I have a 99 volkswagon passat. I've replaced the alternator once a month for the last three months. Other than the belt, what could cause me to go through alternators so quickly. Also, this may or may not be related but as the alternator deteriorates my drivers side window which is automatic becomes more difficult to roll down. Then works perfectly after the alternator is replaced.
View 12 RepliesMy 2003 Passat has a noxious smell when I pull up to a parking space or sometimes when I stop at a light. It smells like burning oil or exhaust, but not all the time. The repair shop has replaced the oil pan, which was dented (by my 18-year-old son), replaced axle seal, and have replaced a broken and leaking PCV hose, but that has not solved the problem, and the don't know what else to do.
View 7 RepliesI have a used Toyota Corolla 2007 that has engine problems
I bought this for $8000 in Dec 2012 and did not realize the previous owner was using synthetic oil. I used the regular oil and changed every 3 mins. At one point I started seeing a lot of smoke and the oil was burning quickly (like in a month for 300 miles). The oil change guy recommended to use synthetic oil and that should remove all the sludge. It's been a year I am using the synthetic oil and I still have the sludge issues.
I took the car to the mechanic today and he is saying the piston rings could have worn out and asking to rebuild the engine and that would cost $2800 including the taxes. My wife will be using this car to drop and pick up the kids from school. So I don't want to take any risks. Should I go ahead and rebuild the engine?
I have found that when I accelerate quickly, while entering the expressway or getting around a semi for example, a burning smell enters the car. I imagine it's oil but uncertain. The smell occurs shortly after the quick acceleration and it doesn't occur consistently.
View 14 RepliesI just had my 3rd Canister purge valve installed a month and a half ago, and it's already dead.
I noticed while I was driving that it was constantly pulsing after the engine warmed up, and continued to do so as long as I was driving.** This did not seem normal to me (I can hear it in the cab).
The solenoid is burning up and measures open circuit. No codes are thrown during the time it continues to pulse, but when it burned up again, the 3 codes (P0441 Incorrect Purge Flow, P0440 Solenoid Failure, P0443 Purge Valve Circuit Trouble) are immediately thrown? indicating the solenoid is fried.
The system runs a series of tests during normal operation, so if there was a problem with an actual leak or clog, it should show up as a test failure code, but does not. My inclination is that the problem is a sensor.
Having burning oil smell coming from the V6. Took it to the dealership and they tole me it has an oil leak on the the header then it burns off. It seems to get much worse when the RPM's are some what high. Only 70,000 miles too. Guess its getting to stay that way for a while.
View 9 RepliesMy clutch pedal went all the way to the floor. The engine was missing first and then that problem happened with the clutch. I had the car towed to my business, I checked it the other day and the pedal was up. The clutch still doesn't engage.
View 6 RepliesI've recently ran into some issues with my Passat. The other day while driving I noticed a scraping noise under my car. I got out and saw two bracket looking things were hanging down. As far as I know, nothing has changed to the driving but I want to know if it is something really serious. They are on opposite sides of each other, each about a foot length from the front tires (toward the middle) and one appears to be more bent than the other, probably due to scraping.
View 7 RepliesLast night I was driving in my 2003 jetta on the intersate at 65mph with the cruise control on. As I came into a turn I had to tap the brakes. As soon as I did the check engine light came on. The car was doing fine so I drove home from school. Today I drove the car to work which is a five minute drive, and back with no problem. I later went to grab lunch and bring it home and then I noticed the check engine light started flashing. I then felt the engine start to stutter, as if it was misfiring. We had the windshield defrost when we started to smell a rotten egg smell. Luckily we were pulling into our drive when we smelled the odor. I immediately turned off the car and got out. I couldn't smell the rotten egg smell, but I did smell burning plastic. I didn't see any smoke and could not pinpoint the cause of the smell.
View 4 RepliesSo after the passat has tried to eat its own gearbox i've been having more troubles with the EGR but only on a long run so i've left it alone.
At 6:30 this morning i just got off the motorway and the motor stopped and started again quickly. After the lights it went dead and i rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. The car would not start so i pushed it to the side and started to try and get it going. The dash was reporting parking brake error and ESC error but it would not turn over at all. I tried loads of time and left it for 5 mins but nothing. Its been recovered to the garage again now.
I ran it through VCDS and got a bunch of errors, the common one coming up was 01314 - Engine control Module (004 - no signal/communication) and two other under parking brake ECM and 03182 - Clutch Position Sensor (G476) (010 open or short to Plus)
I've done some googling and been back to check the fuses (which there is no map for!) and found nothing.
ok i have a 1.8T atw passat 2000. when boost 18 psi my car starts to buck and then my psi goes down to 10 really quickly like something is being cut off. i also have a p0301 misfire in cylinder 1. I switched my ignition coils around and replaced one and i also changed my spark plugs(not the cheap autoparts store kind). i checked my vacuum hoses and no tears. i put fuel injector cleaner in my tank when i filled up ( two bottles). it might be my fuel injectors but that would be too easy to fix. So I am thinking its something mechanical. I want to know what could be wrong mechanically. My friend thinks could it be a blown head gasket. is this true?
View 2 RepliesI recently bought a '99 Passat, 3.0l, that is lowered with 19" wheels and low profile tires. The front tires are a little lower profile than the rear ones, if that matters??? I noticed that when I cruise around a corner, slightly quicker then normal, the ASR light comes on and seems to cut the motor. The dealer says that its because of the oversized tires and wheels. Does that make sense? Any way to adjust that or fix this issue? This car will go to my daughter, so I don't want to cause her to get into an accident.
View 3 RepliesHaving an intermittent problem when starting the car.
The car quickly shutting off right after starting while still in Park.
It does not do it all the time, but about every 3rd of 4th start attempt it will do this. If I step on the accelerator, I can avoid the car from shutting off.
The car has 62k miles and spark plugs were replaced at 50k.
Ok, I just started to notice that when Im driving at night, the display for my ac/heater panel almost quickly turns off and then back on. It is fast enough that I thought it was me. Last night I sat and watched it for a few min and it stopped "glowing" for a split second then went back to normal.
View 2 RepliesMy car has about 37k on it; and while the front pads look to be about 50% worn; the rears look like they are closer to 90%. Is this normal? The car is also sluggish while braking especially when the engine is being auto-revved to keep the system voltage up (a known problem). It also seems that the car will step into ABS lock-up mode too soon in a panic stop situation; which might also indicate that the brake system is biasing too much power to the rears; too little to the fronts.
I've never had a car wear the rear brakes more rapidly than the fronts; usually the rears are much more lightly utilized to reduce the tendency to skid. Is there any way to adjust brake bias? I'm getting ready to change rear pads and flush brake fluid.
Something strange happened this morning and I can't find anything .
Got out of the car (2007) and locked it with the remote. The alarm light flashed quickly multiple times, almost like something was wrong, door not closed tight, etc. The doors locked, but it would not give me the audible beep that it normally does. Went around and opened and closed all doors and trunk to make sure they were closed tight, and they were.
I have 2008 VR6 4 motion wagon with about 98K miles. It has been relatively trouble free and I love the car. To try and make it last I am trying to stay on top of maintenance. I had a VW warranty until 72K and got several things fixed along the way. But, I had asked about the one weird thing it does well before it went out of warranty to no avail ("no trouble found").
The weird thing is that sometimes it sort of stutters when I slow down from a high rate of speed quickly, like exiting a freeway. I described it to my new mechanic (no longer beholden to the dealership mechanics) when I was speculating a new transmission might be in order at some point and he said it was probably an issue with the program that tells the transmission when to downshift and to ask about a software update. I did; none available.
Is it firmware related, how to get it fixed?
Our B5.5. wagon with 1.8t and automatic just went in for recall work. Embarrassingly, I don't even know what the recall was for, I only remember something about cars catching on fire.
Since we picked it up the AC only works for maybe 10 minutes at a time and then switches off. The engine temp gets really high and then cools back rather quickly. Occasionally the temp warning goes off. We scheduled an appointment to take it back in to the dealer but of course they can't take it till next week.
In the mean time, have any of you experienced something similar? Perhaps the AC goes off because of the engine temp sensor? Better to overheat the passengers than the motor? If so then the problem is the temp or the temp sensory?
I drive a 1999 Chevy Malibu. My car overheated the other day so I pulled over and realized the overflow was bone dry. So I added water and finished my trip. By the time I got there the car was overheating again and the overflow was again empty. I have changed the water pump, the thermostat, and the overflow cap. Whats happening now is when I crank it the car Idles fine until it gets warm, then steam starts to come out of the overflow hose coming from the cap. If I drive it not only steam but all my coolant just starts pouring out of this thing. I was told this might mean a busted head, but there is no coolant in my oil or water coming out of my exhaust.
View 1 RepliesI am the unfortunate 2nd owner of a 2004 Passat. Purchased it this year with 140k on it. The CEL has been on since June (3days after I purchased it) and despite my mechanics efforts to resolve all the issues he has just given up. It has lots of codes mostly vacuum leak related. Now I am noticing the car is burning oil and the codes the car has now is a vacuum leak code and the Turbo undercharge (P0299). Here are my questions:If my car is burning oil (not leaking) it could be worn piston rings, gasket valve cover and anything else? Could any of those also cause a vacuum leak? The P0299 code, could that be caused by a vacuum leak?
View 12 RepliesI have a 05 EB Excursion 6.0L and I am on my third alternator. Just bought the third and I have 113K miles on the Excursion. No extra electronic just a set of backup lights. What is making the alternators go out. The second on lasted about 4 years and the first one 5 years. I have added extra wire from the alternator to the batteries.
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