1998 Jetta GLX Brake Problems

Recentley I had the brakes(rotors and pads) replaced on my 1999 Jetta GLX(it's still an A3 model). At the same time I also had my e-brake cables replaced for good measure, as they felt like they were starting to go.

All fine fine for the first 3 months, but recently I have a serious problem. Occasionally when I start the car, the e-brake light and the ABS light stay on, even though the E-brake has been turned off. It doesn't do anything bad to the brakes that I can tell, but it hinders when I can drive the car because when the e-brake light is on I don't have AC or headlights. This makes the worthless at nightime, and worse is that it gets REALLY hot in the car during the day because it's black with black leather inside. When it's 90 degrees outside, you can BBQ things on the seats inside.

I was wondering if anyone has suggestions as to what I should/could be looking for. I did the work myself with the help of a friend, so I can't take it to a dealer and have them fix it without getting charged an arm and a leg, and I don't want to just put it up on jack stands if I don't have anything to look for that might resolve the issue. I'm not cheap and will have it done professionally if I have to, but it's a huge pain to be without the car and I'm sure it won't be cheap either.

Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!

Geoff

You might need to adjust your e-brake and or cables.
Also the ABS light is common failure on these cars (the light is the relay also).

AC might not work for many a reasons. The pressures must be checked to know whats wrong.

Mechanic,

Thanks for the reply. I know the problem with the AC has something to do with the e-brake light/sensor being active. There are few times that I'm able to start the car properly, and the AC works, and the headlights are on.

When the ebrake sensor stays on, I'm not able to use the AC, headlights(I don't even have Daytime running lights), and as I found out yesterday, I can't even use my wipers when the light is on.

The ABS light is the same way. It's only on when the ebrake light is on. Otherwise it works as normal.

Do you have an approximatation on how much it would cost me to have this problem resolved through a dealer or mechanic?

Geoff

I didn't know the A/C shuts off when the e-brake is on??

Take it back and make them adjust the e-brake cable properly...

On second thought it sounds like a sticky relay like veedub said. It seems VW likes to put as much as possible into one relay or electrical switch.

I had what sounds to be a similar problem in my 98'. I got a lot of different theories on the forums as to the cause, but I finally found someoen who had the smae problem and they reported that the mechanic traced it to a faulty ignition switch. Do your windshield wipers work? When this happened to me my e-brake light stayed on even when the e-brake was not engaged, my AC blower didn't work, and my windshield wipers didn't work. However, I found that if I held my key turned to the right everything would work. And figured that it must be the ignition switch. So I got it replaced, and viola...everything was back to normal. Hopefully this helps.

there is a recall on the ingnition switch for my 97 and others I have heard when it fails the AC & headlights fail to work jiggle the key switch see it works.. sometimes mine does it and I stop and restart and its fine dealer said heavy keys will wreck the switch.. my was out of waranty :( but only happens a few times a year...so far