Hey, friends, it's Len here from 1A Auto. Today, we have a first-generation Volkswagen
Passat in the studio. We wanna go over some of the top problems
that we've come to find. So, let's get started. All right. For our first problem on this, of course,
we're gonna talk about a safety issue. For this one, it comes down to the ABS module. Now, for this particular issue, what you're
probably gonna find for a symptom is your brakes seem like they act a little bit funny. Generally, on most modern vehicles, you're
gonna find that you have very stable, solid feeling braking. Typically, even on slippery surfaces, you're
still gonna be able to brake very well. Unfortunately, if you're having an issue with
the abs module, you might not notice that you're having such a nice time in these type
of situations. The reason for that is because the ABS module
is supposed to be able to control each brake individually to help prevent slipping and
help increase gripping.
Typically, if you're having an issue with
the module and it's not functioning properly, how's it gonna be able to do any of this? Something else that you might happen to find
for a symptom would be an ABS light on the dash and probably even a traction light. So, like I said, the cause for this issue,
where you're either having an issue while braking or the light is on on the dash, comes
down to the ABS control module.
Typically, that's gonna be located underneath
the hood. And generally, when you have this issue, you
have to just go ahead and replace that module. Now, for our second problem on this car, we're
gonna talk about a strange odor coming from your HVAC system. What I mean by HVAC is heater ventilation
AC, essentially your climate control of your vehicle. Essentially, what happens with this is, as
you're running your AC system or your HVAC system, it can build up a little bit of condensation
and it's generally gonna be inside this area down here where your heater core box is. Essentially, there's gonna be condensation
that gets built up inside there. As the condensation gets built up, it's supposed
to come down and out through a drain, which leads out underneath your car.
For some reason, on a lot of these models,
they kind of get a little bit plugged up with things or even just moisture gets stuck inside
there. As you can imagine, any time that moisture
is sitting still for a very long period of time, or even a short period of time sometimes,
it starts to actually build up bacteria and the bacteria starts to smell. As that bacteria is getting kind of pushed
around inside your system when you turn on your blower motor, all that odor is gonna
make its way out any way it can. Typically, what you would wanna do to fix
this though, is you'd wanna make sure that there isn't any condensation getting built
up inside that box anymore. Typically, if you get underneath your car,
you're gonna find like this little hose that kind of comes out inside the passenger compartment
and it's essentially gonna be kind of into your body of the car.
You wanna blow a little bit of air up inside
of that hose and just make sure that it's not plugged up inside. What you might happen to find is after you
blow a little bit of air, there's gonna be a lot of other stuff that comes out, and that's
a good sign. That means that you just unplugged wherever
was going on. After that, it should continuously drip out. But essentially, what you're gonna wanna do
at this point is to just add a little bit of odor eliminator. Typically, once this is drained out, you can
just add odor eliminator into all of your vents that go across your dash, of course,
up along the top there and any other places that you can think of, especially inside your
cabin air filter housing. Once you spray it inside there, go ahead and
replace that cabin air filter as well and then you should be good to go.
Now, for problem number three on this car,
we're gonna get out so I can walk around a little bit and stretch my legs. We're gonna talk about an engine misfire. Symptoms for this. You might happen to notice a check engine
light on your dash. Essentially, if you were to grab a little
scanner and pull that code, you probably see a code that comes up, PO300, which would essentially
mean like a random cylinder misfire, or even a more specific code such as PO301. As those codes get more specific, the 301
stands for cylinder one, and then it would of course continue on to the multiple cylinders
that you have. Another symptom that you might happen to notice
for this might be a shaky feeling engine. Essentially, what I mean by this is you're
sitting in your driveway, or parking lot, or red light, whatever you've got, and it
feels as though your car is just kind of shaking around a little bit, not a lot, but a little
bit.
Maybe you happen to get out of the car, you
pop the hood and you look at the engine and it's shifting around like this, just, it really
doesn't seem like it's running very smooth. Typically, engines are gonna have a little
bit of movement as they're running, but it shouldn't have a lot of movement. Now, if we were gonna talk about fixes for
this, typically what I would wanna do is to make sure I know what code that I have originally. If it says PO301, then I know that I have
a issue on cylinder one. Typically what I would like to do at that
point would be switch the parts from cylinder one to cylinder two. And what I mean by that is the spark plug
and the coil. Essentially, the reason why I would be wanting
to do that is to make sure that those parts specifically aren't actually the issue. If I did happen to move them to cylinder two,
and then I found that the code or the problem seemed to persist and it actually transferred
to cylinder two, well, then that tells me that I have an issue with either the spark
plug or even that coil.
Volkswagen actually put out a TSB on this
or a technical support bulletin. Essentially, what it's saying is, if your
code is specific, like a P0301 or the like, and you have a code P1250, which essentially
tells you that you have a low fuel level, essentially what that's actually coming down
to is you're driving your car around with too low of a fuel level and it's actually
causing this misfire, or at least as far as the car's concerned. So, typically, what you would wanna do is
go ahead and fill up that fuel tank. And after you've done that, I would go ahead
and clear the code and then take it for a road test. Now, for problem number four on this, we're
gonna talk about poor visibility. What I mean by that is, for such a wide bodied
car, you come to find out that they have really small passenger mirrors. Essentially, when you're driving a big old
car like this, you wanna be able to see nice and clear what's going on behind you every
time it comes time to back up.
The mirrors inside this thing, a little small,
a little inadequate. And speaking of small mirrors, we also have
very small glass panels in this, or essentially your windows. The reason for that is generally because of
the size of these columns. They're just huge. It's probably due to safety. They try to make it as safe as possible. But especially if you're looking behind you
on the right rear, you're gonna notice that that corner is pretty much completely blocked
out by the actual columns that are back there.
Essentially, if you can't see behind you when
you're trying to back up, how safe are you really gonna be? Now, if we're gonna talk about fixes on this,
I mean, what are you really gonna do about the size of the windows and the size of these
columns? Not much really. But there are a couple things that you could
try to think of. Maybe you could try to upgrade your mirrors,
generally your rear view mirror. You're gonna be able to get a nice upgraded
size one that's gonna be able to show much more of what's going on behind you. You might also be able to upgrade your outside
mirrors, maybe even put on some of those attachments that just kind of come out a little further,
or even want a little convex little bubbles there that'll kind of just show you a lot
more of what's going on.
And of course, if you're apt, you can go ahead
and get yourself a backup camera and then you'll definitely be able to see what's going
on back there. Now, for problem number five on this, we're
gonna talk about an issue with the message center first. Right up in front of you on the nice dash
cluster here, you might happen to see that it tells you that you have a bulb out someplace. You go ahead and you go check all the bulbs
that are going on, everything works perfectly. You double check it, still works perfectly.
Have another guy check it. Yep, still works. Up in here though, it's telling you there's
an issue. Something else that you might happen to notice
is a radio system lockout. Essentially, what I mean by that is, well,
just nothing seems to work. This one actually works perfectly, so it's
really not the best for showing you what's going on, but essentially you try to use your
stereo and it keeps telling you that you're locked out and it doesn't want you to get
in there. Essentially, what this is gonna come down
to is a software update. Typically, with these cars, they come down
to having a little bit of a software glitch, which is very common, especially where these
are fairly new. And essentially Volkswagen has an updated
software for this. You go ahead and you put that in and next
thing you know, you really don't have this issue anymore. Okay, friends. So, that's pretty much what I've got for you
on this generation one Volkswagen Passat.
Of course, every vehicle has its problems. Maybe you've gotten one of these cars and
you've got problems of your own, or maybe you just got something to say. If you do, and you wanna talk about it, leave
it in the comment section below, because I always love to hear from you. If you like the video, smash on that like
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Thanks..
