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Volkswagen Passat Maintenance and Repair

3340 messages,  Last post on Apr 25, 2013 at 10:07 AM

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What is this discussion about? Volkswagen Passat, Sedan, Wagon

    
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Messages Page 215 of 334

#2140 of 3340 Re: What is happening [gold2001] by dontudare

Jan 19, 2007 (5:48 am)

Replying to: gold2001 (Sep 04, 2006 1:52 pm)
Is there anyone out there that is happy with their vw, PASSAT Specifically? I am stressing over the fact that I bought a used 2004 passat because I thought it would be a good car for alot of driving -- one post said that they can't take alot of miles? Then there are hundreds of horror stories. I did not realize that VW had such a horrible reputation and now I feel like I am in for years of expensive repairs on my car. Is there anyone that is happy?

#2141 of 3340 engine backfired and will not start by johnc_5

Jan 19, 2007 (6:09 am)

I purchased the 2007 3.6 4motion wagon a few months ago. I have 6k miles on it and on just the other day the engine backfired and shut down. When I started the car, the engine would turn on then shut right down. This happened just after filling the tank with gas (for what that's worth). Yes, it's under warranty and was towed off to the dealership.
 
I am writing this post because it's been a week and the dealership cannot figure out what is wrong. They initially said it was what they were calling a 'module' in the ignition that needed to be replaced. It took 2 days to get that part in which they did and it didn't work. They told me yesterday that they need to bring in a specialist to continue the diagnosing.
 
Can anyone offer any advice? I love the car but am pissed that I bought this high end vehicle and now I have to drive a crappy rental they provided, a compact hundai!

#2142 of 3340 Re: What is happening [dontudare] by altair4

Jan 19, 2007 (6:49 am)

Replying to: dontudare (Jan 19, 2007 5:48 am)
I'm still pretty happy after more than 4 years of ownership. All I've done is tires and rear brakes. But I'm a fanatical about maintenance, synthetic oil, and premium fuel.

#2143 of 3340 Re: ABS-Break lights [misto7] by bschroeder20

Jan 19, 2007 (10:54 am)

Replying to: misto7 (Jan 19, 2007 5:11 am)
I was going to post that I believed the problem only occured when bearing right or during a right turn. But I thought I must be crazy. The VW is a 2002 Passat.
I have exactly the same problem.
 
It's driving me crazy.
I do believe that it is a senor in the brake fluid container also. It also seems to be outside air temp sensitive. I am in Philly and the problem started with the change of weather. Do you keep you car in the garage?
Many the change in temp during the drive casues it to flake out.
 
Thanks.

#2144 of 3340 Re: ABS-Break lights [bschroeder20] by misto7

Jan 20, 2007 (10:37 pm)

Replying to: bschroeder20 (Jan 19, 2007 10:54 am)
Sounds like we've got the exact same issue. Mine's a 2003 Passat GLS. I do keep it in a garage and it happens during my first turn in the morning so I don't think it's temprature related although I'll test that theory in the coming days. Today I noticed that when I stopped at a traffic light while the alert was in progress, it remained flashing until I released the brake... about a minute and a half. It normally stops flashing after about 10 seconds. I'm not sure how that's related but it is different behavior.
 
I'm in the Allentown, PA area but I've been going to North Penn Imports in Colmar Pa -- on 309 just north of Philly. VW customer service won't help me b/c of the mileage on the car -- 70,000. I guess I'll try my luck with the service manager at the dealer when I get completely fed up with it.

#2145 of 3340 2004 passat - rear lights stay on by berkman

Jan 20, 2007 (11:43 pm)

We've got a 2004 passat. The red rear lights are on:
a pair on the left, a pair on the right, and the one in the middle just below the
roof. The rear white lights are not on. Headlights, etc. are not on. We just
discovered this when we went outside. What do we do?

#2146 of 3340 1996 Passat dashboard lights not working by tjle21

Jan 21, 2007 (4:57 am)

I hope someone can give me some advice with a problem I'm having. Bought a 1996 auto Passat about four months ago and the dashboard lights do not stay on for longer than five minutes, sometimes they go dead within seconds of starting the car. If I leave the car for a few hours they will usually work again, but only for a few minutes until they go off, start the cycle again. I've been to the local VW dealership several times and lost all faith in them. Their final diagnosis was that there was a fault in the circuit board for the dashboard and the whole thing needed replacing at a cost of over £500. As I only paid £900 for the car I didn't take them up on this, especially considering how unimpressed I was with their 'customer service', I'm not entirely sure whether this is a correct diagnosis of the problem anyway.
 
The other problem I've been having, and not sure if this is related or not, is that the battery has now drained three times for no apparent reason. The first two times were whilst I was waiting for someone, sat in the car with the engine off but key in the ignition and radio on. Those occasions were for no more than 5 minutes and the battery was completely dead. The recovery guy that came out the first time said the battery looked new and in good condition and couldn't work out why it should have died. The third time, this weekend, was overnight. Drove the car home with no problems, car wouldn't start the next day until someone jump started me.
 
Has anyone had any of these issues before? I really don't know what to try next. I don't trust the VW dealer, but not sure that a local independent garage could help either, and I really don't want to throw even more money at it without being sure something could be solved.
 
Thanks in advance...

#2147 of 3340 Re: 1996 Passat dashboard lights not working [tjle21] by shipo

Jan 21, 2007 (9:18 am)

Replying to: tjle21 (Jan 21, 2007 4:57 am)
Here in the U.S. at least, the 1996 instrument cluster was HIGHLY suspect, or said another way, it was very fragile. The following link will take you to a post of mine from about a year ago about my 1995 Passat GLX (mine was a 5-Speed) that had a 1996 instrument cluster installed under warranty about 9 months after I bought the car.
 
shipo, "Mileage Fraud!! Odometer was rolled back!!! What 2 do?" #42, 30 Jan 2006 10:19 am
 
So, assuming that you took a look at my tale, my suggestion would be for you to contact a local independent shop and have them do the work. You can buy the cluster yourself from VW or have the shop do the purchase, either way my bet is that the new cluster, along with installation won't set you back more than two hundred and fifty pounds, three hundred at the most.
 
Let us know how you make out.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#2148 of 3340 name the noise (anyone recognize it?) by brozhnik

Jan 21, 2007 (10:28 am)

My 2003 Passat 1.8T (72K miles) has begun making a noise in the last few days (we've had wintry storm weather, in case that's relevant). The noise, which is subtle, not loud, seems to come from about where I think the turbocharger is. It occurs immediately AFTER i remove my foot from the gas pedal and lasts a second or two. Not sure how to describe it- not a rattle exactly, not a boing exactly, not a hiss exactly - more like someone breathing out the word "heh" without any voice. Drawn out for a couple of seconds. But somehow I sense an element of boing or maybe of rattle.... Anyway, not loud; upper-middle in pitch; steady - I could imitate it but can't describe it well. (If I get super-ambitious maybe I coudl try to record it and put up an mp3.... don't count on it.)
 
One thing that may be more informative: if I'm coasting at very low speed and use the pedal to give only a little more gas, so the engine stays in the lower 1000 rpm range, the sound does NOT happen. But if I give it more gas (not necessarily enough to get to 2000 rpm, but near it), I get the noise as soon as I let go of the pedal. So that makes me wonder if it's the turbo.
 
If anyone is still with me -- (a) any idea what this is? (b) is it a problem or just normal and no problem?
 
Thanks!

#2149 of 3340 Re: 2004 passat - rear lights stay on [berkman] by altair4

Jan 21, 2007 (7:11 pm)

Replying to: berkman (Jan 20, 2007 11:43 pm)
Without doubt, it's the brake switch on the brake pedal. Common issue on thw Passat. You'll find that you can move the auto transmission shifter without applying the brakes, too.
 
First, pull the fuse so you don't kill the battery - sorry, I don't remember the number. This means that you won't have any brake lights - either replace the fuse when you drive it in or be dang careful without 'em. Don't disconnect the battery, you'll lose a lot of settings - throttle position, power windows, etc.
 
If you're under warranty, then you're covered. If not, I think it took less than hour to repair. I think the part is cheap. I was under warranty when mine went.

Messages Page 215 of 334

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