First of all, I love your YouTube channel!
My question is about a 1999 beatle I bought for $500. It has 108,000 miles so I thought, that is a good deal for a 99 with 108,000 miles, I was never more wrong. I was told it needs a new battery, I went immediately to get one, when I changed it, it never started again... The turn signals do not work, and who knows what else I only drove it 10 freakin miles! Any thoughts on what could be the major issue here? Oh also it don’t even try to crank, it does nothing when I turn the key, except the lights and everything come on.
I suggest you cut your losses and get rid of it.
Modern VW’s are notorious for turning into endless money pits as they age, and you have bought a front row ticket which lets you see the vehicle fall apart, before your very eyes.
Don’t throw good money after bad.
If you’re hell bent on holding on to it, visit the FAQ section of this website to diagnose your problems.
Could be the starter motor needs replacement. Could be an electrical short in the ignition system. Could be a number of things.
Those cars are not worth the headache. I would ditch it and just try to get back your $500.
You may want to start by determining if your starter is good.
(Whenever you diagnosis an electrical circuit always begin at the load and in this case the load is your starter)
So remove the black connector with the small wire off of your starter.
You'll want to attach jumper cables to the + and - terminals of your battery.
Clamp the negative jumper cable clamp on a CLEAN starter mounting bolt.
Clamp the positive jumper cable on the bolt on the solenoid with the thick battery cable attached to it.
Now use a wire or a screwdriver and jump that positive battery cable on the solenoid to the spade terminal on the solenoid (which you removed the black connector from).
If the starter is good it will engage and turn.
If it doesn't you need a new starter/solenoid.
If it does then check the relay and relay fuses to make sure they're good, and begin back at the starter connections and work your back toward the battery, testing for power along the way.
