I need help!
Asked by Silky Dec 23, 2014 at 06:13 PM about the 2002 Volkswagen Jetta
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a 2002 volkswagen jetta. i had jumped on the highway and not even 5 minutes
into the drive the car started smoking out the engine. I opened the hood & lots of white
smoke was coming out but there was tons of antifreeze all over the place spare bottle
also empty. After the smoke stopped, i noticed that there was tons of antifreeze on the
lower right side of the engine. Now the car doesn't want to start. Does anyone have an
idea of what the problem may be? Would appreciate all the help.... please and thank
you!
13 Answers
Burst radiator hose, plugged radiator, blown intake gasket, blown water pump/gasket, blown freeze plug... Might be a simple problem or a major one, sorry to say - time to get it into the shop. (the smoke was likely from coolant hitting the exhaust manifold and vaporizing) Whatever you do don't drive it without coolant, or you'll overheat again, it can cause serious damage to the engine.
I suggest you look underneath the car, maybe start with the bottom radiator hose. (That's my first guess) Don't try to start the car until you can get some coolant back in the engine.
Thank you guys for the information. I don't know too much bout cars but I was kinda thinking the same thing. Whether it may be a radiator hose, the radiator itself, or the water pump. YTLAS thank you, imma have someone look at that first. KenF thank you for giving me other things that i should also take a look at. Now i have a question for anyone that may have an answer with all the information that i just received, Would any of them things may not allow the car to turn on again?
It would be guesswork without being able to look at the car. Something could have happened to the starter or starter solenoid, in addition to whatever caused your antifreeze to leak all over. If you have a mechanic friend get them over to look at it. Hopefully it isn't a major issue like a cracked block. Then again your rad hose might have gone and taken a battery cable with it. You'll have to check that everything under the hood is intact. Check both rad hoses, the serpentine belt, the coolant reservoir, all battery cables (esp. those to the starter), try refilling the radiator with water and see if it starts leaking from somewhere - leaks from the engine itself might indicate a blown gasket, freeze plug, or god forbid a crack in the head or block. Good luck.
Thank u Tom, i will tell the person that is going to check my car this weekend. I thought that all of the steaming hot water that went all over maybe melted an old cable. HOPE THAT EVERYONE HAS AN AWESOME HOLIDAY SEASON!
The vw's have a bunch of rad hose special connectors that tend to blow out after a bit of time. As for the starting issue yes it coulda havegotten into a wire harness but i can almsot guarante it blew out a temp sensor when this happened. It is a saftey feature that hte car has that if the car does not get a proper temp reading it won't start. Check all your air intake lines when they look and all your wireing and wiring harneses as well as vacum lines when they check it out. also be sure to have um checkthe starter like they suggested before.
Thank u Deathjam4, i have only had this car for a lil over a yr after my fiance past away. The car was given to him by his dad. So honestly i dont think that anything was ever done to this car. when the spark plugs were replaced they were the original plugs from the car & the car wasn't really driven around. Now that the car is in my hands, everything is falling apart! The car is almost 13yrs old.... but thank u for all that info bout the temp sensor & all the info on the wiring. Truly appreciate all u guys trying to help me. I wish I was a mechanic....lol
well if this is the case with the car be sure to take the car to a vw certified mechanic that is not going to tell you what you want to hear but will tell you the truth. The older these cars get the more and more money you have to sink into them. give me a heads up what make model and engine the car is and ill try and help you pin out some stuff you might need to have replaced before it breaks on you. and as much as i hate to say it but a car this age if its not been babyed wil have alot of issues that will only get worse. I am almsot always on this web site so ill help if you ever have any other questions when ever i can. :)
That's so nice of u! Well I just went to where the car is & the guy checked a bunch of stuff. We were looking & right where the temperature sensor is at that connects like 3 or 4 hoses , Itz leaking the coolant. He was messing with the sensor & the car kinda wanted to start but nothing so I bought the sensor but it won't be put in til tomorrow. I must say that when he was messing with the sensor it brought the temperature gage all the way & the temperature light kept blinking. We check the fuel pump that under the bk seat & it was working bcuz we can hear it. I truly hope that it is sSomething easy Bcuz this is stressing...
it can be yes. sorry for the long response i was traveling. Any ways once that sensor and 4 pipe hose is replaced it should fire up no problem. This pipe connector tends to go on all the models with the same engine. so if the sensor is not reading a temp or is reading to hot the engine will either stall out or not start.
nickynap20 answered 9 years ago
Some where along the line you have an anti freeze leak for sure =whit smoke, don't drive it till you repair it
Maverick_440 answered 9 years ago
Well I fixed the temperature sensor & the connector. The car still doesn't want to turn on. Does anyone have any idea what may be wrong? Plz help, Itz been bout 2 months that I have not had a vehicle & it sux!!!
once my car was low on oil and even when I put oil it wouldn't start for 5 days. Nothing. Now the antifreeze lite came on and I put antifreeze and the car is dead again. Do you know if this is a saftely devise that shuts the car off?
