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What did you do to your Passat today?

1M views 12K replies 1K participants last post by  khnitz 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've seen this on many forums and it's always been a winner. Post up what you did to your car today. Add a picture or two that show what your did.


With that, I give you my addition, I polished my headlights.

Automotive parking light Car Vehicle Vehicle registration plate Grille
 
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#8,894 ·
Husband and I got bonuses at work (for showing up, I believe, during the current crisis) so I ordered the VCG kit from ECS - $72 delivered early next week, it was on sale. Will have to get the CCT gasket tool from somewhere because I forgot to order it, and don't want to pay shipping on it.
 
#8,899 ·
You can compress the CCT, to aid you and keep the cam chain from slipping on the cam teeth, use paper towel or a rag and shove it in between the cam chain and the side of the head. This will keep the cam chain pressed against the cam sprocket.
 
#8,900 ·
Thanks, that did worry me a bit. Will mark it with whiteout just in case. FYI, gotta love ECS Tuning, I ordered the parts on Friday and they'll be here tomorrow without having to spend a lot on shipping. Still can't do the work until next weekend but at least I'll have the parts here.
 
#8,901 ·
Last week installed new fan bearing, outside in the cold.. Several trips to the hardware store to pick up various bolts, nuts, washers, spacers, etc to press the old bearing out and the new one in without brinelling the bearings. No noise or play now.

Yesterday, changed oil and noticed the coolant hoses to oil cooler were very soft, bulged. I suspect oil had softened up the rubber.. Glad I noticed it! Local parts warehouse had the hoses in stock so changed those out.

Noticing a faint clicking noise on the R side around the turbo, can't figure out exactly where it's coming from..
 
#8,902 ·
One would think that with all this down-time, we would be doing a lot of maintenance on our Passats. I wish : instead, I have been re-wiring my house and laying down some plywood in the attic. Think I will replace some deck boards next. Or maybe replace some carpeting. Or maybe paint the kitchen. Or maybe re-do the cabinets. Or maybe install a new countertop. Or ...........
 
#8,906 ·
I have not touched mine since the battery and alternator went out a few weeks ago. The good news is that Passat #3 is arriving tonight (along with my youngest son). Out of work for 4 weeks already and that will last another 2 months at least. 6 people living in a 5bd/2ba apartment is not where he wants to spend every day. The good news is that he is considering taking the 05 Golf back as it only has 64K vs the 270-280k on his wagon.
 
#8,907 ·
I have not touched mine since the battery and alternator went out a few weeks ago.
I came to Toronto a few weeks ago to see the kids as a short Weekend visit. Then they shut down the border and could not return to U.S. Currently I'm a prisoner in Canada until the borders open up. By then when I return I think the battery of Passat will be dead (which is already 8 years old). I wouldn't mind to get another battery but I hope other things won't go south by not starting the car for God knows how long from now.
 
#8,911 ·
Took me five hours, but got the valve cover gasket, cam seal, and cap done on the driver's side. Could not get at the CCT gasket; timing belt cover would not come off, and the little piece that the cam chain sits on decided to break off a bit. Got it back in there, and released the tool, and it's sitting tight now. Cam seal & cap were the easiest part of the whole thing. Cap was super loose when I took it out, bet that's where the smoke was coming from. Cleaned the heck out of the valve cover, got all of the gunk out of it (surprisingly there wasn't much, just some carbon and some globs), used the sealant where I was supposed to, and got the cover torqued back on. Now we wait until tomorrow morning when I start him up and see where I screwed up, if I did. Cam chain didn't move a tooth so there's that. Oh, also the stupid plastic clamp thing on the PCV broke. It's in there and not going anywhere, but I'll have to do something about it I'm sure.

Was planning to do both sides today, but I'm slap out of brake cleaner (not to mention patience) and too proud to go ask the neighbor for some; also I'm dead tired. 52-year-old woman can only do so much in one day.
 
#8,914 ·
Reset the wipers on the Passat my son drives (I'm still not quite ready to call it his car...). It was the first time in a long time that the job went as easy as expected. It probably took about 15 minutes total to pull the wipers, pull the plastic trim pieces, loosen the bolt, reset the linkage, tighten the bolt, test the motion, re-install the trim and wipers and put the tools away. It certainly helped that someone (probably me but I don't remember it) put anti-seize on the wiper arm posts. They just popped right off with a bit of a wiggle. Even the plastic rain tray just lifted right off easily. In fact, it was a bit loose IMHO but at this point, I'm not complaining.
 
#8,915 ·
Today I replaced the OE (RIP) snub mount on my 5 speed '03 B5.5 1.8T sedan. Result of baddd chatter getting into 1st gear cold, and noticed my shifter heaving forward a bit in response to acceleration. Most seen in 2nd gear. I still need to inspect my tranny mounts.

Got to pull the radiator support panel for the first time, and one of the whopper T45 bolts for the passenger side shock absorber stripped its head. Turned an easy job into a teeth gritter.
Extracted the bolt, disconnected/slid everything forward on the schwaben tools.
cut off the old mount, removed the housing from the oil pan to clean it. new mount in with silicone grease.
Reassembled with all 3 new housing bolts into the oil pan. Bolts snug not tight, you want a little slip for the housing to align.
Revved engine to around 3k (high range of normal driving conditions) several times.
Car off, back under to mark the housing's position on the oil pan for the future.
Torqued bolts with blue loctite to ~20Nm. Everything marked bright pink so I can peek right underneath in a week or two.
Drove the car and even the interior trim is quieter. feels like the car is on rails when shifting spiritedly.
 
#8,918 ·
Damn, that is one Cleeeeean front end!


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#8,925 ·
I should have taken the light that day! We were in a rush and hit another two yards in search of a door for my grandpa. The light was gone the next weekend [emoji17]

I didn’t even roll the engine over. Since then I have, all smooth, and will try to run a full compression test before sealing it up for storage. Hopefully I never need it in which case I will disassemble and make things with it to put this piece of art on display in my home.
 
#8,926 ·
Replaced the fuel pump on my (or my son's) 2002 1.8t wagon. It measured 1.5 ohms across the power lead but seems to be dead. I haven't bench tested it yet since I'm sick of the smell of gasoline but I'm going to check it out this weekend to see what's up. I pulled a replacement from a nice-looking wagon in the junkyard (got lucky at the first yard I went to) so it was a $29 fix. I also got to use my new plug extraction tools for the first time since I busted the plug on the old pump. I just cut the wires on the donor and then carefully removed that plug for the replacement. For some reason, the plastic on my car was old, gray-looking and brittle while the plug on the donor was shiny black and still somewhat flexible...

I wanted to drop the tank on the donor to see how hard that was but the car was resting on the center in back and I couldn't get that big shield off. I pulled the straps holding the tank but it wouldn't budge without more disassembly. That was going to be practice for my other 2002 wagon that has a pesky 'very small leak intermittant' code that is throwing a MIL. I've traced it back to the tank and after 2 new gas caps I think it must be something in the plumbing around the fuel inlet. I guess I'll have to find another wagon to practice on or just try it at home first.
 
#8,928 ·
Put a decoupler pulley on my 120a alternator. An oopsie. The pulley bottomed out on the shaft against the front cover.
It needed a 5mm spacer to clear the housing and make it even with the solid pulley.


Didn’t have one, but I had...

A washer from the shock tower bolt. Same exact thickness. A little grinding later to fit inside the housing...

Perfect alignment





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#8,930 ·
That is yet to be seen. I was bored and it was only $25 plus $7 socket. I was more interested in seeing if it would cut down on NVH.


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