1989 Volkswagen Jetta Something is wrong with the electrica

MIKOOL

MEMBER
1989 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
300,000 MILES

Hello, I would like to know if you have any idea what could be the problem with my jetta. About a week ago I tried to switch out my old casette deck for a new deck, I think I may have wired it wrong because when I checked the fuse it had blown. I replaced the fuse and had a cd deck installed for me but now my battery continues to get drained somehow. I checked my lights and fuses and whenever I get a boost my car starts up and then the alternator charges the battery while I drive, but once i've been parked for half and hour or so my battery doesn't have enough juice to power the starter. Do you have any idea of what could be wrong? Maybe I need to bring back my cd deck but i'm not sure.

1 Reply

BOADIDDLY

MEMBER
4 POSTS

I have an 85 Jetta and had the same problem. My son bought the car 8 years ago and replaced the stock am/fm cassette with a 10 stacker CD player. He had it professionally installed. He was always having NO START problems after that and needed to charge up the battery all the time.

A couple of years later the heater core went he gave me the car.

I had problems with the battery going so low I could not start the car whenever I used the sound system. I finally had to stop using it. But, even not using it, I had to charge up my battery every couple of months. Several weeks ago, my son got a van and wanted the sound system from my Jetta, so he took it out and I have not put in anything else. I have not had any problems starting the car since then.

I think the combination of an older battery, a sound system that sucks a lot of juice, mainly local driving, and the old Jetta weak charging system all contributed to the problem. Seems you just can't "put a new patch on an old garment"

However, the fact that you blew a fuse suggests that the system has a short somewhere. Could be a wire is making contact with metal somewhere in the dash or something. If I was you, I would remove the fuse to the sound system to disengage it for a couple of weeks and see how the car starts.