Cable VW in my area would not perform the recall when I had the TB done there a couple months ago and they gave me some line about VWoA cancelling the recall. Has anyone else heard of the recall being cancelled?

Ha ha hah hah! No wait, you were serious. No. Unless they were talking about the 2003 recall, and not the current one.

 

Yeah, I got a letter in the mail last October or maybe early November. I'll have to look for it. Now I can't drive the 200 miles that I was planning tomorrow because Cable VW wouldn't do the work when I told them to. I left a message with the service advisor to call me first thing tomorrow morning though. They better have the coils in stock. I just hope that's what the problem is too, or else I'll have to pay.

 

Clear the codes, swap coil #3 with another one of the coils, drive it a bit, scan again to see if the misfire followed the coil or stayed in Cyl #3.

That will let you know fore sure if your #3 coil pack is bad.

 

How difficult is it to swap the coils? What tools do I need?

 

Unless you have a 2000 with the ATW engine, just your fingers. And maybe a dime to remove the engine cover.

 

I have the AWM engine. So it's pretty easy?

 

1. Remove engine cover (dime or screwdriver for three fasteners.)
2. Lift latch on coil pack connector; slide off.
3. Grab coil and pull.
4. Repeat 3X.

That's basically it. Oh, sometimes it's easier to unlatch the leads with a small screwdriver; and some engines still have the plastic clips holding down the leads. Like any plastic part that's been under the hood for a while, the connectors may be brittle; you have to treat them with respect.

But it's easily the simplest "repair" you'll ever do on a Passat.

 

Yes. The "front" of the engine is the end with the timing belt. The "back" is the end with the flywheel.

 

The fact that it goes away under calm driving conditions and misfires under acceleration leads me to believe the same thing is happening to you that happens to me every once in a while. Oil on the coilpack.

When you pull #3 out look at the end of it for any oil. If there is some then your Valve Cover Gasket is bad. Mine always happens in the third bay. So I take the spark plug out, clean it off as well as the coil pack. Put everything back together.

 

I swapped #s 3 & 4 and the P0300 and P0304 promptly showed up. There was no oil on the coil, so I drove to Cable VW, which was quite an experience because it's about 40 miles from home and about halfway there she started misfiring much worse. I was on the interstate struggling to do 45. I don't know if another cylinder went or what but they're replacing all four. So now I'm in the courtesy shuttle on my way home. Should have the car back tomorrow!

 

Where are you in Oklahoma? I've heard some positive feedbacks from Green country VW in Tulsa. Let me know about your experience at Cable.

 

I'm in Norman, but I have family in the Tulsa area so I spend some time there as well. I haven't heard back yet about my coils, but 2 of the 3 times they've had the car, I've had to take the car back for the job to be done right. They're always willing to fix their mistakes though. The service advisor, Stephanie, can come off a bit rude, but she's really just trying to be efficient.

 

If you want to officially check on your recall eligibility, click here.
http://www.vw.com/myvw/yourcar/recallcampaignlookup/en/us/

 

Well new coils fixed it!



I already knew my car was eligible, it's just that the dealer told me that they wouldn't do it in November when I had the tb done. Honestly, I wouldn't have had them even do the tb if I'd known they were going to refuse to do the recall at the time.