NHTSA Complaint #10173410 — 2002 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

THIS IS A REPORT OF THE FAILURE OF THE BOOSTER BRAKE ON A 2002 VW TDI JETTA. THE SYMPTOMS ARE THAT WHILE APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE PEDAL WILL SUDDENLY BE SUCKED TO THE FLOOR RESULTING IN A SUDDEN STOP. THE DANGER CREATED IS OF BEING REAR-ENDED AND IS A POTENTIAL LIFE THREATENING ISSUE. THE PROBLEM IS DIFFICULT TO TROUBLE SHOOT BECAUSE IT IS INTERMITTENT. ONCE THE PEDAL IS SUCKED TO THE FLOOR IT COULD BE DAYS BEFORE IT HAPPENS AGAIN. I SEE THAT AT LEAST ELEVEN OTHER 2002 JETTA OWNERS HAVE REPORTED THE SUDDEN BRAKING PROBLEM TO NHTS, I.E. ODI ID #10103196, 10129643, 10137579, 10100576, 10058106, 10027194, 8011122, 10139134, 10086927, 8023749, 769651. IN EACH CASE, WHERE A SOLUTION IS MENTIONED, THE SOLUTION INVOLVED THE BOOSTER BRAKE. IN MY CASE THE VW DEALER, AFTER TRYING TWICE, DID NOT FIND THE SOLUTION. IT WAS AFTER INTERACTING WITH THE FOLKS AT THE VW TDI CLUB WHO EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM THAT I LEARNED THEIR SOLUTION WHICH WAS TO REPLACE THE BOOSTER BRAKE. THE VW DEALER AGREED TO REPLACE MY BOOSTER BRAKE ONLY IF I AGREED TO HOLD NO ONE OTHER THAN MYSELF RESPONSIBLE SHOULD THE REPLACEMENT NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM AND IF THEY COULD REPLACE THE MASTER CYLINDER IN ADDITION TO THE BOOSTER BRAKE. THE REPAIR MADE OVER A YEAR AGO ON 25 OCTOBER 2005, SOLVED MY SUDDEN BRAKING PROBLEM. I SEE THAT OTHERS ON THE TDI WEB SITE ARE STILL HAVING BOOSTER BRAKE PROBLEMS AND THAT THEY HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL IN GETTING VOLKSWAGONS ATTENTION. THE HELP OF THE NHTS IS NEEDED TO RAISE THE CORPORATE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE RIGHT FOLKS IN VW ABOUT THE BOOSTER BRAKE PROBLEM. AT A MINIMUM VW SHOULD ALERT ITS SERVICE REPAIR FOLKS TO THE SYMPTOMS AND THE SOLUTION. A RECALL TO CORRECT THE FAILED BOOSTER BRAKES IS THE DESIRED REDRESS. I STILL HAVE THE FAILED BOOSTER BRAKE AND MASTER CYLINDER AND WILL BE GLAD TO PROVIDE ALL THE PARTS TO THE NHTS FOLKS. *NM