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happy camper
One more thing.. How do you know if the timing belt needs to be replaced? I'm assuming now since I ask him if it looked like it was about to brake, that it's not an actual rubber belt??? I think that it would be best to take it to the VW Dealership. (Correct) I should do that anyway I think.
Thanks,
Vicki
The timing belt actually is reinforced rubber. It is scheduled for replacement at 105,000 miles, if you follow VW's recommendation. I don't recommend that. Your car has what is known as an "interference" engine design (lotsa cars do). That means that if the belt snaps while the engine is running, the intake and exhaust valves above the pistons will stop moving up and down. Unfortunately, the pistons don't stop and they strike and damage the valves. The repair cost is expensive (I've seen prices in the $2,000 or more range) and takes time (meaning you don't have your car).
Common wisdom is to change the timing belt at 60,000 mile intervals (the people who write the service manual for VW agree with the 60K change, too). The belt should have been checked at the 40,000 mile service, but all that means is they visually took a peek at it. When you get the timing belt changed, you should also change out the hardware that's in the same area...belt tensioner, water pump, thermostat, other drive belts, etc. Even though this maintenance is expensive, it's much cheaper than rebuilding the top of the engine and/or replacing those other parts later; you'll save a lot of labor this way. Tune back in to these forums later when it's time for that service, for more exact details.
You can find your full maintenance schedule here by entering your model and year:
http://www.vw.com/spweb/pages/spweb/serv_maint_part.jsp
Remember, don't skimp on the synthetic oil or try to lenghten the oil change interval!
Oh, one more thing...with your hand, check all of the carpeting in the front and back footwells. Make sure that it is dry. These cars have a tendency to leak water through the cabin air system. The problem with that is that there are important electronic components under the carpets - you don't want these to get wet.
Here's a link on addressing that issue:
http://www.weirdlittlebiscuit.com/passat/leak/
It's been fun! Good luck with your new car.
Is anyone aware of a good, honest Passat mechanic in the Denver area?
Help ! This car is driving me to bankruptcy....
jrpc5@yahoo.com
How many miles are on the Passat?
Also, remember it is a 10 year old car. It shouldn't be surprising you are having problems with it.
But you've asked the question it raised for me too: is it a Passat problem or was it just lightning striking you twice?
Here's one (possibly??? diagnostic?) question: is there anything rough about the roads you drive? According to carcare.org (run by the aftermarket industry association - http://www.carcare.org/Drivetrain/cv_joints.shtml ), in general, "Have your car’s CV boots inspected at every oil change. CV boots can be easily damaged from rocks, sticks, ice and just normal wear."
So if rocky roads or bad winters could do CV boots in - had any of those? (I think about the lousy road surfaces I have to drive and wonder why my suspension hasn't broken yet, but that's another issue.)
For what it's worth, MSN Carpoint doesn't find the suspension to be a particularly unreliable part of the '03 Passat - it lists only the Mass Airflow Sensor and the Convenience Central Control Unit, and these as "occasional": http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2003&make=Volkswagen&mod- el=Passat&trimid=-1
Anybody know more about this source?
It could just be bad (and, you're right, expensive luck). That's why I thought I would post the question here--to see if others had had the same experience with the boots. I'm still open to responses from any others who might have experienced the problem with Passat CV boots.
Is CV boot integrated with other parts? It should be wear item so it should be stand alone part.
Krzys
I don't even know the symptoms of a bad CV Boot.
A torn boot will allow the grease to leak out. Usually, most people notice the tear once the see grease staining the wheel rim or notice the grease thrown around the wheelwell liner. Sometimes you can save the joint by just repacking the joint with grease and replacing the boot.
If that escapes your notice, you'll eventually notice a clicking sound will develop in the affected CV joint. That's a sign that the grease has leaked out and contaminants have gotten into the joint, which ruins it. The half shaft usually gets replaced at that point.
Once the joint is damaged and clicking, you've got to replace it.
If I understand you correctly, you've reinstalled the original CV joint, the one that was clicking. The problem is that eventually the joint will fail (and probably at the most inconvenient time and place). Not only is it inconvenient, it's dangerous, as well, since that effectively removes all power from one drive wheel. You can get a replacement axle from:
http://www.raxles.com/
I've read on other forums that people have had great success with their products (I have been lucky enough not to need one yet, so I can't give a personal recommendation). Worth looking into it...
i'm looking into buyong a 2000 vw passat wagon. it's a gls , 4-cylinder, 1.8 liter. it has around 69,000 miles on it. it has had one owner. she's real pretty, but i've been reading some major horror stories about the passat and passat wagon.
any advice?
many thanks,
brenda
And guess what the first thing he saw was???? I had the broken CV boot. He order the replacements for $15 for the pair. He did tel me that this could have been a very expensive had it gone very long without repair. I did have to have the cabin filter and air filter changed. And I went ahead and had him change the oil making sure he used the correct oil. After checking where the car's oil was last changed I found out that they did not use the right type of oil. He also changed the brake fluid and reminded me that it needs to be changed every two years. So this visit has ended up costing at least $500. I hope that it has saved me the BIG $$$$ down the road.
Spending $500 to get the car into shape isn't that uncommon on a pre-owned car. Can you break out the costs? I'm curious how much the boot replacement and the oil change cost (if you don't mind sharing).
Hope it all works out well. Save all of your receipts for this car, especially the oil changes.
Can some one help me?
The fuse and relay block are located behind the plastic panel on the driver's end of the dashboard - it's only visible when the driver's door is open.
Anyone have any ideas on what it might be or have had the same problem??
I got home today I took a look to see what the damage was and when I looked at the boot it is tore all the way around and looks to my like it could have been cut. I need to know if is common for the outer CV booth on this car to be damaged in this manner. I can understand a hole or tear but am not sure if it should go all the way around the boot since the damage is in one of the valleys maybe once it starts the damage just follows the seam, I don’t know. The other side looks fine. Thanks Rob
I am quite happy with my 2002 1.8 T manual Passat. The car has about 49,000 mi and so far no serious issues to spedak of. However, in the past year or so I have noticed that the car does not start when I turn the key, nothing at all happens. After three or four attempts the engine starts. I had it inspected by a VW dealership and I was told that the technician could not "reproduce the problem", although it happens 9 out of 10 times when I start the engine.
I am wondering if anyone on this board had experienced this problem and if so what is due to.
Thank you for any advices.
I can understand a hole or tear but am not sure if it should go all the way around the boot since the damage is in one of the valleys maybe once it starts the damage just follows the seam, I don’t know.
I can tell you from past experience on other FWD vehicles that a tear in the boot will eventually go all the way around the boot. I had it happen on one of my wife's cars. It looked exactly as you describe.
The other guess would be that the head gasket has failed. That's why your tech is asking about an overheat situation. Pray for the former, 'cause the latter is going to be very expensive.
Is the shop handling this a VW dealer or an independent that works frequently on VW/Audis? If not, you might be well advised to get it to someone familiar with these cars.
What engine do you have - the turbo 4 or the V6? How many miles on it?
This problem isn't the reason why I requested it to be serviced. My original problem was the speed setting under the "winter tires" configuration wasn't working. After driving another 125 miles the speed setting decided it wanted to work. I haven't had a problem with it since. But, now the headlight washers don't work. The washers did work when I tested the compenents during the first 2 days of owning the vehicle.
This is my first VW, needless to say I am not starting off on the right foot!
VW had to keep my car over the holiday weekend since they couldn't fix the problem and need to escalate. After doing more research I have discovered we are not alone. Check out this thread.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2619540
1. brakes needed replacement 27k, 425$
2. water pump replacement
3. tires @30k
4. 3 hub caps @ 45$ ea.
5. wipers at 25$ ea. (dealer only item)
6. cv boots @ 50K, 375$
7. brakes again 52k 425$
8. dash lights.
9. glove box.
10. brakes again, 62k, this time I did them myself (i am NOT a VW certified mechanic) for about $100 in parts, discovered the reason they were burning out so fast (improper auto adjustment) and fixed the real problem.
11. Check engine light (vacuum leak?) 250$
12. oil pickup tube replacement 831$
13. Another check engine light, (vacuum leak?) 10$ part, 176$ labor. This was 1 week after the first check engine.
14. Another set of tires. 300$
15. Normal maintenance, oil changes, transmission, fuel filters, air filters, alignments, etc.
In the last month we have spent almost 2k on this car and have not been able to drive for 1 week without a problem. It just turned 70k miles. My wife likes the car, but it is a lot more expensive to operate than other cars we have owned. By comparison, in the same 3 years, I also put 70k miles on my 96 toyota truck (200k-270k) with only oil changes and tires. I seriously doubt I could afford to keep a Passat running till it reached 200k miles. It appears that the German engineering violates the KISS principle so vastly that these cars will continue to be a big headache. Also, VW does not release their OEM parts to the parts stores for up to 3 years, forcing you to pay dealer prices. To me, that indicates that VW expects to profit on your misery. We are going to trade in this VW for a Sequoia or Highlander on monday.
12. oil pickup tube replacement 831$
I'd like to hear the story on this. The only cars I've heard that have had this done were coking the engine oil, often from either not using synthetic oil or not changing frequently enough. Please share your story! I'm guessing you have an '03 with the 1.8T - so do I - but I'm watching for various issues and your information would be welcome.
Anyone know when...
The transmission will need to be replaced?
or any other problems we might incur?
We love the car but don't want to have to pile tons of $ into it when it might not be worth it.
We've had a little bit of difficulty with the brake lights sticking on periodically but are in the process of trying to fix that.
In all likelihood, it's the brake light switch on the brake pedal. Not an uncommon failure.
You don't say whether you have a manual or tiptronic transmission. Both are pretty robust units.
If you haven't already done it, you are facing a large maintenance issue now. Although the manual will tell you that it's due at 105,000 miles, common wisdom on the Passat has been to change the timing belt early (like any time beyond 60,000 miles). And along with the TB, you might as well get the water pump, thermostat, tensioner and other associated bits in the same area done. The labor to gain access to this part of the engine is such that it just makes sense to do it all while doing the timing belt.
Like many other manufacturers' engines, the Passat's design is an interference type. That means if the timing belt fails, the valve train in the top half of the engine suffers extensive (and expensive) damage.
I changed the Break Light Switch yesterday evening, which lead me to posting my original message.
I do have a tiptronic transmission.
Do you know what the cost would be of all these things? ie. Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner, etc. I assume it all needs to be done at the dealer?
I suppose I am in limbo as to whether to get a new Passat or just perform the maintenance on the old one!
We tried debugging this problem a bit to try to narrow it down for the mechanics since the
damncar refused to show it's true colors while at the dealership. Sometimes it seemed to only be a problem if the car was stopped at a traffic light, then it switched to when the car was driving fast, then it seemed the temperature outdoors may have been a contributing factor, then I started checking the cycle of the moon and what day and time of the week it was. The car is toying with us.Were your problems ever resolved?
My '03 Passat 1.8T has 55K miles (trouble-free, basically), but I'm starting to price these things too, thanks to the sage advice of Altair. A local mechanic with a top-notch reputation quoted me $558 for the timing belt/ water pump/ thermostat/ tensioner (plus tax). Haven't priced the dealer yet (I will, but I assume it's more) or other shops.
So there's one possibility.
BTW, any reason why I should NOT go to this guy for this - is there a reason to prefer the dealer?
And Altair, as we discussed once, it's almost all highway miles - nowhere near as much starting and stopping as in city driving - does that mean the belt lasts longer, and that I can put it off to 70 K, or no? Or is it all a matter of heat degrading the rubber in the belt?
As you note, highway mileage is easier on a car than stop-n-go. Man, I'd feel bad advising you to wait until a certain mileage point and have the thing snap just before then. So...yes, no, maybe...you'll have to make up your own mind on that one!
I will say this - I waited until 85K and 7 years 11 months before I had the TB done on my wife's Honda. As you might guess, I had an extended warranty that lasted for 8 years...
I got a new Passat end of April 2006 (2.0 TDI). For one week, a warning lamp (pre-heat sign) is sometimes blinking and the display says motor malfunction, motor power goes down until I turn ignition off and on again. Problem comes again after 20-30 miles
in Garage they looked at it and they said it's probably a fault in electric connection in motor, but they have no idea what it is, computer doesn' t show.
Anybody with the same issue ?
I own a 2001 Passat V6, the new shape, and it has 60k miles. In my opinion, it is a good car . I already know I need to replace the CVs because I hear the clicks whenever turning to left, but what bothers me the most is the burning smell that comes through the vents.
After 10min of driving, I open the hood, and every time there is smoke coming from under the air filter box and the engine itslef. The way the car is build, it is impossible to see where it is coming from. I would say it smells like oil leaking on hot exhaust pipes, but I don't know. Sometimes I think is burned plastic, or maybe not. I took it to a mechanic, and he found many oil leaks here and there, that where corrected by tightening bolts all over the place (on the engine). They were all loose - unbelievable. Even the oil temperature sensor was loose and leaking.
Anyway, the problem is still not corrected :confuse: . Took it to the VW dealership in Orlando, FL (where I live) and they didn't know what they were doing, either.
Any advice is well received and appreciated.
all the best,
ion