Engine problems of the 2000 Volkswagen Passat

In the last couple years my 2000 vw Passat has a burning smell like a fire in the engine after driving a bit (I've noticed this particularly when the heater is on), has hesitated and jumped when I've tried to shift gears and accelerate, and a while ago the "check engine" light was going on when this hesitation occurred; although this light hasn't come on in the same situation lately, and the hesitation itself doesn't seem to be occurring as much as before. At any rate, I still get the burning smell and recently read that there is an investigation on this very make and model by NHTSA for said problems. My mechanic has been saying all along there is no problem, but perhaps he doesn't know of this investigation. What should I do?.

I am the owner of a 2000 vw Passat with the 1. 8 liter turbo engine. This engine is known to have serious sludging issues. This was unknown to me. Two months ago my oil pressure indicator lit up. I could not find any oil pressure issues so I took the car to the dealership 45 miles away. They "inspected" the car and informed me the engine was sludged up. Apparently vw has a warranty regarding this issue but only if you can produce every receipt of every oil change the vehicle has ever had from the day it was purchased from vw. Problem: I am the second owner. I can not produce receipts from the previous owner. To compound the problem I purchase my oil and filters by the case to last me several years. I do not have those receipts of those purchases anymore. I changed the oil according vw specifications located in the manual. To make matters worse vw decided to change the owners manual to state that synthetic oil must be used instead of regular motor oil, but did not inform me of this. Vw will/has contacted me as the new owner of the car regarding recalls but would not inform me of this very important maintenance change that could destroy my engine. Now vw wants to charge me over $4,000 to put a new "oil sludging kit" on my car to compensate for a known defect simply because I can not produce records to show that I changed the oil every three months and that I used synthetic oils instead of regular oil as the owner manual states.

Oil sludge build up in engine. 2000 Volkswagen Passat 1. 8 turbo 4 cylinder 49000.

Alexandria vw damaged my engine and refuses to take responsibility for proving a replacement engine. Also, vw of America won't replace a defected engine.

Engine speed pulsates at idle when automatic transmission is in gear and brakes applied. No failure or warning lights displayed. To prevent surging of car while stopped, transmission must be put in neutral. Also hesitates significantly during some accelerations from stop due to condition, and idles rough when cold. Same fault last year in Jan. 2003, resolution through replacement of coolant sensor and throttle body.

4th winter in a row since purchasing vehicle it has experienced a problem starting. Each year the "diagnosis" has been somewhat different. . . But mainly a "problem with carbonization buildup". 4 times in 4 years, resulting in new plugs, oil change, this year a new battery, "decarbonization procedure". . . . Hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Have used only the finest fuel (vw claimed this was the root problem, poor quality fuel) since the first incident in 2000. Problem persists.

The malfunction indicator light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on 5/24/2003, and the temperature sensor was replaced. Six days later light the illuminated again. The Volkswagen headquarters did pay for the hose when the malfunction indicator light illuminated at approx. 24,000 miles.

The belly pan became dislodged from the front undercarriage as I accelerated onto a major highway. When I stopped for assistance at the nearest gas station. The two mechanics on duty told me that they had seen eight similar instances that week, all involving Volkswagens. To my knowledge, I hadn't ran into any curbs or belgian blocks with the front of my car recently. I believe that all the screws/bolts that had held up the pan had falllen out over time. Three days later, I took the car to a vw dealer, because only a dealer had the right fasteners to secure the pan. They told me that the pan was scraped in the front, that I must have hit something for the pan to fall off. I disagree I think the screws fell out over time. The mechanics had the opinion that the design of the screws/bolts is flawed, since they had seen this situation happen on so many recent model vws. I'd like to know if there is a trend of vw belly pans coming loose over time. I was told that the belly pan serves to deaden road noise. Isn't it purpose also to protect the uindercarriage? if so, it should be able to withstand scraping up against curbs or survivng assault from other regular road debris. The fact that the belly pan may fall off without warning at any time is a dangerous situation. Dt.

Car wouldn't start, towed to dealer, was told it was a carbon buildup on the valves. Solution oil change, tune up, change thermostat, fuel cleaner. Cost $946 not covered under waranty.

I had to replace 2 oil pans within a week apart due to small hole in pan. They told me it was from driver error but I know I did not go over anything to make hole. I was willing to concede first time as I could not remember if I had indeed maybe hit something but a week later it happened again and I had been extremely careful. The hole happened to be in the exact same spot as before. They gave me very hard time and would not allow me to take both oil pans with me so I could investigate. I bought car from checkered flag in virginia beach but live in texas and these events occurred here in TX. I went to autobahn vw in fort worth,TX for repairs. Please help.