all the way up but my car
wouldn't accelerate beyond 10mph. I
got to the side of the street turned off
my car and then turned it back on,
the car was fine. I've been driving the
car for about a week now, and I only
have that problem when the car has
been off for hours  and if I don't
warm it up for about 8 min. The
mechanic says the car is fine but I'm
not too sure. The car runs good at
high speeds in the freeway and
everything it just has that problem
when I barely turn it on and warm it
up for less than 5 min. Not sure what
it is and not engine light comes on.
Help.

33 Answers

4,385

Is your car automatic or manual? Sounds like a worn clutchorr an automatic that's low on fluid.

3 people found this helpful.
4,385

Is it possible that they drained some transmission fluid out by mistake when they went to drain the engine oil?

140

Maybe because my car was running fine before the oil change... What a coincidence that that problem occurred the same day the guy did the oil change..

3 people found this helpful.
4,385

That's what I'm thinking. I think the transmission fluid should be checked. The Jetta doesn't have a dipstick to check though. It has to be checked electronically by someone with the proper equipment.

1 people found this helpful.
140

Yeah I know... Well I have it checked by Saturday! Thank you so much!!

1 people found this helpful.
45,175

ive never heard this happen before but usually this problem can occur like they said with low trans fluid. If you did not take your car to a vw specialist shop the first time i would do so this next time. google map is your friend just type vw or audi in your search bar and should come up with all the local garages

2 people found this helpful.
4,385

Deathjam, believe it or not I've seen this several times. Oil change kid in a hurry I guess. Your advice is good of course, but this girl may have unfinished business with the last shop too.

45,175

yep i would be sure to have the bill in hand from the mechanic shop that did the refill of the trans-fluid and the oil change. but have the transmission checked for leaks the most common place of leaks is the front passenger side axle at the cup. The bearings in the dif ware out and then the axel wobbles and lets all the fluid out over time. The trany fluid looks like oil so its hard to tell which is which half the time. 95% bet on the oil change guy drained the trany fluid either on purpose or by mistake.

1 people found this helpful.
140

So he said it's something with the transmission and it's gonna cost about $2,500! TF

1 people found this helpful.
140

Oh yeah and today the check engine light came on and the car totally didn't wanna accelerate anymore. Problem got worse.

1 people found this helpful.
4,385

Prescilla, did you have the shop that changed your oil check the transmission fluid or did you go to a dealer or VW specialty shop? I'm curious if you have spoken with that shop about the problem immediately following the oil change. What is it that your being told needs repair for the $2500?

1 people found this helpful.
140

About 97,000 miles. My mechanic next door he specializes in vw. He's the one who also sold me the car.

1 people found this helpful.
140

Idk details yet. He doesn't open the shop today. Ima have to wait til tmrw to ask for more details. But yeah, I told him about the oil change, because he didn't do the oil change himself he's the one who usually does it but that day I was in a hurry and needed an oil change and only the other guy was available, I messed up by letting that other guy change it. Ima ask him if he checked the fluid.

45,175

the car at 96,000 is really starting to hit its main stride in maintenance. At 90,000 you need a timing belt change. All the the fluids should be changed regardless if they have not already at this stage, trany fluids and anti freeze is what i mean by that. a basic tune up spark plugs and sensors should be checked. THe older modals had nitoriously bad 3-4 joint connector antifreeze hose. But back to the trany a fluid flush may fix the issue but tell your mechanic friend to check the passenger side axle for play and leaks. as this could be a bad bearing in the dif had that once with my audi but my audi is 4 wheel drive so never made a big issue. Find a mr transmission in your area you may be able to have it fixed cheaper.

2 people found this helpful.
20

I have a 2013 VW Jetta se, I loose acceleration when starting from 0 and sometimes when I'm driving 65 on the highway. The car has 34k miles and is almost out of warrantee. They claim that the car needs an alignment and tires- I'm on my second set by the way- the computer is misrepresenting this for an accident and canceling acceleration. What is your opinion?

2 people found this helpful.
45,175

i take it your car has not thrown any codes yet? VW in my experience won't repair something under warranty unless it throws a code or is broken. Lucky for you i have a simalur car and have experianced alot of thotling issues. Tell me in full what exactly happens when you tap the gas peddle. Does the car hit say 3000 rpms then stop and refuse to go any further? has the car been in -20 C wheater or below recently? Can you hear a loose flaping sound when you tap the gas repetedly? And a car should not require 2 sets of tires in less then 35000 km. I do know That my continental summer tires that came brand new from vw when i bought my 2012 jetta have already begone to crack and break down and i literaly have less then 15000 km on them and most tires last 35000km - 65000km depending on the car they are one. And the jetta is a light car.

20

My car is making a loud whistle sound with a little howling when I push down to go faster the noise stop but soon I take my foot off noise starts back started making noise day after oil change... 2006 volkswagen jetta 2.5 when my car is in park my tachometer goes in between 10 and 20

1 people found this helpful.
45,175

sounds like a vacum leak get under the hood wit hsome soapy water and start looking for bubles on seals and vacum lines

I got an oil change a week ago. Car was running fine until a week later the EPC light came on followed by the check engine light. I tried to accelerate and the car barely moved or fails to go passed 60mph. Brought it to a mechanic and he said, looks like your throttle body needs to be replaced. Few days later, now my care seems to have trouble turning on when I turn the ignition. Please assist me on my next step. Should I get a new throttle body or the issue worse. I have a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta with 80k miles.

45,175

well first place to look would be at all the seals and covers and look to see if you can find any signs of oil sweating out of any where. I know my 2.5 L jetta had its fair share of engine light issues all oil related. My top contending issues was my Vacum pump which is a solid oil powered bar that runs straight threw the middle of your engine. The seal on the end of it *drivers side next to the throtle body and a bit below* tends to blow the seal out of it if you get to much back pressure in the engine from say lack of oil or a clogged oil intake in the pan. (mine had a block of ice in it 2 winters in a row and more then once to cause this from normal everyday driving ...) have youroil filter checked for signs of squeezing if the oil pump is not functioning right it will squeeze the filter to it really tight. As for throtle body issues mine had the flipper plate fall right out of it so take off the air breather hose and check that plate if it has any play at all the throtle body is no longer any good. hopes this helps. Also a note on the plastic intake manifold (the large curved piece of plastic at the front of the engine) it tends to rattle its self loose over time so having a garage with a modafied hex key to tighten it would not be a bad idea at this point.

1 people found this helpful.

I have a similar situation to this but with my 1993 Honda Civic Dx Hatchback, it started off with a fan noise like if something was hitting it eventually stopped accelerating and making a loud annoying noise from the engine & would turn off, I got it checked out but I keep getting different answers, some say It could be the timing belt or the head gaskets and others say the injectors gave out, at this point I'm coming to This page as last resort....

45,175

have you tryied checking the fan clutch ? and a little more info may be needed if you can possibly make a small video and post it up on youtube of the engine running and it might help

No, butThanks man!! This info is really helpful !! I'd appreciate it if you can email me at Jayarredondo24@gmail.com so I can give you a link to the video once uploaded .

I have a 2014 jetta...after the front light went out & then a sensor now I have this noise when I'm driving this car...I changed the oil...but noise doesn't go away..the guy who change the oil says the noise will go away with time..but I didn't have this before. It's been checked several times & I'm told engine is fine. So where would the noise cone from..any advise?

I jus recently did a timing change on 04 vw beetle non turbo 2.0. My question is my serpentine belt squeaks when I accelerate and hit the brakes. I put a new tensioner and belt on but noticed my motor moved a lot now like a mount is broken. Can a motor mount cause these issues with a belt to squeak on acceleration and hitting the brake. My pullies are fine and tensioner is good due to a lot being replaced during my process of guessing. Have checked the belt while on idle and straight as an arrow. Very confused on the issue

Precila, did you ever find out what was wrong with your Jetta? My daughter has a 2014 Jetta and the exact thing just happened. It would not accelerate, made a awful revving noise when she pushed the gas, and hers jolted when she braked. Trans fluid is fine...

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