2004 Volkswagen Passat: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 21, 2014 · Electrical · 80,000 miles · NM · fire

I was driving my car to have dinner with my daughter and the car started losing power. It was only a 4 minute trip and by the time I got to my daughter's driveway, the engine was smoking. After using a hose to cool off the hood, the hood was popped and there was a fire on the passenger side of the engine. After we got the fire out, lot of hoses and the wire assembly were burned badly.

Filed Feb 10, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 152,000 miles · CA

Flashing engine lamp/mil light, violent shaking, loss of engine power, foul odor, misfiring, pinging.

Filed Apr 6, 2012 · Engine · 96,000 miles · OR · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen passat. While driving approximately 60 MPH, there was a complete loss of engine power. When the vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road smoke and flames began to emit from under the hood. The contact immediately exited the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire which originated within the engine area. The vehicle was declared as destroyed and towed to savage facility. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 96,000. Updated 05/11/12*lj updated 06/01/12

Filed Jun 14, 2009 · Engine · 100,243 miles · CA

Vehicle: 2004 volkswagen passat gls sedan with 2.0 tdi motor problem: chain driven oil pump has serious vibration. It is not on volkswagen's suggested maintenance list or things to check during preventable maintenance. The cast metal chain tensioner cracks and fails, causing loss of tension on the oil pump drive sprockets which leads to : 1. Wear on drive sprockets. 2. Catastrophic failure of the oil pump. 3. Complete loss of engine power without warning at any speed in any traffic condition. I do not know the complete failure rate for this equipment, but I do know this setup was sold on approximately 20,000 2.0l turbo diesel motors, stamped bhw. This setup was only sold in north america and other similar motors in european markets have a gear driven oil pump that do not show the failure rate being seen in the n.a. Market. Volkswagen in north america has discontinued making the chain driven oil pump, replacing it with the gear driven pump originally available only in foreign markets. Volkswagen continues to stand by that there's no problem with chain driven pump, yet there a numerous accounts of failing tensioners, chains, sprockets and balance shafts (hex shaft holding the driven sprockets) due to loss of tension and poor design. Every chain driven oil pump on the bhw motor will fail. Mileage does not appear to be a determination on when this will fail as reports of wear and failure from 45,000 to 180,000 miles are being reported on internet volkswagen diesel forums. For photos of failed parts, see: see post #743: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=233651&page=50 note: this complaint does not refer to the timing belt assembly or timing belt. It refers solely to the chain driven oil pump and balance shaft assembly on the bhw type turbo diesel motor.

Filed Apr 29, 2009 · Engine · 55,000 miles · PA

I purchased a used 2004 vw passat with 34k miles in september 2007. The car was running file and has been kept current with oil changes. On april 3, 2009, my fiance was driving us home from work and a loud knocking noise started and a message displayed saying stop! Oil pressure low. This has never happened before. We were still far from home so we pulled over and took a look under the hood. The oil was low for some reason, although it was recently changed, so we purchased a quart to get us home. We continued to drive home and starting losing power as this knocking noise continued. We did make it home. The car was towed from our home to a vw dealer the next day. We were told that the crank shaft was damaged due to oil sludge build-up in the engine. Basically, the engine was shot and I needed a new one, which would cost about $4k with about $2k in labor. The car only has 55k miles on it - how could this happen? We then went online and conducted a search. We found that this is a well-known problem with 1.8 t engines between 2003-2005. I was mortified. I was never given any information from vw about this issue, although the car was purchased used. The dealer told us that vw extended the powertrain warranty for to 8 yrs due to this issue but we must provide oil change receipts. We had none, because not only did we not have ones from the previous owner, but my fiance changes my oil and although he used the required synthetic oil, the dealer told us that there are "approved brands" that must be used. We were never given this info because the owner manual only says use 5w40 or if not available, use 5w30 oil. So, we are left with nothing. It can cost anywhere between $4-8k to fix. The cost to get a new or used engine plus labor is ridiculous. I'm driving my old honda that has 231k miles while my vw sits at the shop waiting to be fixed. I fear the bill. I planned to purchase a new vw in a couple years, but now I will never buy a vw again and will make sure my story is heard!!

Filed Mar 5, 2009 · Engine · 109,789 miles · TN

A potential issue has come to my attention that some engine parts related to the balance shaft assembly and the engine oil pump system drive can fail as early as 45,000 miles. And if the failure of said components do fail, severe engine damage can easily occur forcing the driver, at minimum, to pay an unreasonable and very costly service bill. If a driver experiences a sudden loss of power from the engine during a typical highway pass or merging on a roadway, the cost would be unfathomable pertaining to the loss of life, far surpassing the cost of a new engine and the labor to install the engine. Volkswagen has come up with a fix by changing the chain to a gear. They have not acknowledged this problem as yet, even with many of these vehicles having failed. It is just a matter of when not if this will happen to every 2004 passat with the bhw engines. I would like to know what steps volkswagen of america is taking to inform 2004 and 2005 passat tdi owners of this problem. Good corporate citizenship would dictate a problem of this severity should be communicated to the owners as soon as possible. These engine failures could leave motorists stranded under dire circumstances.

Filed Feb 1, 2008 · Electrical, Engine · 10,000 miles · CA

1. New 2004 volkswagen passat, v6 sedan. Returned car several times under warranty for many types of repairs. Volkswagen unable to repair car. Both the dealer and volkswagen of america were made aware of the problems. 2. Several failures including but not limited to: excessive oil consumption, loss of power and acceleration, transmission problems, failure to start, malfunction indicator lamp constantly on, braking problems, climate control problems, and several electrical problems including failed brake lights. 3. Several attempts by volkswagen has failed to fix the problems. They are unwilling to resolve the problems adequately.

Filed Nov 9, 2004 · Transmission · 4,940 miles · IL

While driving 60 MPH clutch failed. Vehicle lost power. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.