Top 5 Problems Volkswagen Passat Sedan 1st Generation (North America) 2012-19

Hey, friends, it's Len here from 1A Auto.

Today, we have a first-generation Volkswagen Passat in the studio.

We wanna go over some of the top problems that we've come to find.

So, let's get started.

All right.

For our first problem on this, of course, we're gonna talk about a safety issue.

For this one, it comes down to the ABS module.

Now, for this particular issue, what you're probably gonna find for a symptom is your

brakes seem like they act a little bit funny.

Generally, on most modern vehicles, you're gonna find that you have very stable, solid

feeling braking.

Typically, even on slippery surfaces, you're still gonna be able to brake very well.

Unfortunately, if you're having an issue with the abs module, you might not notice that

you're having such a nice time in these type of situations.

The reason for that is because the ABS module is supposed to be able to control each brake

individually to help prevent slipping and help increase gripping.

Typically, if you're having an issue with the module and it's not functioning properly,

how's it gonna be able to do any of this?

Something else that you might happen to find for a symptom would be an ABS light on the

dash and probably even a traction light.

So, like I said, the cause for this issue, where you're either having an issue while

braking or the light is on on the dash, comes down to the ABS control module.

Typically, that's gonna be located underneath the hood.

And generally, when you have this issue, you have to just go ahead and replace that module.

Now, for our second problem on this car, we're gonna talk about a strange odor coming from

your HVAC system.

What I mean by HVAC is heater ventilation AC, essentially your climate control of your

vehicle.

Essentially, what happens with this is, as you're running your AC system or your HVAC

system, it can build up a little bit of condensation and it's generally gonna be inside this area

down here where your heater core box is.

Essentially, there's gonna be condensation that gets built up inside there.

As the condensation gets built up, it's supposed to come down and out through a drain, which

leads out underneath your car.

For some reason, on a lot of these models, they kind of get a little bit plugged up with

things or even just moisture gets stuck inside there.

As you can imagine, any time that moisture is sitting still for a very long period of

time, or even a short period of time sometimes, it starts to actually build up bacteria and

the bacteria starts to smell.

As that bacteria is getting kind of pushed around inside your system when you turn on

your blower motor, all that odor is gonna make its way out any way it can.

Typically, what you would wanna do to fix this though, is you'd wanna make sure that

there isn't any condensation getting built up inside that box anymore.

Typically, if you get underneath your car, you're gonna find like this little hose that

kind of comes out inside the passenger compartment and it's essentially gonna be kind of into

your body of the car.

You wanna blow a little bit of air up inside of that hose and just make sure that it's

not plugged up inside.

What you might happen to find is after you blow a little bit of air, there's gonna be

a lot of other stuff that comes out, and that's a good sign.

That means that you just unplugged wherever was going on.

After that, it should continuously drip out.

But essentially, what you're gonna wanna do at this point is to just add a little bit

of odor eliminator.

Typically, once this is drained out, you can just add odor eliminator into all of your

vents that go across your dash, of course, up along the top there and any other places

that you can think of, especially inside your cabin air filter housing.

Once you spray it inside there, go ahead and replace that cabin air filter as well and

then you should be good to go.

Now, for problem number three on this car, we're gonna get out so I can walk around a

little bit and stretch my legs.

We're gonna talk about an engine misfire.

Symptoms for this.

You might happen to notice a check engine light on your dash.

Essentially, if you were to grab a little scanner and pull that code, you probably see

a code that comes up, PO300, which would essentially mean like a random cylinder misfire, or even

a more specific code such as PO301.

As those codes get more specific, the 301 stands for cylinder one, and then it would

of course continue on to the multiple cylinders that you have.

Another symptom that you might happen to notice for this might be a shaky feeling engine.

Essentially, what I mean by this is you're sitting in your driveway, or parking lot,

or red light, whatever you've got, and it feels as though your car is just kind of shaking

around a little bit, not a lot, but a little bit.

Maybe you happen to get out of the car, you pop the hood and you look at the engine and

it's shifting around like this, just, it really doesn't seem like it's running very smooth.

Typically, engines are gonna have a little bit of movement as they're running, but it

shouldn't have a lot of movement.

Now, if we were gonna talk about fixes for this, typically what I would wanna do is to

make sure I know what code that I have originally.

If it says PO301, then I know that I have a issue on cylinder one.

Typically what I would like to do at that point would be switch the parts from cylinder

one to cylinder two.

And what I mean by that is the spark plug and the coil.

Essentially, the reason why I would be wanting to do that is to make sure that those parts

specifically aren't actually the issue.

If I did happen to move them to cylinder two, and then I found that the code or the problem

seemed to persist and it actually transferred to cylinder two, well, then that tells me

that I have an issue with either the spark plug or even that coil.

Volkswagen actually put out a TSB on this or a technical support bulletin.

Essentially, what it's saying is, if your code is specific, like a P0301 or the like,

and you have a code P1250, which essentially tells you that you have a low fuel level,

essentially what that's actually coming down to is you're driving your car around with

too low of a fuel level and it's actually causing this misfire, or at least as far as

the car's concerned.

So, typically, what you would wanna do is go ahead and fill up that fuel tank.

And after you've done that, I would go ahead and clear the code and then take it for a

road test.

Now, for problem number four on this, we're gonna talk about poor visibility.

What I mean by that is, for such a wide bodied car, you come to find out that they have really

small passenger mirrors.

Essentially, when you're driving a big old car like this, you wanna be able to see nice

and clear what's going on behind you every time it comes time to back up.

The mirrors inside this thing, a little small, a little inadequate.

And speaking of small mirrors, we also have very small glass panels in this, or essentially

your windows.

The reason for that is generally because of the size of these columns.

They're just huge.

It's probably due to safety.

They try to make it as safe as possible.

But especially if you're looking behind you on the right rear, you're gonna notice that

that corner is pretty much completely blocked out by the actual columns that are back there.

Essentially, if you can't see behind you when you're trying to back up, how safe are you

really gonna be?

Now, if we're gonna talk about fixes on this, I mean, what are you really gonna do about

the size of the windows and the size of these columns?

Not much really.

But there are a couple things that you could try to think of.

Maybe you could try to upgrade your mirrors, generally your rear view mirror.

You're gonna be able to get a nice upgraded size one that's gonna be able to show much

more of what's going on behind you.

You might also be able to upgrade your outside mirrors, maybe even put on some of those attachments

that just kind of come out a little further, or even want a little convex little bubbles

there that'll kind of just show you a lot more of what's going on.

And of course, if you're apt, you can go ahead and get yourself a backup camera and then

you'll definitely be able to see what's going on back there.

Now, for problem number five on this, we're gonna talk about an issue with the message

center first.

Right up in front of you on the nice dash cluster here, you might happen to see that

it tells you that you have a bulb out someplace.

You go ahead and you go check all the bulbs that are going on, everything works perfectly.

You double check it, still works perfectly.

Have another guy check it.

Yep, still works.

Up in here though, it's telling you there's an issue.

Something else that you might happen to notice is a radio system lockout.

Essentially, what I mean by that is, well, just nothing seems to work.

This one actually works perfectly, so it's really not the best for showing you what's

going on, but essentially you try to use your stereo and it keeps telling you that you're

locked out and it doesn't want you to get in there.

Essentially, what this is gonna come down to is a software update.

Typically, with these cars, they come down to having a little bit of a software glitch,

which is very common, especially where these are fairly new.

And essentially Volkswagen has an updated software for this.

You go ahead and you put that in and next thing you know, you really don't have this

issue anymore.

Okay, friends.

So, that's pretty much what I've got for you on this generation one Volkswagen Passat.

Of course, every vehicle has its problems.

Maybe you've gotten one of these cars and you've got problems of your own, or maybe

you just got something to say.

If you do, and you wanna talk about it, leave it in the comment section below, because I

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