1998 Volkswagen Passat Engine cooling Problems

“The timing belt on my 1998 vw Passat with the 1.8t engine failed at 75,000 miles stranding me by the side of the road. The car has been regularly maintained by vw. The vw maintenance schedule requires replacement of the belt at 105,000 miles. Vw denied my warranty claim stating that the original warranty applies only to the first owner. However, my research shows that this is a well known problem and vw refuses to do anything about it.”

“(1) while driving down the highway at 60 MPH the engine shut down and would not turn over again. I called a tow truck and had it delivered to my mechanics garage. (2) mechanic determined that it was the timing belt that went, and that Volkswagen had remanufactuered the tensioner and pulley for what ever reason. After buying new parts and rebuilding the head because the valves were destroyed upon contact with the pistons( naturally). After putting the engine back together with the new parts and rebuilt head, the cam seized up and blew the motor.”

“My car died suddenly while I was driving on route 9. My car started to lose acceleration, but I was unable to pull off the road before the engine died. The problem turned out to be related to the timing belt. Apparently the timing belt tensioner failed, causing the timing belt to go into the engine and damage cylinder heads. My local mechanic has informed me the manufacturer has issued a service bulletin that recommends replacing the part. I had the part inspected at 55,000 miles by my local dealer and was not told of the problem or advised to replace the part. …”

“Oil pump failed. While driving the oil light came on. When this occurred consumer immediately pulled off the road and turned the vehicle off, preventing engine failure. Vehicle was taken to dealership. A TSB was issued for an engine performance. Deteriorate /seize because of slug built up. This failure cause the oil pump to fail without slug built up.”

“Oil pump failure, faulty cd player, inoperative cruise control, ignition module. Many failures for such a new car. Warranty is good for 10 years 100,000 miles for original owner, 5 york 50,000 for second. Car was placed in service 2/19/98 we there fore missed the 5 year coverage by 4 months.”