Dash lights come on and engine dies while driving

[wedixon]

Wow - here's one for the forum - intermittant stalling/cutout in a variety of driving situations.
Stop at a light, engine may or may not stumble, and if it does unless you're quick and select neutral and give her some gas, it dies. Stalled 20 times one day.
Once, on the freeway, ALL dash warning lights came on, three 'beeps' sound, and the engine quits! Coast to the side of the road and shut down. After appropriate verbal response, try the key, it started up, drove away no problem. Whats interesting is that the Trip Odometer resets to zero AND Clock sets to 12:00. Is their central relay or ECU fault here?
NO codes are thrown, my German mechanic is at a loss. Have had the Cat replaced, new coils, new altenator to no avail. Dealer had it for 3 hours, (only charged me for one thankfully) and could source/diagnose/find NOTHING.
BTW the Monsoon AM radio reception is the pits (excessive static) and other Forum threads allude to the radio being overly interconnected with the whole electrical 'central nervious system' in these cars. Perhaps if I pull the radio fuse and isolate it from everything else.
Any thoughts?
Thanxs

[sdhelzer]

Something is interrupting your primary iginition circuit. Your clock and trip odometer resetting to zero is pretty conclusive evidence, not to mention the stalling. The same thing would happen if you pulled a battery cable off.

It sounds like to me that perhaps the power relay has gone bad. During startup this relay monmentarily shuts down all electrical components not necessary to the engine startup sequence. If it is bad your vehicle will not start. If it is going bad you would get the symtoms you have described. Unfortunately, I am not 100% positive that the newer Jettas have one.

Recommend you call your mechanic and ask him a very specific question related to whether or not your Jetta has a power relay and if so did he try replacing it with a new relay.

Please post your results. Your sucessful resolution of this problem could be most helpful to others in the future.

[wedixon]

Thanxs for the suggestions sdhelzer.
The dealer says there is NO power relay on the 2003 Jetta
He thinks its possible that 'BAD' gasoline (ie: water) could produce these symptoms, but I don't think it was that.
OR possibly a faulty (intermittant) fuel pump relay, hmmm....possibly.
Anyways, the car is driving fine now, so I can't post with any accuracy what we had done that was the solution.
Could it have been a 'transient electrical anomoly', or some such!

[sdhelzer]

I would be very careful of what anyone tells you about the "power relay" being OEM installed on your Jetta or not. I have met a few so called experts that did not realize that there was such an OEM relay, as early as 1982. I have such a relay on my 2000 Jetta 1.8T.

Of course, it could be the fuel pump relay or even the pump itself.

I would like like to know the the results of your experience, as time goes on.

[craig@vwdiscountparts]

Based on the fact that the clock and trip odometer reset when the issue occurs, I would rule out a fuel supply problem. A fuel pump and/or fuel pump relay would not interrupt power to the instrument cluster. You do not mention what your engine size is, but I am guessing it is a 1.8T. If this is correct, there is an ECM power supply relay in the underhood relay box. It should be easily identified with a "428" on top of the relay. While not a common failure, it is not unheard of. If you can find someone willing to swap this relay with you, you can confirm whether or not this is the culprit.

- Craig