I have a 99.5/200 jetta 2.0 that overheats due to cooling fans not coming on. I have replaced the fan switch on the radiator, after jumping the terminals to check if the fans work and when the terminals are jumped they do. The temp gage goes to 190* at idle for about 10 mins. then when I hold the RPM's up a little the gage starts to climb to 230* and the fans still do not come on. The fuse in #16 is good, and the fuse link at the battery is good. Anything else I can check? Is there a fan relay under the dash? The schematics don't show one. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Well after extensive researching, I found the problem! water pump was bad. I removed the thermostat and felt the impeller inside the housing, and voila', only half the impeller was there. this was not circulating the hot H2o by the thermostatic switch in the radiator, therefore fans would not come on. Problem solved. Anyone interested in this German piece of technology? Fix one thing on this car and in a few days something else mjaor goes on not even related to the fixed problem. Fahrfugnugen is not the word I would use for this car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

lol..look on the bright side, once you fix the problem it usually doesn't come back. I work on fighter jets in the Air Force, believe me I know about pieces of crap. But it's the same deal...especialy with brand new jets! Once you fix a problem, it tends not to come back for awhile, but they are all machines and machines break, it's the nature of the beast! And the game....glad you found out quickly. Just don't get discouraged

 

i know this thread is old and problem fixed but i had to comment.

I feel your pain on the comnsistant problems one after another. My '94 has been that way and i had to laugh ad this.