Need help on my 96 jetta VR4 (manual)

[CF4L]

Hi, I just bought the car and am not realy familiar with jettas and have a couple questions that was hoping any of you could answer. A little back ground on the car, it is stock with 144k miles on it, forest green and in good shape.

First: the key won't open the door on the driver side or do any of the cool bells and whistles, I can still do it with the passenger side, lock-unlock, roll up and down the windows for all 4 doors and close the sunroof. And all the buttons work on the inside of the car in the center consul and in the inside of the door. So could this be a wire that isn't connected right or what is the problem?

Second: I am having trouble getting the car into 1st/reverse, is there anything I can do or do I just have to suck it up and go to a dealer for them to look at the linkage?

Third: The hood release swich (not the one you pop from inside the car but the one you click after that to lift the hood) is broken. It slides to far out of the way past the stop and cause the hood to not close unless you slide it back into place. I took it apart and noticed the spring that holds the latch in place is a little lose which is why it goes past the stop, is there anything i can do, I tried bending the wire on the other side of the bracket to try and make it shorter but couldn't and decided to ask here first to see if I can fix it or just go to a junk yard and get another one. Will any VW hood latch work or does it have to be the same model and year?

Fourth: how hard is to change the belt on your car, mine is looking worn?

Finally the Last and most dificult problem. So when I first bought the car, the Speedometer/Odo/Tack weren't working so I had the person where I got the car repair it, And he got it repared at a certified dealership and when I got it back, it worked fine and drove it 2 hours home. the next day, all the gauges don't work again. Whats wrong with it?

Thanks for your guy's help.

[CF4L]

Yes I know, I accidently wrote 4 instead of a 6 on the tittle, it was a mistake, must have been thinking of a 3000gt instead. My appologizes. I would change it if I could figure out how to.

[ctuagent117]

1) check your door lock cylinder.
2) change your tranny fluid. For vr6, i would recomend Redline in the 75w80. weight. Redline transmission fluid also claims to stop rough shifting and grinding.
3) you need a new latch. any latch will work as long as the car it came out of looks like your chasis style.
4)which one? timing? that engine has a timing chain which requires an engine overhaul to replace.
5)Sounds like the speed sensor may need replacing too.