Ignition problems of the 2002 Volkswagen Passat - part 1

My 2002 vw Passat suffered another coilpack failure including a loss of power on a busy city street. The failed coils had already been replaced under vw's coilpack recall. Looks like the new coils do not fix the problem.

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning, the vehicle shut down and failed to restart. The #4 coil failed. There was a replacement (coil "l") which was not available until April. Vw never warned the consumer that the faulty "j" coils were replaced with faulty "j" coils.

I received a ltr from volkswagon stating that they are experiencing problems with the ignition recoils, that could possibly cause the vehicle to lose power. So, I immediately scheduled an appointment for my vehicle. Only to find out that they are only going to replace the iginition recoils if the vehicle experiences this malfunction. My concern is that why would I want to drive a vehiclethat could possibly lose power at anytime?? evidenutally, this is a concern to volkswagon because they sent a ltr to their customers. As a customer, I am very concerned knowing my vehicle has a possible problem and the dealer(volkswagon) will not take action! why then was I even notified about the problem?.

Defect is a faulty engine coil pack. Dealer has been notified. Ph.

Igintion coil pack failed causing a sudden decease in power as one the cylinders was not firing. This problem is extremely common and requires all four coils to be replaced. Vw is only replacing the failed coil because of a shortage of parts. There should be a recall where all four coils are replaced as the sudden loss of power may cause accidents and fatalities.

While driving the check engine warning light came on, then the vehicle lost power. This almost caused an accident. The dealership indicated that one of the ignition coils had cracked and shorted out. The parts are on back order, cause this is a common problem. Ts.

Engine ignition--coil pack failure. Cold start, coil pack failed within 20 seconds of commencement of driving, nearly onto a major arterial route with morning commuter traffic. Instant loss of power, flashing mil ensued seconds later. Returned to house and called for wrecker to tow to dealer. Presently at dealer for repair. Told part would take between 2-10 days to acquire.

Engine light blinking accompanied by odor in vehicle and minor shaking of vehicle; owner's manual instructed not to drive vehicle due to potential problem with catalytic converter; had to be towed to dealership; told that vw was having a widespread problem with bad ignition/engine coils in all vw models 2001-2002; coils going bad one at a time and vw has refused to replace all at once despite safety issues related to breakdown (potentially on highway, in frigid temperatures, etc. ) and fact that some owners have had problem 3-4 times within several months; backorder on parts resulting in up to 4 week delays in repairs/without vehicle.

Within the first 1000 miles car was shaking heavily on startup. Had to have vehicle towed to dealership where it was not even looked at for 24hrs. Diagnosised as coil issue and was without the car for almost 1 week. 8 months later wife and daughter were driving on freeway when car shows same symptoms. Had to pull over and wait 90 min for tow truck. Diagnosised as coil #3 issue. Without the car for 10 days. Less than a month later, leaving work and going over a bridge, vehicle acted the same way again. Got the care home (barely) and then had tow truck come again. This time contacted vm customer care to try and get support for replacement of 4th coil to try and avoid a 4th bad experience. No luck, 3 representitives and 1 supervisor later, no progress. Even though 3 of the 4 have gone bad, they insist on only replacing the parts that have shown the defect. The problem with this is that it cannot be predicted and the 4th coil is of the same lot that has already gone bad. On top of all this, the first time we had this trouble, they had the nerve to put me and my family in a Geo metro as a loaner (no offense to Geo owners). With this last time, I am finally in a nicer, comparable vehicle. Vw has acknowledged the problem to me but refuses to step up and do the right thing. This a $70 part. . . $70. I would think that is worth the expense to ensure the satisfaction and safety of their customers.

2002 vw Passat, 1. 8t has been returned to dealer for defective coil. This is the second coil failure in as many months. There are a total of four coils which are in the words of vw service deaprtment to be of poor qualitity and should be replaced in total. Vw corporate refuses to allow the dealers to replace all at once but only upon failure. So numerous trips, rental cars, and out of work time is expended getting these coils replaced and waiting parts which are backorder because vw has numerous cars awaiting new coils. Read info obtained from your web site and others.

Engine coil failure in 2002 vw Passat wagon.

Consumer states while driving the vehicle the check engine light came on then without warning the vehicle cut off. Ts.

I have a new 2002 vw Passat (1. 8) in the last 18 months that I have had the car, I have had the coil sets fail on 3 occassions. The car would shake violently and the malfuntion indicator light would come on and continue blinking. I have then had to get the car towed to the dealer each time.

Engine ran very rough and check engine light flashed in the middle of the road. Also experienced significant lack of power. Car deeded to be tow to the dealership. Determined to be failed coil pack #3.

While traveling on the highway without warning, the vehicle will shut down and will not restart. Please provide additional information dealer is aware of the problem. Ts.

Warped igniotion coil causing the vehicle to run poorly. Vehicle will shut down without prior warning. Please provide additional information. Dealer is aware of the problem. Ts.

Failed coil pack on vehicle after only 16000 miles. Dealer service adviser stated that vw is aware of this problem in all 2001 thru 2003 vw Passats with 1. 8 liter turbo engines. Service adviser stated that vw is having so many failures on this product that the part had to be ordered through VIN direct from germany. They will not replace all four coils, only the failed items. Vehicle failed on highway and became a safety hazard to other motorists until I could negotiate to safe area to investigate failure. Ts.

Coil defect on 2002 vw Passat 1. 8 t. This car has 27k miles on it and 3 coils have been replaced in the past 2 months (there is one for each cylinder). Vw has made repairs as needed, but would not replace the 4th coil. Each time one goes the car has to be towed. We are at the point where we don't want to drive the car for fear of being stranded.

The car was taken to the dealer with a failed engine. Two engine coils had failed, but the dealer admitted that all four coils were defective. The dealer had the car for 2 weeks and replaced only 2 of the 4 coils. Since the coils are rationed, they will not replace the remaining coils until they fail. Am I suppose to wait until I have an accident on the highway? both the dealer and the manufacturer admit the defect. Why hasn't a recall been issued? there are 40+ customers at this dealership with the same problem, all waiting for a major part that is not available. I will not drive the car until all four are replaced. I have a young son and will not drive the car with a known engine problem, particularly a problem that appears to be pretty widespread. (the other complaints listed on your web site for this model sound like I could have written them. ) the manufacturer when contacted has been completely unresponsive. ****dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis*****770835.

The engine light flashed on and off and the car made a vibrating noise on 12-21-02. The vehicle is a 4 cyclinder 2002 vw passast with 5200 miles which I purchased in June of this year. I had it towed to fairfax vw in fairfax, va on 12-22-02. The tow truck driver advised me that he had towed a number of Passats over the past few months that had burned out coil packs. The car was repaired on 12-23-02 and 2 of the 4 coil packs had burned out. I was told that vw was aware of this problem. I asked the dealer why the other 2 coil packs were not replaced and they advised me that vw will only approve the replacement of the burned out ones. I feel that if vw is aware of this problem that all of the coil packs should have been replaced since the other two may eventually burn out, too. This could cause severe mechanical damage if the vehicle is driven under these conditions.

The engine started idling rough and the check engine light was flashing. Happened in neighborhood, limped car home and had it towed to dealer. Dealer replaced faulty coil pack. Without car for eight days.

Started car one morning (6-month-old car w/ 6,470 miles), and check engine (mil) light flashed, car sputtered and felt as if it would stall. Called dealer who seemed quite sure it was a coil pack failure. Volkswagen of America is aware of these defective parts, but due to lack of supply will only replace failed parts. Car was at dealer's shop for two weeks before the part arrived and was installed. Dealer/vw assumed all costs of rental car (est at $500 / 14 days @ $35/day!). Turns out only one of the four coil packs failed and was replaced, but vw of America won't replace all four even though they're aware of the high number of failures. Very likely that the remaining three will fail, and I will have to take the car back in for service/replacement. This failure also poses a safety hazard, as loss of power can occur on highways, etc.

Coil pack on vw 1. 8t engine defective so many bad ones dealer don't have replacement part. Ts.

Coil pack failed five times. No answers from vw.

2002 vw passant. I am told that all late 2001 and all 2002 models with 4 cylinder engines where supplied with defective ingition coils. This has resulted in my car breaking down three times. It either spontanisly (sp) loses power or loses all power and the car shakes. This is potentially deadly in high traffic situations. Vw north America is aware of the problem, but refuses to replace all 4 coils. They will only replace them as they fail. This means that for thousands of owners, they each have four chances to be involved in a wreck when the engine fails.

The coilpack on my 2002 vw Passat GLS 1. 8t failed. It basically snapped into 2 pieces. This is a concern since I have heard of hundreds of cases of this happening in vw's, and vw will only replace the failed coilpack, not the other 3. In my opinion there should be a recall on this part, vw and it's dealors know that the likelihood of more failures in the same car a very high.

The coil controlling the spark plug of one of the cylinders failed when the vehicle was being driven. The failure resulted in the loss of spark causing the engine to operate on only three cylinders at reduced power.

Coil pack failure. Dealer has replaced two broken coils on previous incidents - currently awaiting replacement for third incident. Vehicle undriveable - must be towed. Symptoms indicated by flashing engine light on dash and very rough idling. No indication of when replacements will be available - car is in dealer service lot two weeks. Dealer has reported that 17 other Passats are also awaiting replacement. Vw must issue a recall or service advisory to replace all coils not just bad ones.

Rough idle at start-up with no prior symptoms. Dealer can not give accurate expected repair date due to part being on national back order. Many, many other vw and Audi owners with 1. 8t engine having same experience. Dt.

Engine began misfiring and running very roughly. The check engine light came on and then began flashing. Dealer scanned and found misfires in #1 cylinder. Dealer replaced coil pack#1. **dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis*768336.

No summary. Dt.

Vw is refusing to replace remaining coils until they fail at risk for failure at any time. Dt.

Dealer replaced remaining original coil only after 3 had failed. Vehicle was towed for all 3 incidents. Dt.

While traveling on the highway without prior warning the vehicle will shut down will not restart. Please provide additional information and the dealer is aware of the problem. Ph.

Car will begin to vibrate and run poorly. Cylinder misfires and burns coil out. This has happened three times. Car is currently in shop to replace coil and control panel which is on back order. Dt.