2004 vw jetta temperature light flashes when cold, after a couple of minutes I turn off and then turn on the engine and the light remains off, whats at fault?

It's your Electronic Stability System. It may be malfunctioning because of the cold temperature or triggered by another malfunctioning system. You need to take it in for a diagnostic investigation.

You have a problem with the tempreature sensor, the ECM thinks that the engine is cold. I bet you are useing lots of gas too.

P0011 - Camshaft positioning sensor
P2181 - Engine cooling temperature sensor.
If you have a repair manual (chilton/haynes/etc) these should be fairly simple fixes.
Camshaft positioning sensor for my car was $35 and took about 15 minutes to change.

2carpros.com suggested the P2181 is also fairly easy to replace
http://www.2carpros.com/questions/volkswagen-jetta-2004-volkswagen-jetta-code-p2181-engine-cooling-performance

did you replace stereo

The drive cycle is as follows
For all OBD2 VW's

OBD-II Drive Cycle Stages
The OBD-II Drive Cycle is an eight-stage course, as illustrated in the
chart on page 3. An explanation of each step is provided below.
Stage 1: Cold Start-The ECM determines the presence of a cold start
by comparing the engine coolant temperature to the ambient air
temperature during startup. The engine is considered cold when:
• Engine coolant temperature is below 122°F (50°C).
• Engine coolant and intake air temperatures are within 11°F (6°C) of
each other at startup.
During this period, the O2S heater, misfire, AIR, fuel system, and EVAP
monitors run.

Stage 2: Idle 2½ Minutes-Turn the air conditioning (A/C) and
headlights on to help the misfire monitor-the additional electrical loads
help even out combustion pulses. During this period, the O2S heater,
AIR, EVAP, misfire, and possibly fuel system (if operating in closed loop)
monitors run.

Stage 3: Accelerate-Prior to accelerating, turn off the A/C and
headlights (if possible). Open the throttle halfway until you reach
55 MPH (89 KPH). During acceleration, the misfire, fuel system, and
EVAP monitors run.

Stage 4: Steady State Cruise-During this portion of the cycle, the
O2S, AIR, EGR, EVAP, misfire, and fuel system monitors run.

Stage 5: Decelerate-Gradually coast down without applying the
brakes. Also, on manual transmission vehicles, remain in high gear and
do not press the clutch. During this period, the EGR, EVAP, and fuel
system monitors run.

Stage 6: Accelerate-Apply ¾ throttle until reaching 60 MPH (97 KPH).
During acceleration, the misfire, fuel system, and EVAP monitors run.

Stage 7: Steady State Cruise-During this period, the CAT, O2S, AIR,
EGR, EVAP, misfire, and fuel system monitors run.

Stage 8: Decelerate-Gradually coast down without applying the
brakes. Also, on manual transmission vehicles, remain in high gear and
do not press the clutch. During this portion of the Drive Cycle, the EGR,
EVAP, and fuel system monitors run.

You can try this a couple times, but if it doesn't work you should go to a VW specialty shop like the dealer or a shop that does mostly European cars and they can use the scan tool to force the car through readiness.

VW's somehow got around disclosing what the check engine lite codes mean to anyone except a VW Dealer. Therefore, to eliminate another service charge from a local repair shop I recommend you take the vehicle to VW and have them scan the vehicle's ECU for codes and do the repair accordingly.

Must hookup computer scanner to obtain diagnostic codes. Problem must be repaired to keep light off.

this is a common problem for these cars glow plugs go bad like spark plugs however the smoke would lead to bad mass airflow meter. it is not telling ecu corrcet miss. disconnect mass airflow meter. when cold see if this makes it start better. it should would means you need new m.a.f. glow plug issue take a test light place clamp on positive of battery then pull off glow plug connectors place tip of test light on glow plug the bad one will have a dull light unlike the good one which will be brighter. will need new plugs and wire harness four **** connectors and wire striper and crimper will fix concern good luck

If the car turns over ok it is probably the EGR valve stuck... try moving it back a forth a couple times... i had the same problem...

On start (Especially in Cold temperatures)it is harder for the oil pump to bring oil to the top of the engine,making noise more prevalent .Keep fluids level and oil clean and you shouldn't have to worry.