Ask the Car People.SM


Volkswagen Passat Maintenance and Repair

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

You are in the Volkswagen Passat Forum.

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

    
Go to NHTSA to file a safety complaint.
Or call Monday-Friday (8 am to 8 pm ET) (888) 327-4236 TTY: (800)424-9153

Messages Page 282 of 335

#2808 of 3340 Re: Repair Manual 2000 Passat [camperman] by altair4

Feb 03, 2009 (8:11 am)

Replying to: camperman (Feb 02, 2009 8:17 pm)
Basically, I think you are limited to two sources - 1) the Bentley manual that is the official shop manual for the car. It comes in CDROM and paper versions (~$80 or so). I have the paper version which is okay. Personally, I don't think it's as good as the Bentley manuals were for the 1980's VWs. 2) the Haynes manual. I don't think it's as good as the current Bentley, but it's waaaaayyyy cheaper (~$20).
 
The third source, which isn't actually a manual, is the EKTA parts manual. This will give you an exploded view of every system on the car. For me, sometimes this view is enough to be able to figure out what you need to do and how to best approach it. Google "ETKA Passat" and you should be able to find an online version of ETKA. I saved the entire thing on my harddrive.

#2809 of 3340 Recall Notice by DON__FLORIDA

Feb 03, 2009 (5:53 pm)

I have a 99 Passat. I was looking through some repair records and noticed a safety recall, 26ES/RS dated June 2008. I must have over looked it back then and never did anything about it. It had to do with underbody heat schields being replaced. There is the possibly of a fire if not replaced. I now have an appointment with dealer to do the work. Has anyone had a problem with this? 99 through 02 models are affected. Also, I may have been luckly but no major problems yet with mine but at 77.000 I am beginning to worry. I have a long trip coming up and not sure what to look for. I will have 80,000 mile service done before trip. I would like to hear from other owners with higher millage. What advice can you give me?

#2810 of 3340 ABS, Brake and ASR Light on intermittently by theknab

Feb 05, 2009 (4:35 pm)

Passat wagon 2001.5 2.8 . I just had the TCM, oxygen sensor, and valve body replaced. Now 200 miles later the ABS light comes on solid and the brake light flashes on red, then both lights go out and the anti-slip regulator light comes on instead. Then it goes out and the other two come on. I took the car to my mechanic who got the following two codes
      01203 ABS instrument panel electrical no signal intermittent
 
      18256 engine-ECU p1848 intermittent
 
Of course the lights were not on when I drove the car to my mechanic. He added some brake fluid as per the owners manual. Then as I drove home the lights came on again. Any ideas on what needs to be done? Is this latest problem connected to the repairs I had done to do with the transmission and the TCM?

#2811 of 3340 Re: ABS, Brake and ASR Light on intermittently [theknab] by xyzzy1954

Feb 09, 2009 (12:32 pm)

Replying to: theknab (Feb 05, 2009 4:35 pm)
I have a similar - not the exact - problem on my 99 Passat GLX, so I don't know if this will be helpful.
 
I had the ABS light on solid, the Brake light flashing, the Oil light flashing, and the Tachometer failing to move, intermittantly. Either they all worked normally, or they behaved as described above.The they just misbehaved constantly.
 
I've had two dealers now tell me the ABS Control units fail, and when then do, they cause the other indicators to misread. The second dealer disconnected the ABS Control Unit. The Tachometer is now normal, as is the Oil light. The ABS light is still on solid - it is disconnected - , and the Brake light still flashes which the dealer says he expected with the ABS light being on.
 
Net net - as an experiment have the mechanic disconnect the ABS Control Unit and see what problems remain. Needless to say you will be without ABS, but it may the case already. (I've been driving for 1 month this way. The dealer wants $1000 for a new one.)
 
HTH

#2812 of 3340 Re: ABS, Brake and ASR Light on intermittently [xyzzy1954] by altair4

Feb 09, 2009 (12:42 pm)

Replying to: xyzzy1954 (Feb 09, 2009 12:32 pm)
You wrote: The dealer wants $1000 for a new one.
 
You can get a refurbed one online. Google Passat ABS module rebuild. It's a LOT less than $1,000.

#2813 of 3340 ABS, Brake and ASR Light on intermittently by theknab

Feb 09, 2009 (3:05 pm)

Many thanks for the two posts with the information. i will get my mechanic to try these things and if necessary go with the refurbished ABS module. I would like to keep my fingers crossed in the hope that it is a simple electrical problem but I'm not holding my breath.
 
 After my last few experiences simple and VW Passat don't go to well together!

#2814 of 3340 Air ventilation (climate control) problems by yesims

Feb 18, 2009 (11:24 am)

For a week when we turned on the heat there were some funny noises coming from the air vents, as if something squeaky was in there. Well, today when I turned on the heat and hit circulate the air button, something almost snapped in there and no air came through. An hour ago when I was driving back home, since it was snowing I needed to defog the windshield and crossed my fingers that the air will be blown. Initially it felt like there was some air was coming through but apparently that wasn't the case as it smelled like burning plastic a short while later. I immediately turned off the system and hoped the car wouldn't catch fire due to whatever that smell was coming from.
 
Any ideas of what the problem is and more importantly any guesses how much it will cost?

#2815 of 3340 1998 Passat Timing Belt Tensioner Saga by zephon

Feb 19, 2009 (8:24 pm)

My daughter purchased the car last July 08. It had a little over 140k miles on it. Don't know anything about it's maintenance history except that it had a clean car fax.
 
A couple of weeks ago, she got in it to go somewhere and it would not start. It would turn over but not fire up. We took it to a garage and after checking the spark plugs, they checked the timing belt and discovered that the tensioner had failed. It was probably original. It was the type with the ball and socket piston to tensioner linkage. The ball and socket were badly worn and that is where the failure occurred. Anyway, they replaced it with a newer design that VW came out with about 5 years ago according to the mechanic. Also replaced belt, pulley, and water pump while they were in there. First question- was there any kind of a recall to replace the poorly designed tensioner assembly, the ball and socket style?
 
They got it back together, started it, but it ran poorly so they decided to check for damage to the valves. They bore-scoped the cylinders and saw that one valve looked bent, so they removed the head to inspect it further and discovered that it looked like one valve in each cylinder had hit the piston head. So, they sent the head off to a machine shop and that is where we stand right now. I don't know if they'll have to replace more than just the four that are visibly damaged. Hope not. The valves could have been damaged when the tensioner first failed, when we tried unsuccessfully to start it, or when the mechanic started it and it ran roughly. No way to tell.
 
I can't see getting out of this for less that $2000 and probably more.

#2816 of 3340 all warning lights on, gauges don't work but car runs fine by Illini_Mike

Feb 19, 2009 (10:13 pm)

This is a weird one:
 
I have a 2000 Passat that sat in rain for a couple of days. Then I turned it on and all of the warning lights were on, none of the gauges worked (temp, gas speed), the clock/milage did not work but the car ran fine - even the radio worked. That was a few days ago. Today I started the car and the same conditions re-occurred. I disconnected the battery for a few minutes but that did not change anything.
 
Any help would be appreciated.

#2817 of 3340 Re: 1998 Passat Timing Belt Tensioner Saga [zephon] by altair4

Feb 20, 2009 (8:10 am)

Replying to: zephon (Feb 19, 2009 8:24 pm)
Zephon, you would need to check either your owner's manual or perhaps VWoA's website, but I believe the change interval on the timing belt is 105,000 miles, so the car is quite a bit past that line. Most people will change out the tensioner, water pump, etc, while doing this job since everything is exposed. I don't remember any recall on the original tensioner. Sorry to hear the news - it's a lot of money to put into a 11 year old car.

Messages Page 282 of 335

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement