03 VW Rialta TRS

[rock dee]

hello to everyone I am brand new to the site and am hopeful I am posting my question correctly.

I have a 2003 VW Rialta and it wont pass NYS Inspection as the Check Engine Light is On. I just bought it and someone had placed a piece of tape under the gauge faceplate hiding the check engine light so I've been deceived.

The code reads P0705 which is (any help here appreciated) what i was told the neutral safety switch the brownish colored one on the side of the tranny with the o ring on it and the wire harness.. changed it ..no go!

Symptoms: there are no reverse lights... the dash board shifter indicator is black and does not light showing the lever position and, unfortunately for me, the folks i bought it from had someone install a push button which they told me was factory, that jumps the starter... so the thing runs terrific has only 40,000 miles , but wont pass inspection here in NY!

any help is greatly appreciated.

As a side note: yesterday I had reverse lights and the indicator did light properly, it was totally unexpected and lasted only one 4 mile road trip.

[Abscate]

That code could be IN the switch or the transmission, I think that code points to the gear shift switch though.

P0705 17089 Transmission Range Sensor Circuit (PRNDL Input) Malfunction

So get the switch out of the housing , the other part is in the lower transmission assembly. Not hard to get too, top off ATF when done.

_________________
.ssS!

[Abscate]

By the way, shame them on social media for the tape trick.

You can’t pass NY inspection this way because the first thing the inspector looks for is functioning CEL on key on, so they knew exactly what they were doing. If the car was inspected last year, then they just got the problem recently
_________________
.ssS!

[rock dee]

Sorry sooooo many questions.. its simply four months of work and now i just want to enjoy tis beautifully restored coach...

ok so take the switch out of the tranny ( i did that putting a new one in unaware there was more to do above it) and then, whats is up inside that i have to get at and do what to..... ?

ugh this has been the most arduous thing i have ever been involved in .. i have collected, restored and sold vintage fords and MG all over the world winning world wide awards.... and have a stellar reputation as such...

the guys i bought this from (my bad... sight unseen albeit have bought cars all over the world sight unseen for 40 years without a hitch ever) took me big time.. when it arrived the gen set fell out of it was rotted so badly.... oh well tough lesson.. any ways i removed the interior and took the body off and restored her better then brand new... the only and last hitch is this pesky issue.... in hind sight i suppose the push button hot wired starter switch should have been an "ugh oh" to me but they convinced me it was original..

also today i found a broken wire on the seat swivel under the passengers seat and cannot find any evidence of a swivel switch under the drivers seat except a whip laying under the carper (female plug) that has an orange and black (maybe yellow as the other wire ) ....going nowhere..it comes from the front .............. is it possible they switched the seat positions ... or is there only a swivel switch on the passengers seat? for now i wire nutted it closed!

lastly there is a harness unplugged on the front of fuse panel relay plug in section (left side drivers facing inward) that has a few connecters on it all are orange and black... it is not currently plugged in and I'm wondering ?????

there is also some open receptacles for relays unoccupied... is it possible the starter relay is missing from here somewhere??

thanks so much

[rock dee]

unbelievable..... issue solved, the "Bobby Green Solution" was right on the mark. the socket contacts were collapsed , dirty and not making contact... cleaned, picked back into shape and it works 100% perfect. CEL GONE!