2002 Volkswagen Passat Engine Problems

“My daughter pulled into our neighborhood and noticed a faint odor of smoke. She pulled into our garage, got out of the car and saw smoke coming from the hood. She opened the hood and saw flames on the passenger side of the engine block. She went to get the fire extinguisher and upon her return the flame was out and the smoke subsided. I have inspected the area and I can't identify significant damage from the fire. …”

“I was driving the car about 30 minutes prior to incident traveling at approximately 45 MPH with my child in the car and without warning of any kind my car shuts off and I almost got rear ended . I was able to coast to the side of the road put the vehicle in park tried starting the vehicle and it started right away . I drove vehicle home without incident . I took the vehicle to a mechanic and they couldn't find a problem no engine codes where present . …”

“My car was turned off and parked when I entered a convenience store. No smoke from underneath the hood or any sign of trouble when I entered the store. I exited the store approximately 3 minutes after entering, and there was a large amount of smoke bellowing from under the hood. Something under the hood had caught fire. The fire ultimately grew large enough where a standard fire extinguisher could not put out the flame and a firefighters were required. The engine was damaged beyond repair. …”

“I started my car and proceeded to drive down around city streets for about 5 minutes. I was going speed limit(25-30 MPH) during a cool night(60*f). I stopped at a red light and then my temperature gauge spiked(car was slightly below normal temperature prior(190*f; according to gauge); this gauge spike was followed by a battery indicator light which simultaneously cut off my engine. My car became immobile and I lost brake and steering function. However, my radio and car lights still worked! Luckily there was no surrounding cars and my parking brake was functional. …”

“In august of 2013, while backing out of a driveway, I experienced a total loss of braking. After examining the car, I discovered that the plenum that holds the battery and brake booster was nearly filled with rain water. It was necessary for me to remove one of the duck-billed drain plugs in the plenum as all were clogged with debris, preventing water from draining out. The flooded plenum appears to have resulted in water being drawn through the vacuum lines when attempting to brake. This, in turn, caused a significant amount of water to be drawn into the crankcase. …”