Shedding properly, 2004 Passat Estate 1.9 TDI

Shedding properly, 2004 Passat Estate 1.9 TDI

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colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Cunningly, and despite being frowned at a lot, I take full advantage of the fact there are no age restrictions with regard to the car allowance scheme at my work. As such I choose to rock along in a shed and have done for years and years.

PCP's, company cars and all that malarky, I'd rather have the cash and shed it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you "The" shed of sheds. Anything with the evergreen VW 1.9 PD TDI is always good but when it is in a Passat estate, it is more than the sum of its parts. Well that's what I think anyway and it is the thought that counts.

I've had this current shed since 2011 buying it with 91,000 on the clock, it is now on a tad over 140,000 I'm not doing big miles but in previous sheds, one of which also a Passat TDI I did.

I'm very hands on with the car and do everything I can on it. What has prompted me to start this thread is that I'm currently embarking upon a mid life refresh on the old girl. But first I need to post up some pics of what has happened in the first four and a half years of ownership.

I don't have any early pics of her but not much has changed...

Passat and massive trailer which I built for camping and the like. Thing is, the 'dump people' say the trailer is too big for the dump due to some 'elf & safety nonsense. I don't take it to the dump anymore but luckily I have a Passat Estate so there isn't much that cannot be disposed of with just the car. Try taking a knackere dishwasher to the dump with a TVR.





I like to keep it nice and clean despite it being old and a shed













I fitted some extra telemetry.












Edited by colin_p on Monday 29th February 21:31

problemchild1976

1,376 posts

148 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
thats lovely smile

but you need to work on the mileage....



JJ

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
The main adventure I've had with the car in terms of keeping it going is that of the front suspension arms. For those that don't know the Passat shares most of its mechanicals with the Audi A4's and A6's of the same era. This means my humble shed shares the same multilink front suspension as an RS6.

Great while it is all good but a pain to change. There are four suspension arms each side and changing them is a bit tricky and expensive.

I opted for a Febi as in Febi Bilstein kit the first time I did this as a mid priced fix.

The infamous pinch bolt that hold the top arms


Came out without much fuss due to careful planning and daily squirts of plusgas for a few weeks before. Some people have proper nightmares getting these bolts out


Some new arms


Jet washed prior to starting work. I might be a shed driver but I do hate working on a dirty car.




All set to get the spanners out


I spotted a split CV joint boot which these cars are famous for. Front wheel drive but a rear wheel layout and very tight steering lock ruins CV boots. Upon cleaning up and although this joint wasn't knocking it got changed and it soon would be knocking.




If you have never seen a CV joint in bits... you have now.


Everything off. I also like to do my mechanicing in the dark sometimes


The top arms fit to a carrier the bolts of which you cannot access when it is back on the car, therefore you have to set the 'design' height off the car.


Built up ready to fit


Who has the same fun I do with the CV boot clips? Just a bit tighter, just a bit..... snap!


ABS connection


Nice


Steering knuckle on the bench, had to take it off as the balljoint taper inserts cam off with the lower arms





colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
problemchild1976 said:
thats lovely smile

but you need to work on the mileage....

JJ
I know, I'm a little over half that.

problemchild1976

1,376 posts

148 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
its my father in laws passat and was my brother in laws (his sons) before that and a company car before.

they have replaced the crazy ass suspension twice now

we did the cam belt 2 weekends ago and its needed a new set of headlamps

it does have a little issue from time to time whereby it goes into limp mode but engine off/on again and all is fine

such a nice car to drive

JJ

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
The heated seat had a burn through. Not uncommon on VW's of this era. It was like this when I bought the car.

I saw a Passenger seat on e-bay for a good price with the same coloured dark grey leather so...

I took the seat apart and swapped the bases over. It was a gamble but the drivers and passenger side bases are the same. The uprights are obviously different though.

Burn hole











colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
problemchild1976 said:
its my father in laws passat and was my brother in laws (his sons) before that and a company car before.

they have replaced the crazy ass suspension twice now

we did the cam belt 2 weekends ago and its needed a new set of headlamps

it does have a little issue from time to time whereby it goes into limp mode but engine off/on again and all is fine

such a nice car to drive

JJ
I love them, there are effectively an Audi A6 ride wise.

The limp mode issue is most likely a coked up VNT mechanism on the turbo.

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
The other thing these cars suffer from is blocked plenum drain bungs which cause water to overflow into the car and short out the central convenience electrics. Not good.

The beauty of an old shed is that these types of things are all known about and therefore cleaning the plenum is routine maintenance.



I've removed the bungs so they cannot clog


And cleaned


How dirty?




colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
On top of the plenum drains, the pollen filter housing as these cars age gets a bit porous as well. I did re-sealed the pollen filter housing and for good measure also did the ECU housing.

ECU housing was ok but still got re-sealed




Loads of crap behind the pollen filter housing


Poor gasket seal design


Squidge in on!


And some more!


Waterproofed ECU


ECU back in its little house


Squidge on the pollen filter housing, no gaskets here, the squidge is the new gasket


Also VW's of this era are prone to slowly siezing wiper rack spindles so whilst it was all exposed, I whipped the wiper rack out, dismantled it and lubed it.





Zoobeef

6,004 posts

157 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
I have similar shedding, a 1.9 A4. They are cracking cars, mines an 02 which I bought 2.5 years ago on 158k and it's on 223k now!

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Also driving an old shed doesn't mean you have to suffer. For very little money, actually £40 I got me a set of winter "steelies" which I put some proper winter tyres on.



195 wide oh what fun and joy they bring.






I did freshen up the steelies before getting the tyres fitted. I really like them.

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Very difficult to photograph but I added some ambient lighting. Blurry but you get the idea.

Although this is the top of the range Highline model by modern standards it is lacking. A few quid on some LEDs and a few hours later...

Much more subtle to the naked eye. The blurry pics make the ambient glow seem brighter than it is.






spaximus

4,230 posts

252 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
They really are great cars. I had one as a company car, which they like to get rid of at 60k. So I ordered a new Volvo XC60 to replace it, by which time it was delivered, it was already up to 75k.

The plan to get rid changed when they needed a car quick so it was made a pool car. It is now up to 160k and has not had anything other than tyres and servicing, nothing. Nothing on warranty as well.

The Volvo has visited the dealer on the back of a truck three times in 14 months. I am now looking at an Amorak to replace the Volvo if I can live with it.

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Horror of horrors, the front suspension developed a knock.

Two years after fitting the Febi kit, I junked it and fitted a Meyle HD kit.










problemchild1976

1,376 posts

148 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
is the VNT the variable turbo veins??

JJ

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
problemchild1976 said:
is the VNT the variable turbo veins??

JJ
Yes, the turbo vanes.

If you have VCDS you can check for a charge deviation fault code and or do some live logging.

Before you condem the turbo though, have you cleaned the EGR valve ?

colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Another weak point on VW's of this era are the coolant temperature sensors...

Cover bolt covers off. You find most cars with these missing, I swear mechanics take them off on the first service and throw them in the bin!


I had to buy some


And but some more of these




Airfilter housing out the way, you can see the sensor




Cheap e-bay special vs OE item. Buy cheap and do it twice is the addage. I did.



colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
This is what really got me back home into shedding.

I got ahead of myself and went up market. Bear in mind these photos are quite old and the A6 was quite new at the time. It was my pride and joy.







But then this happened on the A40 coming out of London


A Merc hit me


The impact broke the back of the A6.


Cheesed off and disillusined I went back to shedding.

Got this Focus TDDI as a stop gap which I kept for about two years. A fantastic car. The Wife then used it for another three years after me.







colin_p

Original Poster:

4,503 posts

211 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
spaximus said:
They really are great cars. I had one as a company car, which they like to get rid of at 60k. So I ordered a new Volvo XC60 to replace it, by which time it was delivered, it was already up to 75k.

The plan to get rid changed when they needed a car quick so it was made a pool car. It is now up to 160k and has not had anything other than tyres and servicing, nothing. Nothing on warranty as well.

The Volvo has visited the dealer on the back of a truck three times in 14 months. I am now looking at an Amorak to replace the Volvo if I can live with it.
If all else fails, get another Passat, you know you can rely on them. A lot of what I've done is premptive and probably not necessary.

myvision

1,931 posts

135 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
What's the big green button on the dash?