general problems of the 2009 Volkswagen GTI - part 2

While driving at highway speeds, multiple dashboard lights indicating loss of traction control, anti-lock brakes, and power steering were illuminated. This then caused issues because those systems are not working while the spedometer (would stay at 0mph when driving) and the fuel gauge (moved around randomly from 1/4 to 3/4 full). Looking into this issue I found that several owners of the same make, model, and year have had the exact problem as me.

I was driving under normal conditions on dry city street at approximately 25 mph, when suddenly a loud warning tone went off and 3 warning lights (abs, traction control, and brake) started flashing. This was in heavy two-way traffic and it was terrifying to think these systems had failed. Fortunately I was able to pull over and stop safely. The warning lights continued flashing until I turned off the engine. When I restarted the engine, the warning lights were no longer lit, so I thought it might have been some type of fluke. But to be safe I brought it to my vw dealer service center. Initially they diagnosed the issue as the dsg mechatronic unit, which they replaced. However shortly after getting the car back, the same symptoms occurred again under normal driving. This time when I brought it to vw they indicated that the abs module and pump need to be replaced, at the cost of $3,600. Vw refuses to cover the cost of repair. Due to the high cost initially I postponed the repair, but since then the same sequence of events has occurred approximately 6 more times and I have read about near-death experiences related to the same issue, so I am getting the work done. I am the original owner of the car. When this problem started it had only 29,000 miles and has always been serviced by the dealer and driven responsibly. Every time this has occurred during mild driving conditions and I was not applying the brakes. It just fails at random. Usually but not always this occurs while turning.

On 8/8/2014, I turned on my car to go work. Once I turned on the ignition/engine, all warning lights (power steering, engine, electronics, abs, esp and braking) came on or flashing. After several attempts (3 times) to restart the car, the warning lights came on and off periodically. With a last restarting attempt that morning, all warnings lights went away and I drove off to work. In the middle of the way, all warning lights came back on again. This time, power steering, abs, speedometer, gas gauge, etc. All malfunctioned periodically during my drive. During the drive, I had no idea how fast I was driving or how much gas I really had and with no power steering and abs etc. I did arrive at work safely but not without some serious and perhaps dangerous maneuvers with a nonworking power steering, abs, and other electronic components. I took the car to a vw dealership in braintree MA the next morning. After a weekend of diagnosis and a random repair to the ignition switch, the dealership told me it was the abs control module fault and it needed a replacement. Since that vw dealership was not able to give me a precise diagnosis without repairing random parts of my car and had me paid for it, I took the car to another vw dealership in danvers MA. After hours of diagnosis, I got the same result that the abs control module is at fault. I had the dealership replaced the abs control module and paid thousands for the repair. Now the car is running fine. But knowing that the abs control module fault is very common among my model of the car at all mileage from research and talking with local mechanics, I want to make aware of this problem and the dangers behind a random failure in the abs control module that can cause failure of both electronic and mechanic components in the car which can lead to serious accidents, injuries, or even deaths without slightest warning on the road.

About a month after buying the car during one of the larger snow storms this year in va. I was on my way to work and was stopping at a stop light when I get "christmas lights," on my dash, beeping three times and flashing ecs, as well as abs. I drove to work without huge incident knowing my abs and ecs were turned off at this point, and parked to see if turning the car on and off would reset the lights. I didn't worry until the next morning when on my home after a 12 hour night shift when it happened again, this time I was moving and trying to slow down on ice after the night of snow, as soon as I hit the brake the dashboard lit up again, causing me to slide into a curb, almost hitting another car. I then did some research and found it to be a faulty or bad abs control module, I then took my car into vw a few weeks later to get serviced for the issue, and they could not reproduce the problem. I have since shipped the car to spain while I am here for a couple years and have reproduced the problem without ice, snow, or even water, twice in a week period. . Read more...

Several 2009 Gti owners are reporting that they are having issues with the abs control module. Upon loss of traction, the abs control module can generate a faulty signal, causing the ecu to disable abs, and traction control. This has happened to me several times now especially during the winter when roads are slippery and it is needed most. The following is the common cel code: 1 fault found: 01130 - abs operation 008 - implausible signal - intermittent address abs brakes (-----) labels: 1k0-907-379-60ec1f. Clb part no 1k0 907 379 ae 1k0 907 379 ae component: esp mk60ec1 h35 0104.