2002 VW Passat

[woodman1999]

Alright, let me just get this out there before we get into this. I am, by no means whatsover, handy with anything car related, other than changing tires and washing windows. So, now for the help request:

I have a 2002 VW Passat with about 56k miles on it. Sedan, 1.8L Tiptronic. Yesterday morning, went to start the car and it had no interest on the first attempt. Lights came on and it was definitely trying, just wouldn't catch. Instant thought was battery issue, but I had just had the car at the dealer (don't throw stones!) and there was no issue with the battery. On the 3rd attempt, I just held it there for longer than I was comfortable and it finally turned over and ran fine.

Last night, went to start it to get home, same issues. Only this time, I got lights on the dashboard. EPC light and Engine light. Great... super... awesome... Car started, got home, parked. I did a bit of research, and it seems to be something to do with a "drive-by-wire" system. Possibly the ignition or something else. I am going to be taking it to a garage tomorrow, but I had two quick questions:

1. Any real danger to me? Will the car explode?
2. Roughly what would guys expect to pay for work on something like this? I know a few of you can probably fix this with your eyes close, but well, I can't and sadly don't have the time right now to learn.

Any help/suggestions would be very much obliged.

 

[Dice144]

My epc light actually went on when my engine was misfiring. Changed pack that was giving me the error code and epc also went away. I would recommend just posting what error code you are getting when you check it for free at an auto place.

For reference, my car is an 2008 vw passat

 

[Denly]

My money is on MAF or ... sorry the other sensor name just slip.

Bring it to a speciality shop, most normally shop won't have a clue.

I drove a couple B5.5 in the pass, anything that could gone bad I had it before.

No the car won't explode, if it is very far away from the shop get it tow.

I expect $300-$400 repair bill if I am right on the sensor(s).

 

[basslover1]

Unless the EPC or check engine lights are blinking, the car is drive-able, it's just typically an emissions failure but it wont harm the engine. If the light is blinking, yea don't drive it.

Since both situations sound like a cold start (it's been sitting long enough to not be "warm"), my random guess would either be a temp sensor or the secondary air injection system.

Definitely bring it to a Euro specialist shop, joe-bob down the street won't have much of an idea TBH. The ignition control module went out on my old 98, which caused cyl 2 (maybe 3?) to not fire at all. Local mechanic said "eh probably needs a tune up, plugs/wires etc." They were obviously unaware that it had coilpacks and not a distributor so that wouldn't work.

 

[woodman1999]

Thanks all for the help on this. She took a little extra TLC to get started this morning, possibly due to the overnight temps dipping into the 30's. I took her to a shop touted as a "German" specialist with some good online reviews that's 5 minutes from the house. They will be calling me before doing any real work, but now I at least have a clue for what could be some issues.

FWIW, back in '07/'08, I had some pretty bad ignition coil (I think) issues that took 3 trips to the dealership to get squared away. Maybe the replacements finally died out...

 

[woodman1999]

Got a call from the garage. Crank shaft sensor is causing firing issues. $300 for parts/labor and whatnot. That sound reasonable, both the issue and the amount? I know full well 90% of that $ is labor, but I have come to expect that...

 

[fleshconsumed]

Got a call from the garage. Crank shaft sensor is causing firing issues. $300 for parts/labor and whatnot. That sound reasonable, both the issue and the amount? I know full well 90% of that $ is labor, but I have come to expect that...

I had crank shaft sensor go bad on my 2005 Nissan Altima. I know, not the same car, but in my case the OEM part was only $43 or so, and it took me about half an hour to replace it. $300 sounds high to me, but then again I don't know how much the VW sensor costs or how difficult it is to replace it.

 

[basslover1]

Could be the crank sensor, it usually has it's own code when it goes out: P0322. If that's the case yea $300 doesn't sound too terrible, the part is anywhere from $50-80 and it isn't in the easiest spot to get to so figure 1-1.5 hours of labor.

My only hesitation is you didn't mention it dying while running, just a hard start. Usually the crank sensor going bad can cause the car to stall while running, on top of making it hard to start. It's possible you didn't drive it long enough for it to act up and cut out the engine which is why you never mentioned it.

I mean, it is a common problem so the sensor would have likely gone out at some point anyway, so replacing it isn't a bad idea.

 

[woodman1999]

Thanks for the input on cost. Hopefully this is the end of it and I can keep driving the car for a while longer... wonder if it will ever end up in my 3 year olds hands .

I don't drive the car as much as I should so it's possible it never had a chance to die on me while driving.

 

[slag]

My money is on MAF or ... sorry the other sensor name just slip.

Bring it to a speciality shop, most normally shop won't have a clue.

I drove a couple B5.5 in the pass, anything that could gone bad I had it before.

No the car won't explode, if it is very far away from the shop get it tow.

I expect $300-$400 repair bill if I am right on the sensor(s).

You absolutely nailed the price. Nice job!!

 

[basslover1]

No problem, sometimes I do miss my 98 except when something broke then it was a pain but it was a good car.

I know on the newer ones they added sensors on everything because of the emission requirements so it can be hard to track stuff down, and VW isn't exactly known for reliability. Most problems are usually nothing major just annoying really.

If you have more than 75k miles on it, make sure you've changed the timing belt/tensioner and you should have many good miles ahead.

 

[woodman1999]

There's a whopping 56k miles on it. She didn't get driven much early on, and no real road trips. Hopefully she can last until I convince my wife to let us get a new sedan...

 

[Denly]

You absolutely nailed the price. Nice job!!

I wish I don't have to know them, it was a huge money pit. I end up took out all the seats(best seat ever) and junk it at only 250k km because I don't want to do timing belt water pump, clutch, turbo leak and second air pump.

Nice car however, I do miss it.

 

[Denly]

There's a whopping 56k miles on it. She didn't get driven much early on, and no real road trips. Hopefully she can last until I convince my wife to let us get a new sedan...

At 56k if there is no rust she is a keeper, I enjoyed mine a lot.

However do the TB before 80k miles, better safe then sorry. Keep a spare coil in the car, 1.8T eat coil. Also oil(sync oil) change every 4k miles with the over size version filter no matter what people or manual tell you, 1.8T do build up oil sludge.

 

[woodman1999]

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep an eye on the odometer from now on. Typically just get oil changed at 4-5k, but will be more stringent now. Even if I did keep a coil around, no farkin clue how to change it so may not due me much good.

 

[Denly]

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep an eye on the odometer from now on. Typically just get oil changed at 4-5k, but will be more stringent now. Even if I did keep a coil around, no farkin clue how to change it so may not due me much good.

A coin is all the tools you need to change to coil.

When you need new coil? When your car is shaking/rough and barely move.

Turn off your car use to coin to turn the lock on the engine cover(the one with 1.8T on it). Now you see 4 coils, go to #1 on the left press down the connector clip and shake it off the coil. Now pull it up and put the new one in and connect the cable. start the car. if it fix good, if not go to #2 and repeat with the coil you have on hand.