acceleration issues with 99 vw passat

[rasczak]

just recently my wife's passat started having problems accellerating both from a dead stop and from a corner. she'll punch the gas and it starts to choke then finally starts to accelerate. it's gotten more noticeable over the past month. we've had the plugs changed, the wires changed, fuel filter changed but i still can't figure the damn thing out. i've addess fuel additives to clean the injectors. what it reminds me of is bad timing, but we had that looked at as well.

any suggestions are most appreciated.

**update**

ok, was able to get the codes.

P0103 MAF or VAF a circuit high input

P1127 Manufacture control feul air metering.

per chiltons P1127 means running rich.

 

[vi edit]

2.8 V6 or 1.8t?

Also, stick or auto?

 

[rasczak]

1.8T with that auto/manual synch thingy

 

[T2urtle]

miles on the car?

the timing will only be retarded if a belt/ water pump was recently replaced.

how has the oil changes interval's been?

1.8T on the VW have a oil sludging problem. the 1.8T in b5 passats aren't exactly fast by any means. If your wife noticed power lost then something might be wrong. Start off simple, any check engine lights? even if the light is not illumated run the scanner to pull past codes. autozone can provide u with the service free of charge. write down the Pxxxx and fault post back if anything.

check the vac lines. on older turbo cars you end up having boost leaks somewhere that causes lost of power. or EGR valves failing. n75 boost valves not working the way its suppose to. Might have a turbo on its way out. i've replaced about 5 turbos in a one year span at the dealership.

fuel filter, plugs and wires are a good thing to replace. how about air filter?

at this point i strongly suggest you go pull the codes. i'm expecting to see some code because it is a VW.


oh about the vac line... take a look on the right side where your intake plenum is. next to the plastic cover that says VW on it... there should be 2 nipples near the middle under part. with the car start feel around for escaping air... or hissing noises. follow the lines they are pretty simple routing, it might be hot but check out the other end.

all my work was done with a scan tool, it would almost instantly tell me whats wrong and can be wrong with the in a matter of minutes. w/o that and w.o seeing the car i cant actually be of much assistant.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: T2urtle
miles on the car?

108,000 approx

the timing will only be retarded if a belt/ water pump was recently replaced.

hasn't been changed, that's coming next month.

how has the oil changes interval's been?

about 3-4 months approx sometimes 6 on the extreme end of things

1.8T on the VW have a oil sludging problem. the 1.8T in b5 passats aren't exactly fast by any means. If your wife noticed power lost then something might be wrong. Start off simple, any check engine lights? even if the light is not illumated run the scanner to pull past codes. autozone can provide u with the service free of charge. write down the Pxxxx and fault post back if anything.

check engine lights came on after the issues started happening. i'll check out autozone.

check the vac lines. on older turbo cars you end up having boost leaks somewhere that causes lost of power. or EGR valves failing. n75 boost valves not working the way its suppose to. Might have a turbo on its way out. i've replaced about 5 turbos in a one year span at the dealership.

Ugh

fuel filter, plugs and wires are a good thing to replace. how about air filter?

air filter was changed as well. forgot to mention that


at this point i strongly suggest you go pull the codes. i'm expecting to see some code because it is a VW.

hrrm, come to think of it, i had to smog the car this year, but it failed the first time due the computer not talking to the smog machine. there were some "stuck" codes on it as well. took it to the referee (i live in california) and he said there were no problems with it.



oh about the vac line... take a look on the right side where your intake plenum is. next to the plastic cover that says VW on it... there should be 2 nipples near the middle under part. with the car start feel around for escaping air... or hissing noises. follow the lines they are pretty simple routing, it might be hot but check out the other end.

i'll do this later on today

all my work was done with a scan tool, it would almost instantly tell me whats wrong and can be wrong with the in a matter of minutes. w/o that and w.o seeing the car i cant actually be of much assistant.

I'll try to get those codes for you tonite. but for sure by the end of the week ( wife's in school i've got babysitting duties )


Thanks!

 

[vi edit]

When the vac lines went wonky on my 2.8(recall item) it threw a Check Engine Light.

Anything showing on the dash?

 

[vi edit]

Other possible things are coilpacks (huge problem with 1.8t) failing and the MAF sensor going bad.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

I was gonna say boost leak. My friend had that problem on his 99 1.8T as well. But that things been in the shop every couple months, so who knows. I think the other guys are providing far better info.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
When the vac lines went wonky on my 2.8(recall item) it threw a Check Engine Light.

Anything showing on the dash?

No lights on the dash

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Other possible things are coilpacks (huge problem with 1.8t) failing and the MAF sensor going bad.

parts expensive? i usually try to do my own work unless it's way over my head. this acceleration thing has been mind numbing for me as i thought i had tried every T/S step possible. aside from checking to see if the pistons are misfiring.



on a side note, this car has been rock solid since i first bought it 5 years ago. it's just now that i'm starting to see issues with it.

 

[Doodoo]

My gs300 had the same symptoms...the check engine light would come and go. Had them pull the codes at autozone and saw my car was running rich. Cleaned the MAF sensor and its been fine ever since.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Does it matter if the fuel tank is empty or full? Reason asking, if your intank pump is going bad, you'll notice issues in cornering, stopping, etc when the tank is low. I'm not sure if the later Dubs have the intank but my MK2 does.

 

[T2urtle]

dont worry about labor. almost all work on a 1.8T can be done by yourself. Its one of the easier engines to work with. those 2.8 are the pain in the but.

right now i'm completely thinking boost leak.

I just remembered something. I dont think i ever saw a 1.8T with spark plug wires..... only 2.8 had spark plug wires. you have coils as the guy stated above. So it honestly can be that as well. misfireing on lower RPM's.

the people that VW picked to get parts from stink. their coil packs and MAF blow all the time. easy to replace but pricey items. If you get misfire faults it shall most likely be the problem.


We just have to wait till end of the week for autozone reporting.

02 sensor's ever been replaced?

 

[Demo24]

Thats the exact samething that happened to our passat. Sadly we never could get it fixed, although I do know it's fixable.

Basically what it feels like is the engine is flooding and then all of a sudden it works its way through and off you go. Very frustrating.

I'd say its probably the coilpacks, however I recommend you head over to vwvortex and read up in those forums. If it's not in a sticky thread they can help you more so than here.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Other possible things are coilpacks (huge problem with 1.8t) failing and the MAF sensor going bad.

as someone with a 99 passat 1.8T - only 1 coil pack has gone in the car's 130k mile lifetime afaik. O2 sensors.. now those things are annoying

i was also going to say boost leak.

next time you take the car out, let the engine warm up a little, then stomp on the gas. if you hear a whoosh/whirling type sound, it may very well be a boost leak.

codes will most certainly tell us more

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: T2urtle
dont worry about labor. almost all work on a 1.8T can be done by yourself. Its one of the easier engines to work with. those 2.8 are the pain in the but.

right now i'm completely thinking boost leak.

I just remembered something. I dont think i ever saw a 1.8T with spark plug wires..... only 2.8 had spark plug wires. you have coils as the guy stated above. So it honestly can be that as well. misfireing on lower RPM's. pricing for the coils runs about $157.00

that's exactly what it feels like. it'll start to sputter for a few then when the car is at higher rpms things are better. only in the 8-12 rpm range will this issue happen for us. coils huh? i'll check those out. btw where in the heck is the MAF? i looked for it between the air filter box and the hose but i saw nothing that looked like the MAF i had seen pictures of..

the people that VW picked to get parts from stink. their coil packs and MAF blow all the time. easy to replace but pricey items. If you get misfire faults it shall most likely be the problem.


We just have to wait till end of the week for autozone reporting.

02 sensor's ever been replaced?

As for the o2 sensor.. no

another note my f-i-l just called and let me know about one other issue which may be related. oil leak where the spark plugs sit? not sure what that could mean. it looks like i may be able to get to autozone a wednesday. so here's hoping!:beer:

 

[DOTC]

When my Jetta got this issue, the transmission went out a couple months later. Auto trans also.. doing the exact thing you are describing.

 

[Excelsior]

Don't live near Charlotte, NC do ya? Have a Vag-Com here which we use to check our Passats.

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/index.html

 

[fbrdphreak]

I find it humorous that so many people here know about the problems with VW's...hehehe :laughing;

 

[T2urtle]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I find it humorous that so many people here know about the problems with VW's...hehehe :laughing;

i went into VW world thinking i can make money off this exact thing. Boy was i wrong... after seeing cars that weren't able to be fixed by the entire shop. I've learned so much stuff bout these cars but yet i can barely fix 50% of problems from these VW's

the jetta issue was just a slipping trans. its a common sign on all auto trans and clutches when slippage occurs life is ending..


as for oil in the spark plug area....not exactly sure where that is... if there is oil in the slots where the coilpack sits and between the top of the spark plugs that can be due to people missing the oil slot when doing oil changes. as it can get its way in there. I've done that a couple times myself no using funnels.

1.8T's have a HUGE HUGE problem with sealing. cam tensioners and all areas around it then to blow out. give you a burning oil smell in the cabin. I've done a couple of those jobs. takes about 3-4 hours to do. 100$ in gaskets and sealant. But this has nothing to do with your accerlation issue.

I still honestly expect to see... a lean or rich mixture fault and the fix to be those vac lines. Its the most common or some type of boost leak. vac lines are cheap to buy and really easy to replace its like remove old one route it the same way and replace. 2nd guess would be MAF/ coil pack/ fuel pump. and then the list goes on....

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: T2urtle

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I find it humorous that so many people here know about the problems with VW's...hehehe :laughing;

i went into VW world thinking i can make money off this exact thing. Boy was i wrong... after seeing cars that weren't able to be fixed by the entire shop. I've learned so much stuff bout these cars but yet i can barely fix 50% of problems from these VW's

the jetta issue was just a slipping trans. its a common sign on all auto trans and clutches when slippage occurs life is ending..


as for oil in the spark plug area....not exactly sure where that is... if there is oil in the slots where the coilpack sits and between the top of the spark plugs that can be due to people missing the oil slot when doing oil changes. as it can get its way in there. I've done that a couple times myself no using funnels.

1.8T's have a HUGE HUGE problem with sealing. cam tensioners and all areas around it then to blow out. give you a burning oil smell in the cabin. I've done a couple of those jobs. takes about 3-4 hours to do. 100$ in gaskets and sealant. But this has nothing to do with your accerlation issue.

I still honestly expect to see... a lean or rich mixture fault and the fix to be those vac lines. Its the most common or some type of boost leak. vac lines are cheap to buy and really easy to replace its like remove old one route it the same way and replace. 2nd guess would be MAF/ coil pack/ fuel pump. and then the list goes on....

well, i did a little test with the MAF and unplugged it. I still had the same issue. i'll start by replacing the vac lines today (i've got a bit of time ) and then work my way over to the coil pack. btw i was trying to look for the fuel filter in the rear passenger wheel well but i could not see it. there's a cover correct? also to do the codes, i cannot find the stinking port to plug the tester in. i was under the impression that it was located under the instrument panel. am i wrong to assume this?

thanks for all the help so far!

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: rasczak
well, i did a little test with the MAF and unplugged it. I still had the same issue. i'll start by replacing the vac lines today (i've got a bit of time ) and then work my way over to the coil pack. btw i was trying to look for the fuel filter in the rear passenger wheel well but i could not see it. there's a cover correct? also to do the codes, i cannot find the stinking port to plug the tester in. i was under the impression that it was located under the instrument panel. am i wrong to assume this?

thanks for all the help so far!

driver's side, under the steering wheel/instrument panel. around the area where the hood release lever is (to the right and back, IIRC). you may want to grab a flashlight (if you're in a dark/enclosed area) and pop your head under there to have a look - it's tricky to feel around and find it, but it's there

if you don't know what the codes mean - head over to vwvortex and there's a whole forum section dedicated to vag-com codes. vw vortex vag com forum

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: rasczak
well, i did a little test with the MAF and unplugged it. I still had the same issue. i'll start by replacing the vac lines today (i've got a bit of time ) and then work my way over to the coil pack. btw i was trying to look for the fuel filter in the rear passenger wheel well but i could not see it. there's a cover correct? also to do the codes, i cannot find the stinking port to plug the tester in. i was under the impression that it was located under the instrument panel. am i wrong to assume this?

thanks for all the help so far!

driver's side, under the steering wheel/instrument panel. around the area where the hood release lever is (to the right and back, IIRC). you may want to grab a flashlight (if you're in a dark/enclosed area) and pop your head under there to have a look - it's tricky to feel around and find it, but it's there

if you don't know what the codes mean - head over to vwvortex and there's a whole forum section dedicated to vag-com codes. vw vortex vag com forum

Thanks bud! much needed information :thumbsup:

 

[T2urtle]

yea... on some of the older ones... the bracket that holds it can be broken and the... i think purple plug gets shoved in there. takes a little time but flashlight will save you. its always left hand side under.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2666114

a couple post down shows vac diagrams so you know what lines go to what parts and the names... it doesn't have your engine but gives you an idea.

fuel filter is UNDER the car. completely exposed. its on the pass side rear near the wheel. its pressed against the body. silver can looking object. if i remember correctly i think thats where all of them are. I know mk4 jetta/gti have them there and so should the b5 passat. I have only replaced 1 gas fuel filter my how time at the dealership.

 

[rasczak]

ok, was able to get the codes.

P0103 MAF or VAF a circuit high input

P1127 Manufacture control feul air metering.

per chiltons P1127 means running rich.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: rasczak
1.8T with that auto/manual synch thingy

Just say auto. If it doesn't have a clutch pedal, it's not a true manual transmission car.