[crystal2kaye]

Maybe it's because I'm a girl and dumb when it comes to cars, but I just want to see if anyone has had similar problems to myself. So PLEASE bear with me when it comes to questions and answers because I may just have no idea.

In Feb 2012 I bought a 2009 Jetta SE (2.5L Tiptronic). What a beautiful, sporty, fun car. Just over 50k miles so the bulbs (both daytime running) needed to be repaired shortly after I bought it, but I'm assuming they were factory and it was just time for new ones. Though it feels like every month another bulb is going out and Im about to pull my hair? They should have just replaced all the bulbs before giving it to me. Guess I'm spoiled that way.

Last Monday, it was pretty warm and to avoid burning my butt, I ran outside to start my car and turn on the AC. When I came back outside 10 min later the car wasnt running. Which I thought was strange. I tried to start it, and NOTHING. The odometer, time window was lit and working, the radio, windows, and sunroof worked. But the car wouldnt start. It made NO noise trying to start. No clicks, no growling. Just silence. After crying hysterically for about 5 minutes, I tried it again and the car started like a champ. Not only did I feel like a total idiot, but it just reminded me that crying makes everything all better.

I listed and watched the car close the last few days. No warning lights, no funny noises. No problems whatsoever. Must have just been a flook or some bizarre anti-theft lock I've never heard of.

Saturday morning I took my little girl for a car wash and vacuum. Came home. Was in the house about 15 min. Did not leave the car running. Went back outside to the car with my dogs. Let them in the car. Went to start it and NOTHING. Same thing. Radio, windows, lights, etc. working like nothing was wrong. But silence out of the engine. This time there was no restarting. No matter how many tears we're flying, it wouldn't just fix itself.

Had a friend check the battery (JUST IN CASE), had another friend use his fuse checker, no strange indications. A tech at the dealership I bought the car suggested it may be the Ignition Switch. A friend of mine who is a mechanic (unfortunately not very familiar with VW's) thought that sounded like a legit answer.

Yesterday morning, in hopes that it just was wet or acting up, I tried to start it again. Nothing.

This morning I tried to start it. Nothing.

It has now been towed to a local mechanic who works on import cars. He called and said everyone was incorrect, it was not the ignition switch. It was the power supply relay. The engine was getting NO power.

I dont know if this has any bearing on the story, but the car wouldn't shift out of park. No one could get it to reverse/neutral/anywhere. It was just stuck, so when the car got towed the tow man had to "manually" put it in neutral. Whatever that means.

So about this Power Supply Relay... Apparently this is not a part that can be bought at a store? It can only be purchased through VW so the part is now being shipped to the mechanic. But I can't find ANYTHING about this happening to other people online. Why does the weird stuff always happen to me?

The part that really confused me was when the mechanic mentioned that this would at least get the car running for him to see what was wrong? WHAT DOES HE MEAN WHAT WAS WRONG??? Isn't this power supply relay the problem? Did I do something to cause this to break? Is there more to the story? Do these things just break on their own?

Has ANYONE heard of this happening? Am I losing my mind? HELP!!!!!!

 

[yohann14]

This just happened to me two weeks ago in my 2008 jetta 2.0t dsg. I was driving on the highway and the engine suddenly shut off. All the electronics kept running though. Luckily I was near an exit and was able to coast off. After five mintues I was able to start the car again but it shut off about a mile down the road. At this point I had to get it towed to the dealer. They initially thought it was a problem in the ignition system as well. It ended up being the same issue you had with the relays. They replaced what they needed to and sent me on my way. They really weren't able to give a good explanation of why it happened. Let's cross our fingers and hope that we just got some bad components and this is the end of our troubles!

 

[TimTurrx]

Alright I'm not mkvi expert, but this sounds a bit fishy to me. If I were you, I would get someone you trust to check and make sure the relays are all still good. As far as I know, or heard of, there is no such thing as a main power relay to the engine. All the components that enable the engine to run are on separate relays fuses etc.
Did the engine turn over, or was it a no crank no start?
Get a volt checker and see if the battery is even working. It must be putting out a minimum of 12v to give the starter enough juice to crank the engine over.
Next, check your oil. I've seen bad bad things happen to an engine that h neglected to be lubricated, but you said it ran without hitch before, but just check anyways.
I have heard a couple horror stories of ECU's shorting because of shitty wiring from the factory, but that is rare. And I mean rare.

Hope this helps, and do all of us junkies a favor, convince more women to drive vw's

 

[Sokollr]

I am having the same issue with my 2009 2.0T. A couple of weeks ago it died while I was driving. It would start back up but would do the same thing down the road. Took it into the mechanic and it wouldn't replicate the problem so they sent me home with it. About 2 weeks later it wouldn't start. I had the same issue with getting it out of park when I had it towed. It was a Sunday so the next morning the mechanic went out there and it started up just fine and wouldn't repeat the problem. I insisted it was the power supply relay but again they couldn't replicate the problem so they sent me home with the car. Today again it won't start up.

Can anyone tell me where the power supply relay is located and what part number it is? I'm just going to replace it myself.

 

[sgebling]

This happened to my 2009 Jetta. We were out one night and it died, turned the key and nothing. A few minutes later it started and died again about a mile later. Next day drove it to a mechanic I use and it died 3 times on the way, each time restarting. Of course it never failed for him. Drove it over a 100 miles with multiple stops and starts with no problems. Next day my wife took it out and it died this time with no restart. After having it towed to a couple of mechanics, it was finally diagnosed as the power relay. Cost to repair - $67.16. Cost to tow - > $100.

 

[timfredo]

I know this is an old post, but I've been dealing with this recently on my 2012 Jetta SE. There have been occasions where I would be driving on a road or highway and out of nowhere the low battery light would come on and my steering wheel would lock up and the engine would shut off. On all occasions so far I've been lucky to turn my steering wheel enough to pull over onto the shoulder. Usually the fix would be to take the key out and then turn it back in and the engine would come on normally with no low battery light.

I've had the battery and alternator checked at both Volkswagen and Autozone and both said they were fine. I even reported this issue to a local Volkswagen and they checked everything and said it was fine and then charged me like $130 for a diagnostic... Even though I've been tracking the issue and it's happened 3 more times after visiting VW. Honestly I'm afraid to let anyone else drive this car. It happened to my girlfriend one time when she was driving my car and the same issue happened where the engine shut off, but luckily on a local road and not a highway. She was obviously terrified so I ubered over and then took the key out and back in again and engine turned on, and then I drove us home. Then this happened again a week later when I was driving back from work.

But anyways I saw this post and thought it would be worth a shot. Currently I can't afford another car and I've had this one for 6.5 years. Hopefully can stick it out a couple more and then sell it (or scrap it at this point). I asked a local shop to replace the power supply relay and they agreed, said it would be a quick job since the part was only $25. However the guy at the shop called me and said there were 4 power supply relays in the Jetta, and asked which one to replace. I had no idea so I asked what he thought and he guessed it might be the one under the dash, so I agreed and told him to replace that one. This was a week ago and no issues so far, I'm really hoping this was the fix but only time will tell.

To the OP and anyone else with this issue. Did replacing the power supply relay help? Which one was replaced?

Honestly I feel this would be such a massive scandal for Volkswagen. Cars shutting off on the highway while driving? The local VW was no help even when I reached out to them again a few weeks ago. Too bad there's no real way to prove it as it just happens randomly.