MK4 Jetta: When front wheels slip (snow) ...Clunking sound at wheels

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Mannyr743

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Hey all

its 5 years that I have my MK4 1.8T Jetta (love this thing...)

Ok, so every winter, on icy/snowy conditions, when I take off, and the front wheels spin a bit, i get this grinding/clunking noise from the wheels... this happens with either my 17" OEM wheels, and with my 15" winter tires...with ASR on or off, makes no difference

This has happened since the car was brand new, i don't think i have damaged anything, but just curious to what is the cause/source of this sound.

thanks
Manny
 
answer

abs maybe

Mannyr743 said:
Hey all

its 5 years that I have my MK4 1.8T Jetta (love this thing...)

Ok, so every winter, on icy/snowy conditions, when I take off, and the front wheels spin a bit, i get this grinding/clunking noise from the wheels... this happens with either my 17" OEM wheels, and with my 15" winter tires...with ASR on or off, makes no difference

This has happened since the car was brand new, i don't think i have damaged anything, but just curious to what is the cause/source of this sound.

thanks
Manny
Click to expand...
 
even if the ASR switch is on or off... and whenever you are below 40km/h, the ESP (stability control) will be active. meaning that what you are experiencing is wheel spin and the system is just simply transfering power to the wheel that has more grip or applying the brakes (abs kicks... hence the noise)
if you read the manual... it actually tell you that!
 
Pri said:
even if the ASR switch is on or off... and whenever you are below 40km/h, the ESP (stability control) will be active. meaning that what you are experiencing is wheel spin and the system is just simply transfering power to the wheel that has more grip or applying the brakes (abs kicks... hence the noise)
if you read the manual... it actually tell you that!
Click to expand...

you are confusing a few things there man.

First of all, he have ASR, so he obviously dosen't have ESP, they are both different systems and offered at different prices. ESP was like a 2000$ option at the time and it's kinda rare on MK4 because of it's price.

Second of all, you are refering to a system that transfer the power to the wheel that have the most traction. That is active at all speed, not only below 40km/h.

The system that is active below 40km/h is EDL, something that comes on all 1.8T and VR6 after 2002. That is an electonicly controlled LSD. It gives, below 40km/h the power to BOTH front wheels at the same time.
 
wtv it is, mine makes the same sound *tu*, i really dont think its anything, maybe snow in the wheel wells or snow hitting the lip
 
My dad's 03 Wolfsburg has the same problem. It's been at the dealer since thursday (under warranty). They told me it's probably the transmission but they're not sure of anything, except that it's not safe to drive the car like that.
 
Dubweiser said:
My dad's 03 Wolfsburg has the same problem. It's been at the dealer since thursday (under warranty). They told me it's probably the transmission but they're not sure of anything, except that it's not safe to drive the car like that.
Click to expand...

That's special. Let us know the outcome on this. Mine also do this sometimes. Always tought it was normal as all the MK4 I drove in the winter do this.
 
VinceGTI said:
you are confusing a few things there man.

First of all, he have ASR, so he obviously dosen't have ESP, they are both different systems and offered at different prices. ESP was like a 2000$ option at the time and it's kinda rare on MK4 because of it's price.

Second of all, you are refering to a system that transfer the power to the wheel that have the most traction. That is active at all speed, not only below 40km/h.

The system that is active below 40km/h is EDL, something that comes on all 1.8T and VR6 after 2002. That is an electonicly controlled LSD. It gives, below 40km/h the power to BOTH front wheels at the same time.
Click to expand...

lol... i was way off! i fail!
ill go read my booklet again! :(
 
if you're talking about what i think you're talking about, it's gotta be ESP. Is there a flashing yellow light with an arrow or whatever when this happens? if so that's ESP...
 
moi j ai une jetta 2000 et elle toujour fais ça ,et c'est l abs qui arrête les roues de virer dans vide ,avec le asr on ou off ça change rien
 
it's normal. i had the same thing with my 99.5 gti vr6 which didn't even have ESP. it's the ABS stopping your wheels from spinning.
 
turn off ASR and try, if you still hear the sound it is the EDL and its normal. EDL is pretty useless anyway, nowhere near what a true LSD is.

My brother Mk3VR6 did the same thing. I dont drive my Mkiv in winter so I couldnt tell you if it does the same but I bet it does.

its 100% normal.
 
Saab900t said:
turn off ASR and try, if you still hear the sound it is the EDL and its normal. EDL is pretty useless anyway, nowhere near what a true LSD is.

My brother Mk3VR6 did the same thing. I dont drive my Mkiv in winter so I couldnt tell you if it does the same but I bet it does.

its 100% normal.
Click to expand...


Not a chance your bro have EDL on his MK3.

EDL started in 2002 on 1.8T only and then, standard on all 1.8T and VR6 2003 and up.

EDL is still better then nothing, even if it's not a real LSD.
 
VinceGTI said:
Not a chance your bro have EDL on his MK3.

EDL started in 2002 on 1.8T only and then, standard on all 1.8T and VR6 2003 and up.

EDL is still better then nothing, even if it's not a real LSD.
Click to expand...

WRONG. Im telling you his 1999 GTi VR6 had it...check your info. Look up Mk3 VR6 and then edit your post. Before ASR and ESP...this is all VW offered as traction control.
 
Saab900t said:
WRONG. Im telling you his 1999 GTi VR6 had it...check your info. Look up Mk3 VR6 and then edit your post. Before ASR and ESP...this is all VW offered as traction control.
Click to expand...

Too bad VW dosen't have online the PDF files of vehicules 2001 and older... So I cannot verify that.

All I know for sure is that MK4 had EDL starting in 2002 on 1.8T only and then, on 2003, on all 1.8T and VR6. Before 2002, EDL was not even an option on any MK4.

I highly doubt that would have put that in MK3 and then ditched the EDL for 2000 and 2001 and then bring it back in 2002.

edit: I just did a search on vortex and came back with 5 post talking about EDL in MK3 VR6, very little info, nobody really aware if it exist. Must be something like the EDL found in later MK4. I read it works under 10mph in MK4 when it works under 40km/h in MK4s.

TechEd,
ASR is just the bit that cuts the throttle (only on fly by wire cars) to
prevent wheelspin and can be disabled with ESP (yaw control) via the ESP switch.
EDL (electronic differential lock), has been on all VR6 powered Vdubs since the
Mk3 GTI-VR6 (might have even been on the Corrado SLC but I'm not sure)
and then later on both 1.8ts and VR6s on all Mk4s. It's active all the time
and works across the front and rear diffs, and just hits the brakes on the wheel
that's spinning fastest to transfer torque to the other side of the open diffs.
EDL can't be turned off.
Click to expand...

That's wierd VW Canada have only been putting it in the vehicule description starting in 2002 and there was no mention before that.
 
it was in his owners manual AND it was on his window sticker.

His was a 1999 VR6 GTi, nothing special about his...they all had it starting in 1997(VR6).

IMO it is useless. It is what they offered before ASR was introduced. It wasnt an option, came standard with the VR6 from 1997 onward.
 
So you're saying it's the EDL on my dad's car?

It sounds really bad. Like there's no more rubber left in the motor or transmission mount and the whole drivetrain is shifting under load, accompanied by a crunching sound and a really weird feeling in the steering and pedal. I guess the best comparison in sound and feel would be as if you're scraping the undercarriage over a bank of snow and ice. I highly doubt this is normal, and if it is, who the **** designed this EDL system?
 
It IS the EDL. My car does it all the time in slippery conditions at slow speeds. Even when I turn off ESP it still does it. Basically all it does is apply the brakes to whatever wheel is slipping. I hate when it engages because the sound is just terrible, but trust me, it's normal.
 
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