I have a 2005 VW Jetta and several months ago the engine light came on. My car has no power now going up hill and idles real hard at times also. And the RPM gets up to 40 or 45 before it changes.

Sounds like timing. Have someone check your timing. Belt could be fraying and making the noise.

Whats the mileage on the Jetta? And I would have to agree with Patrick on the Timing belt from what I read on your posting..

Its a 2005. I had a friend plug his machine into it and it gave codes that said Crank Shaft Sensor.....Intake air system.....Cylinder 1 misfire :( Don't know what any of that means lol

Well you might be in luck if it's just a cylinder missfire it could be as simple as a sparknplug or a coil, intake might just be a evap leak and the crank shaft sensor is a bad sensor that plugs into your crank shaft.

Well i hope so!!!! But my luck.....it will be the most expensive parts that need replaced.

The other two suggestions would seem about right to me. Have the belt checked and try to pin point the loud noise. IS the ticking noise jsut a louder version of your old one ? or is it as if the muffler has become detacthed and sounds like it is lacking a muffler? Most often the older cars had a flex pipe that would loose the interier before the mesh screen and this could be the loud issue.

The ticking noise is the same.....just louder. But also sounds like my muffler is missing. It's gotten louder over time and now sounds like i have a dang race car! And the muffler is smoking now too. It's never done that before. Having it towed to the shop today so hopefully they can diagnose the exact problems. Thanks for your help everyone! Your answers have given me hope that maybe it wont cost me thousands of dollars to fix the issues!

np a good question to ask yourself as well is when was the last time the timing belt was done on your car? All vw/Audi's need the timing belt replaced very 90,000 km as well as the water pump pulleys hardware and thermostat as well as the tensioners. So any time after the 90k your car is running off of borrowed time before a larger issue happens. Most vw engines are interference engines so when a belt snaps or slips it runs a risk of damaged heads pistons and valves. so defantly look into it asap. and my intal thought is yes you probly have a split muffler pipe at the flex joint. Oh and smoke out the pipe what colour is it ? black or white? and does it smell perhaps like oil or anti freeze? if it smells like oil it will smell like a chainsaw or a snowmobile its very distinct.

broken wires in trans try droping your trans pan look around mine did the same thing try reset computer unblug battery works sometimes

GET THE CODES READ! Those lights are telling you there is a problem and you need to get the codes read so you know what to fix. If the dealer told you to keep driving the car with the CEL on then they are idiots. At this point your car is in limp mode which means there is a serious problem.