Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I picked up a #74 Sylvania bulb from Advance AutoParts, but it turns out that the #74 bulb is not the right size. I had to go to the dealer and pick up a replacement bulb for $2.32, including tax. I must say it was quite easy to replace, and I probably saved myself $60 and a day without my car for the dealership to repair it.
Thanks again!
An LED bulb of that size is actually dimmer!
It sort of pisses me off....VW used LED's everywhere, except for the HVAC lighting (Climatronic has LEDs)...so we don't get the same brightness throughout.
Anyone know what this is? What causes it? And what, if anything, should I do about it?
Thanks.
Typical cure is to shoot some WD-40 at the bushings under the car. It's worked for me in the past though not on a Passat.
it. It's the 1.8T. I really like the car, I just
want to make sure it is worth the headaches
dealing with the vw service experience. Also
they are asking 16,300. any suggestions?
I am curious to see what ends up to be the issue.
Joe
Twinrotts: I would do a search to determine if your vehicle has a recall on this. Maybe a forum search would turn up something.
The other issue I had with my '85 was water in the rear passenger foot well. I can't remember if the water was comming from a door seal, or my sunroof. That was sooo long ago.
Regards.
The entire wiring harness had to be replaced. (2 weeks repair.) Upon replacing the wiring harness and before returning the car to me, i was informed that the catalytic converter melted on the test drive, that the O2 sensors are burned out, and that all the sparkplugs were toast. This sounds very bad to me. They explained that upon testing the car, the computer was sending a 80% fuel /20% air mixture to to the engine, causing engine to flood and sending a ton of fuel to the catalytic converter. Thus explaining the spark plug and catalytic converter problem. The repair for this is to replace the sparks, the catalytic converter and the O2 sensors. In the process they broke and air return nipple which is now being replaced.
1. Is this believeable? Do the explanation fit the problem?
2. What is going on here?
3. How can i be sure that they haven't destroyed my car? I am worried that the engine, valves, pistons, cylinders, etc. have all been compromised.
HELP.
Then on the same day I was looking at the warranty booklet (the little book that comes with the owners manual and the rest), it lists the secondary air pump as 7yr/70000mls coverage item. Of course I called the dealer back with this information.
This time the service manager simply refused to even look it up the warranty information, saying that when he checked it yesterday it wasn't covered, and that they only go by the on-line information and don't look at individual booklets, and that he doesn't know what warranty booklet I was talking about. And it was only after I told them then I would take this issue to the better business bureau, he suggested I call the VW of America, which I promptly did. (Of course the service manager didn't even give me the number for it, either.)
Turned out that it WAS covered under warranty, and only after I had the customer care rep who answered my call to call the dealer and speak to them directly, the service manager agreed that there was a mistake and will refund the repair cost. Their feeble excuse was that he must have put in the wrong parts number in the computer.
Now what gets me is:
1. I had repeatedly asked about the warranty when I was picking up the car, and he refused to take one minute of his time off eating his breakfast donut to double check it.
2. He had the second chance to check it again when I called back with info from the warranty booklet, yet he simply ignored it.
Is it a simple case of incompetence? Or do they deliberately do this to overcharge you and hope you don't bother to check? Hopefully I'll never know. But one lesson to learn: NEVER TAKE THE DEALER'S WORDS FOR IT when they say it not covered by warranty. Check again.
1) As you say, never take the service manager's word in a warranty denial.
2) Always be an informed consumer - I'm usually holding my owner's manual/warranty info in my hand when we start discussing service and prices.
I'm glad athat VWoA came trhough for you. Personally, I'd have qualms about going back to that dealer for any future service. Why reward a service department like that with future work? I hate service departments that are ignorant of the facts!
Hearing some of the problems with Passat like " water migration" really scares me. Am I wise to look at Passats? I love Passat's look and well put together interior.
What are the issues to watch for in 2002 V-6's?
I appriciate all the hints.
Joe
1. Remove the radio...you need vw radio removal keys....you can buy them at Crutchfield. Inserting the keys releases the tabs, pull the radio out and disconnect the harnesses.
2. Once the radio is out, there are screws at the top and bottom edges which need to be removed...now, the center stack trim part can be removed.
I just had the EGR replaced a few months ago and this stopped the problem for a few day but now it is back and I am afraid to let the dealer continue to experiment on my car.
'00 Passat 86K.
Does anybody know if this absolutely has to be done? The new "valet" key starts and unlocks everything it is supposed to. Do I risk damaging anything by not doing this "reprogramming"?
I've also read that this reprogramming applies to 2002+ Passats (American made).
Thanks for your feedback.
First: Once morning, the car wouldn't start. It turned over just fine, but it would not fire. Towed into the dealer. Problem: Defective oil pump or something similar. "Pressure" built up inside the engine (per dealer) and the engine didn't allow to be started. Per dealer, they removed spark plugs, replaced oil pump, then it work.
Second: The infamous "Emissions Workshop" warning beeped a couple of times. First, it was simple. The second time, the dealer determined that BOTH catalytic converters went on the blink, so they were replaced under the extended "emissions" warranty. Saved me $3000.
No car ever made should ever have "stupid" problems like these. I liked our Passat with all-wheel drive, heated leather seats, lots of room, very comfortable, etc., but no more. Once was enough.
I'm not sure if this will help so I'll keep looking and report back.
Good Luck
I brought it in to the dealer who of course said they never heard of this and do not know if it is normal. they did check the motor mounts and said they were good but said they are jell filled and may be the cause of this movement.
Has this happened to anyone else and if so is this normal or not?
I have a Ford Explorer with 140k very happy miles on it and it does not do this.
----------------------------------------------------
My 97' Passats ABS warning light comes on for no apparent reason and when it does, the headlights and wipers STOP working ! This is an intermitent problem that happens with no warning and lasts for various amounts of time. When the ABS light goes off, everything goe back to normal and works fine !!! HELP !!! Thanks for any suggestions ! ( VR6, 75,000 miles, 5-speed )
----------------------------------------------------
Perhaps it's the ignition switch. Try jiggling the key the and turn it slightly the next time things act up.
---------------------------------------------------
I tried the ignition suggestion again and it did help. So I dug up the letter from VW about the extension of the Ignition switch warranty. The letter states that they extended the warranty to 8year/100,000 miles and it covers the electrical portion of the ignition switch on 1996-1997 Passat and Jetta vehicles.
Quote: It is possible that, under certain conditions, the electrical portion of the ignition switch of affected vehicles could become inoperative due to a combination of unfavorable manufacturing tolerances, especially if a heavy bundle of keys is regularly attached to the ignition key. In cases where the electrical portion of the ignition switch malfunctions the windshield wipers, headlamps and air conditioning system could become inoperative immediately after the engine is started.
So it does not directly say the Brake/ABS light or while you are driving but it certainly seems feasible. I am going to make an appointment to get it changed out and see if that fixes the problem. I also noticed that the rear defroster goes off when this happens.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Any thoughts?
I hope this helps us all with the problem.
It costs $2900 for two new VW converters thru dealer service. Two local and reputable repair shops tell me there are aftermarket converters (about $100 ea) they can order and install that will work fine. Two other reputable repair shops (non-dealer) tell me there's no way you can adapt a universal converter to the Passat exhaust and that reconditioned VW parts (about $600 ea?) are the only hope for a less expensive solution.
Who's right? Thanks in advance for any help.
passatloverbut
BTW, how long ago was the valve cover gasket done? Perhaps they didn't clean up the old oil residue off the engine? On the other hand, I have heard of people having the valve cover gasket done more than once to finally stop the leak.
Final thought - did you have an oil change done lately? Perhaps they let too much oil dip down the engine block when pulling the filter.
Our Accord smells terrible after an oil change. The design of the engine places the oil filter (on the rear of the engine) directly above the exhaust pipe. Oil always drips onto the pipe and smokes for about a week.
I actually was responding to Passatloverbut's post. I don't think I missed the point. His car has 94,000 km on it - that's about 58,000 miles. Unlike you, he has already used synthetic oil and the engine is now apparently leaking. So the point is, "where is the oil leaking and what can be done to stop it and the burning smell." If Passatloverbut is the original owner, he has a 10 yr/100,000 mile warranty (at least the US VW's did in 2001.5 model year). I'm guessing that Passatloverbut is in Canada, given the odometer reading in km.
The valve cover gasket is a notorious candidate for leaking and I've seen other forums where owners have had multiple attempts in short order to stop the leak from it. I'd look at the back end of the engine nearest the firewall for signs of oil.
I still say the dealer is not being diligent in his search to find the leak.
You may be right that the synth caused the leak. Could be the cleaning action of the synth opened a leak that some dirt/gunk was holding shut. That dirt/gunk could be the early signs of sludging that the synth is supposed to help avoid.
I don't know if I'd switch to synth or not in your case at your mileage after receiving the sludge letter. I run both our vehicles on synth (Mobil 1 5w-30 in our 7 year old Accord from 20,000 miles and Valvoline 5w-40 in the Passat from the first change at 4,000 miles) and both vehicles are absolutely leak-free.
Greetings all!
Newbie here, and the proud owner of a 2001.5 Passat, V6, tiptronic.
I have had the car about a month now... and love it.
Like some others here (I've combed the old posts), I've had a problem with oil smoke coming from a drip drip drip on the exhaust manifold (passenger side).
Well, rather than taking it back to the butchers at the dealership, I decided to fix it myself.
I started with a new valve cover gasket about 2 weeks ago... but that didn't cure it.
Last night, I installed a new cam chain tensioner gasket, and seal plug.
This seems to have worked.
Anyhow, it did not require special tools, or camshaft removal (like the manual says).
There is just enough room under the tensioner assy to sneak the new gasket/plug under, with the cams in position.
It takes some fancy finger-work and a bit of finesse, but I'm living proof that it can be done.
Good luck and I hope this helps solve your oil smell problem.
Later...
Onto my questions...I'm looking to buy a FirstAid kit and all weather floor mats for the car. I figure the dealer will cost more $ than what I can find online...can anyone recom. a place I can find these items?
Thanks.
The VW first aid kit is pricey. I simply bought one from a local drug store that's about equivalent for about the price of the VW one. It fits in the same space and has the added bonus that it was latex-free (a concern due to allergies in my immediate family). OTOH, if you simply must have the VW emblem, well, there's no other choice.
I think this is a dangerous problem that warrants some kind of response by VW.
-ks
Anyone know why this is happening and if it should be happening? Seems like something that should happen to my old go-cart and not my '04 Passat. Thoughts? I'd appreciate it!
paul
hope i can help
paul
The ABS light was on several times before, generally in rain, but I could always turn it off by restarting the car.
Any suggestions on this problem would be greatly appreciated.
1. They say they need her to authorize an engine diagnostic (at $75/hr x 4 hours) to find out what is wrong.
2. They say she exceeded one oil change interval by 1500 miles, essentially making any problem they find be outside of the warranty (and her expense).
3. They say it could be anything from a clogged oil pump to a totally sludged up engine that must be replaced (ouch).
4. The pressure reading in her car is 1.4 bars, while the normal pressure is 4.0 bars. Sounds like something is indeed clogged, but not sure what it could be.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated. Is there some fluid to run through the engine that could remove some gunk, drop the warning light and allow her to return the car without taking on great expense?
Would you take a look at post 650 and let me know if it takes 6 hours to that job? It was the one in the back. Thanks...no names or info will be used. I'd appreciate it.