[Taka]

So I had my 99 Passat looked by VW Specialties due to misfire cylinder #3.

Apparently the Bosch spark plug's tip along with ceramic portion has scattered through out my cylinders. Now my engine has scoring all over the cylinder wall and the tip has banged out the Cylinder 3 head quite good.

So in order to get this "fixed" I would need to find a good AEB engine (Ron says it's difficult) and pay $1,700 for engine swap labor. This would mean at least $4500 to $5,000 in repairs which I'm not willing to spend my money on 8 year old VW with 144K miles on it. Not to mention used 99 VW is going around $5K to $7K.

So where I need your help is on how can I recover my money much as I can?
Outside of the Engine, the car is in excellent condition.

My thought process is to strip the car much as I can (based on my ability and time = easy stuff) and donate the rest (do you guys know any good charity in Orange County willing to take car at any condition?).

Please help.

 

[little.eddie]

I need a ABS unit. If you have one numbered 8E0 614 111 B let me know what you would be asking. Thanks

 

[bksuperman]

$1,700 for engine swap labor.....
WOW isnt that Extreme

 

[Taka]

I'll be posting a separate "feeler" post to see if it's worth parting out.

Ron at VW Specialities is one of the few mechanics I trust with fair pricing (ask other members). If he says it will cost $1,700, I believe him.

 

[macaddiict]

Wow, really sorry to hear about this. Any idea what caused it to go? Just a manufacturing defect on the Boche plugs, or something else?

Again, sorry to hear -- $1,700 is about what I would have figured. Can't be an easy job...

 

[Taka]

Thanks for your sympathy.

It's hard to say...chicken or egg thing.

Did the spark plug break because there were other engine problems or spark plug was a defect, hence killed the engine?

Regradless, for other fellow B5ers, I would avoid the new 2 prong Bosch plug FR7LDC. These plugs were only 8K miles on it. I used to use Nippon Denso without any problem unitl Autozone stopped carrying them. NGK were hard to come by, at least at reasonalbe price. Penny wise Pound foolish, I guess.

Anyway, can't turn back the clock.
Hence requesting fellow B5ers as to what options do I have?

Did some research after this post and found out donation seems almost $0 benefit due to new tax requirement enacted in 2005. I've seen posts where junk yard pays nothing. Cheapest AEB engine is $2K with shipping (112K miles on it) per Ebay. Throw in $1.7K in labor which makes fixing not worth the cost.

I also do not want to part out the car only to find out there will be no takers for the remaing (I don't live in the boonies were rusted car out in the driveway considered OK thanks to HOA).

Also, take a look here to see the engine swap.......$1,700 seems reasonable.....

http://www.vwmod.com/project/98passat.php

 

[vimalv617]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[JEB23]

That Sucks....Any chance you could try going after Bosch for a defective plug which caused the problem?
Check out this from their website: http://www.boschautoparts.co.uk/pcPlug10_7.html
They claim to have a no nonsense warranty. Can you prove the purchase date? Just a thought.

 

[Taka]

I appreciate all the ideas.

Yes, I can prove the purchase dates of these spark plugs which in hence can prove the mileage used.

However, I'm not holding my breath.
I may shoot an E-mail to see what may come of it but typically, it would be very difficult to prove one way or another, especially due to the history of these 1.8t/VW issues (sludge, ICM, coilpacks, etc etc). It would very easy to blame the issue to some other cause.

 

[sirwired]

That Sucks....Any chance you could try going after Bosch for a defective plug which caused the problem?
Check out this from their website: http://www.boschautoparts.co.uk/pcPlug10_7.html
They claim to have a no nonsense warranty. Can you prove the purchase date? Just a thought.

An interesting thought, but I 100% guarantee that the warranty would only get him a new spark plug, which is not particularly useful here.

SirWired

 

[ChrsB5]

Taka,

Do you need to replace the entire engine or just the bottom end? From your description, it sounds like the cylinder walls took the damage. Give http://www.specializedgerman.com an e mail and see what one would run.

 

[mfitz]

Taka,

Do you need to replace the entire engine or just the bottom end? From your description, it sounds like the cylinder walls took the damage. Give http://www.specializedgerman.com an e mail and see what one would run.

I second that. With all the timing belt tensioner failures, which tend to only affect the heads, there might be some intact bottom ends out there to find.

Edit: you did mention damage to the head as well- but how bad?

 

[Taka]

Thanks. Shot an E-mail to them.

The head is repairable is what was clarfied.
However, it has significant damage to the cylinder walls that is not worth repairing.

It will also require valve job also.

 

[D.Passat00]

i did a search for 1 aeb engine (might not be the exact one you have), and it was ~$3000, plus 1500 core charge from www.1stvwparts.com. this is probably a refurb'd engine, but it's sold through vw, and carries a warranty...


aeb engine: 058 100 098 FX

etka part #'s

http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228021

 

[Harvey Wallbanger]

Is there a VW indy or a junkyard in the area that would be willing to take the remains of a parted out car? There's a VW indy near me that goes to the auto auctions just pick up wrecks for spare parts, and of course there's a whole network of junkyards. Most would prefer getting the rolling stock untouched, of course, but you'd probably do better to part what you can, especially if it leaves the bodywork for the junkmen to sell.

 

[Taka]

Thanks D.Passat.

I've been getting similar price range for used 1.8T AEB engine. $1,500 to $2,500 + shipping depending upon mileage.
Add $1,700 labor (assuming all goes well), we're taking $3,200 to $4,200 with no guarantee that car would be perfect.

I've also got clarification from Ron regard what if I just get needed replacment parts (engine block and piston?). Used parts for these costs almost as new parts $800+ so he says there would be no savings buying used or new so might as well get new. Then the engine will require valve job, repair the head, so at the end the price comes out to pretty close to the engine swap.........doh!

Harvey,

That is the direction I'm taking. Ron at VW Specialities is making contact with his junkyard connection. He did warn me that I probably won't get much.

I'm now leaning towards stripping out the easy stuff that I can sell and then dump the rest to the junk yard or post to Ebay as no reserve auction.

I appreciate all the ideas you are coming up with.
Any further advice is greatly appreciated as this does put a huge ding in my wallet.

 

[Taka]

Bring this to a closure

So my B5 has been sold to the junkyard.

I'm sure I could have got more if I did the Ebay/Auto Trader/CraigsList route but I didn't want to dwindle on it for few hundred $ more. Plus I didn't want to impose space from Ron at VW Specialties more than I needed to.

I'll be posting some of the aftermarket parts like rims and short shift kit shortly for sale. The car had to be complete "whole" in order to be sellable to junk yard so I didn't really part out anything other than after market parts that I was able to replace with stock.

B5 was a great car to drive.
Got to meet lot of cool people.
Learned a lot on how to fix things on my own.

And even though, this last incident was not VW's fault (it was Bosch who I may chose to go after), based on all the repair work I had to do over the ownership, this will more than likely the last VW until they change their quality level with their vendors.

My wife now drives 2007 Lexus IS250......very nice car that I'm sure will hold up better than B5 in terms of reliability (yes I know it's a different price range too but add up the repair costs of B5, Lexus will actually cost less).

I'll still chime in here once in awhile but I'll no longer be very active as I have been since the Club B5 days.........

 

[Strawci]

Taka, you are not alone on the Bosch plug issue however I was lucky and able to avoid a near catastrophe. (Im assuming we have a similar plug failure) I had driven approx 2000 miles on Bosch plugs and had a CEL come on.. Drove home and proceeded to find out what the hell happened. Pulled the coil packs and to my surprise found this shown in the pics.

Because of the carbon build up I couldn't tell what the hell happened, luckily i have bright work lights and saw the tip fragments from the plug inside. If i would have pulled that plug, all of those metal fragments obviously would have made a nice home inside the engine.. Removing them was a huge pita! also I was not 100% sure if any had fallen in side, changed out with reg NGK's and crossed my fingers.. started and has been running stronger than ever.. phew.

(im curious, is this what happened to you? What part of the plug broke?) I Wasn't using the same plugs I believe, was using the Bosch super 3 prong.

So sorry bout your Passat,

James.

 

[atomicalex]

Holy cow!

^ I moved your pics around a bit.

 

[passaturbonium]

I appreciate all the ideas.

Yes, I can prove the purchase dates of these spark plugs which in hence can prove the mileage used.

However, I'm not holding my breath.
I may shoot an E-mail to see what may come of it but typically, it would be very difficult to prove one way or another, especially due to the history of these 1.8t/VW issues (sludge, ICM, coilpacks, etc etc). It would very easy to blame the issue to some other cause.

I don't see one reason why you can't take this to small claims court.....if infact it was the spark plug. I know I would...screw that.

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