Five problems related to cooling fan have been reported for the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta based on all problems reported for the 2003 Jetta.
One of the two large cooling fans in the front of the engine failed. The part must be replaced to prevent engine overheating. The part number is 6x0-959-445-f.
The car was parked for two days without being driven. While it was parked, neighbors ran over to report it was smoking under the hood. We saw that there were flames coming out from underneath the front of the car. Fire department came, but fire had already extinguished itself. Fire department disconnected the battery ground and said the wires going to the cooling fan had set on fire. All of this was spontaneous. Engine was not on.
I have a piece of junk Volkswagen Jetta 1. 8t that is a lemon. At 64,000 miles the fan shorted out and caused some problems to the tune of $800. Then at 70,000 miles the air tubes melted making the car run terrible. That was another $600 dollars to fix. Now at 71000 miles the heating and cooling system stopped working along with other electrical components. I have had it talking to the dealer and constantly writing Volkswagen. There customer service sucks and they do not stand by their products. Thank you, george and laura bogdan.
Check engine light during work out of state. Diagnosis at a service station indicated both electrical cooling fans had failed. I replaced them with aftermarket fans in order to drive the car home and immediately took to the dealer. Dealer replaced both fans and found the cooling temp sensor had been shorting out. I was charged over 900. 00 for the fans and told they were not covered since I had put aftermarket fans on the car. I offered to give the dealer the stock fans so they could verify they were not working but they refused. Given I did not cause the oem parts to fail and made no modifications to the car or it's wiring with the temporary fans I feel this should be covered. Also, a search of online vw user groups indicates the problem is very common, (hundreds of identical reports on one site). I was also charged for the oem cooling parts which had failed such as temp sensor, temp switch and fan control module. For the record, I called vw and requested a tow to service and was told I would have to drive the car in.
A/c fan siezed, causing enough heat to start a fire. The shroud, upper radiator modlings, a/c hose, hood insulation and paint were damaged.