Garage Day

[2k21.8T]

Hey guys ( and girls),

I finally have a majority of the parts needed to get my car back operational after my t-boning accident. I have a new radiator, core support, n75, pcv, timing belt kit (i've never done the timing belt and not comfortable doing it by myself) coolant expansion tank, new bumper, fog lights, fog light grill's, and on order is a badgeless grill, bumper support, and whatever else I can't think of right now. I'm open to pretty much anything. I know the holiday weekend is coming up. Let me know what your thoughts are ladies and gents.

Matt

[TheColoradoRed]

NC is a bit too far for me

I have a sister that just moved down there, but she'd be more than useless. Good luck man!

[Willistilis]

while you are in there I would replace your water pump with a metal impeller model. You will be very very mad if you finish the timing belt job and then the plastic impeller fails shortly after.

[2k21.8T]

while you are in there I would replace your water pump with a metal impeller model. You will be very very mad if you finish the timing belt job and then the plastic impeller fails shortly after.

I love how everyone is on the metal water pump bandwagon. Even the dealerships are going to a metal pump. Or so ive heard. The original timing system lasted 105k (as directed by vw) and now I'm sitting at around 142. I'm concerned that after the accident, the timing got out of whack. I bought my timing belt kit from ecs. You will find that they include everything you need to do a tb job. New thermostat, new water pump (metal) new serp(accessories) belts, and of course your coolant. I never had an issue w/ my plastic water pump. Why fix something that aint broke. But i am not the only person driving these lovely vehicles. Apparently there have been issues.

Matt

Sent from my fingers using my RAZR

[keithwbloom]

while you are in there I would replace your water pump with a metal impeller model. You will be very very mad if you finish the timing belt job and then the plastic impeller fails shortly after.

I would imagine the plastic impellers may have been a liability as some point because they were not impervious to the super heated chemistry in the coolant mix over time, or perhaps they were susceptible to non-spec coolant mixes that unknowing owners subjected them too. I cant really imagine a quality plastic impeller imploding under normal use within the timing belt interval, when it should likely be changed out anyways.

That being said, it is more common than not that we PWers push our 1.8Ts and V6s to regularly perform closer to the limits of their engineering, either with power appending mods or just more frequently spirited driving, or both. It is for this reason alone it just makes sense to keep potential point of failure components in excellent working order, and replace potential wear items when doing major service as a precaution. When I pulled my water pump (V6, metal impeller) at my TB change, it looked brand new, and it seemed silly to swap it out. But I did, and I did it with a quality OEM replacement that I picked a la carte from the ECS offerings, rather than let them assemble an "Ultimate" kit of whatever they have the most of on that day. A little more expensive that way, but I feel better knowing I have a water pump from a manufacturer I researched, rather than getting a wildcard.

My 2¢ on that, now onto the subject at hand — I would love to road trip and help bring your Passat back to form, but NC is a stretch, and this weekend is particularly bad because it is Inauguration and I have a lot of events to go to with the Mrs.

Good luck with your !

[VAGguy]

Mine assploded while trying to get the jump on a miata at a light. I won (barely, lol), but the pump impeller shattered into a few pieces. 66k miles

[Willistilis]

Mine broke under normal driving conditions. I feel like its probably a case by case thing, but I wouldn't risk it.

[Bdubskii]

Sounds like it'll be a good garage day, too bad you're like 600+ miles away. :

[2k21.8T]

Ok - you got about 2 months to get your schedules clear. I'm setting a date for the weekend of Mar 22-24. I have one committed member coming up from Alabama to help me with this. over 700 miles ONE WAY to help me out. What's y'alls excuse?

Matt