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Replacement Support Strut for Hood?

7K views 33 replies 20 participants last post by  jjpark 
#1 ·
My hood strut died: dang the hood is heavy when there's no help lifting it. :)

According to Elcats, the OEM p/n is 3B0-823-359-C. Impex sells it for $44.20.

Has anyone found an aftermarket hood strut that fits the B5.5 1.8T? It'd be nice to save a few $, or get "more strut" for the buck.
 
#7 ·
Funny. Mine just went out too on my 2001.5. I guess they are on a timer. I'm hoping my masterguard warranty will pay for it.
 
#9 ·
Can you show a link to the hood strut at 1stvwparts? I can't find one listed for the Passat under "catalog" --> "hood" --> "lift cylinder". (They do have the tailgate ones for $26.57 ea, however).
 
#10 ·
Clickon, oem parts catalog, enter year & make, COLLISION, search, model, hood, hood & components, strut. You have a 2001.5 right? If you enter 2001 the strut is for 98-01 and cost $40.74. If you enter 2002 the strut is for 01-03 and cost $33.50. You can also, just enter the vw part number and it shows the discription and price. I believe
you need the one for $33.50.

Tom
 
#14 ·
As I said in a similar thread I bought one off Ebay and it was dried up and nearly frozen, and a replacement works but has already begun (about 3 weeks old) to groan when opening. I paid 20 something dollars. If I had it to do over again (and probably will soon) I'd spring for the nice shiny $40 one and be done with it for another 5 years and 6 months.
 
#16 ·
Thanks for all this (though this post is so old, most of you might be dead by now =| ). Yeah yeah, its old (2000 B5) but only 105,000 miles on it on it so keeping it going. Plus I live in Boston and it just handled a crap winter splendidly. Funny the hood stayed up (residual oil in the strut probably was frozen) but now that it is warmer (>20 Farenheit !) the hood falls down.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for all this (though this post is so old, most of you might be dead by now =| ). Yeah yeah, its old (2000 B5) but only 105,000 miles on it on it so keeping it going. Plus I live in Boston and it just handled a crap winter splendidly. Funny the hood stayed up (residual oil in the strut probably was frozen) but now that it is warmer (>20 Farenheit !) the hood falls down.
 
#20 ·
Been there ... done that on my 1996 A4 and my elder son's 2002 A4. Quick, painless, relatively inexpensive repair -- the kind we like. :) I think they go out earlier on Audis than on Passats because the Audi grille is part of the bonnet, which puts additional load on the strut. I think I got one at Napa and the other at ECS, both in upper $30s.
 
#28 ·
#30 ·
I'm glad you took it that way. I agree. Non critical parts (to me almost anything besides drivetrain) can be aftermarket
 
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#31 ·
Okay, got a Sibelius hood strut from ECS and it went on fine (yep, it came with clips). Feeling ambitious,(and having forgot that the trunk got difficult to lift about 8 years ago) I also got two new trunk struts. The one of the drivers side I got on after a bit of a fight, but the plastic end of the one for the passenger side broke when I was trying to force it on :( I was able to get a replacement for no charge except for shipping. Soooo, these trunk struts are about 0.5 cm too long to just slip in place as was so easy with the hood strut. I tried getting this new one on but after breaking the first one, forcing does not seem the right approach.... Seems that unless I have a pair of pliers with an open end of about 12 inches to squeeze the hydraulic that necessary 0.5 cm, this is not going on. The ends are rounded so gerry-rigging a wire around the whole thing to then twist it like a turnbuckle is problematic. Any suggestions?
 
#32 ·
Resurrecting a dead thread, but today I left the Passat hood open while I had lunch and waited for the engine to cool off, so that I could check a few vital fluid levels. When I went into the garage after a couple of hours, I noticed the hood was closed. (Weird ... .) When I raised it, I noticed oil and grease on the strut, as well as the fact that it no longer felt secure in the fully open position. Fortunately, my local AutoZone had one in stock ($27 after $5 coupon discount), and I hang my bicycles upside down from the garage rafters. A bungie cord up and around the handlebar stem of my Bianchi road bike (the guys over in BikeForums Classic & Vintage might not approve of this use) allowed me to replace the strut quickly and safely and without an assistant.

Public Service Announcement -- if you are in the habit of leaving parts and tools on top of the engine while working on your car, you want to make sure your hood lift support is in good condition. Having what seemed like a sudden failure was a little disconcerting. (I may keep using the bungie cord over the bicycle as a safety backup when working on the car.)
 
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