2008 Volkswagen Passat

SOMETIMES VEHICLE STALLS UPON STARTING AND THEN WILL RESTART. THE VEHICLE SOMETIMES SHAKES AND SPUTTERS AND THEN STALLS WHILE STOPPED. ALSO, MANY TIMES CAR WILL STALL WHEN VEHICLE IS MOVING SOMETIMES AT HIGH SPEEDS WITH NO WARNING AND HAS ALMOST RESULTED IN NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS DUE TO STALLING IN MIDDLE OF ROAD OR HIGHWAY. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING WELL OVER A YEAR.

STARTED THE CAR/ENGINE IN THE MORNING AND MIL CAME ON ROUGH START WITH RATTLING IN ENGINE BAY. BROUGHT TO VW DEALERSHIP. THEY INDICATED THE OIL SCREEN IN FRONT OF THE CHECK VALVE IN THE CAM SHAFT POSITIONER BRIDGE "HAS COME APART LODGING ITSELF BETWEEN THE CAMSHAFT ADJUSTER [VALVE] AND INTAKE CAMSHAFT ADJUSTER." IT APPEARS THIS IS A RECOGNIZED PROBLEM FOR 2009 AUDI A3, A4, TT PER TSB 15-11-21. HOWEVER, THE ISSUE IS NOT RECOGNIZED FOR OTHER (VW) VEHICLES WITH SAME ENGINE GROUP. THOUGH I UNDERSTAND THE OTHER COMPLAINTS BELOW ARE ANECDOTAL WITH REPAIRS RANGING FROM $700 TO $4,000 DEPENDING ON THE EXTENT OF INTERNAL DAMAGE, I COULD NOT FIND ANYONE RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE REGARDING CAUSES AND OCCURRENCES THAT MAY ELEVATE THIS PROBLEM TO A RECALL: HTTP://FORUMS.VWVORTEX.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?7118356-MISFIRE-AND-CAM-CRANK-CORRELATION-ERROR HTTP://WWW.EXCELERATEPERFORMANCE.COM/NEWS/2-0T-TSI-TIMING-CHAIN-TENSIONER HTTP://FORUMS.ROSS-TECH.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?5312-CCTA-TSI-VALVE-ACTUATOR-PROBLEM/PAGE2 HTTP://WWW.GOLFMK6.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=AA587752110817FA3F1148944194E2BC&T=60320&PAGE=2

ENGINE BEGAN MAKING A LOUDER THAN USUAL SOUND. THERE WERE NOT ANY CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE GARAGE AND WAS TOLD THAT MY CAMSHAFT FOLLOWER WAS WORN COMPLETELY THROUGH CAUSING DAMAGE TO CHAIN AND PUMP. NEED TO REPLACE FUEL HIGH PRESSURE PUMP, CAMSHAFT, TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER CAM FOLLOWER AND VACUUM PUMP. LUCKILY I GOT IT TO THE GARAGE BEFORE EVEN MORE DAMAGE OCCURRED AND THE ENGINE JUST STOPPED.

ENGINE WOULD SHUT OFF WITHIN 1-90 SECONDS AFTER STARTING, THEREBY DISABLING ALL ACCESSORIES INCLUDING POWER STEERING & BRAKES, CAUSING LOSS O CONTROL OF VEHICLE, SOMETIMES WHILE AT HIGH SPEED ON HIGHWAY. DIAGNOSED BY LOCAL SHOP AS A FAILURE OF THE CAM FOLLOWER, WHICH WORE THROUGH, IN TURN CAUSING FAILURE OF THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, AS WELL AS SCORING OF THE INTAKE CAMSHAFT, NECESSITATING REPLACEMENT OF ALL THREE COMPONENTS.

WARNED BY OTHER OWNERS OF 2006-08 PASSATS, I INSPECTED THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, CAM, AND CAM FOLLOWER FOR ABNORMAL WEAR. THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP (HPFP) CAM FOLLOWER HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A FLAW REQUIRING WARRANTY EXTENSION TO 120,000 MILES ON THE 2006-2007 MODELS. THIS FAULT CAUSES FAILURE OF THE CAM FOLLOWER AND THE FUEL PUMP SHAFT WEARS INTO THE CAMSHAFT CAUSING LOSS OF FUEL/SPEED, ACCELERATION, OR ENGINE POWER UPON FAILURE. MY VEHICLE EXHIBITS IDENTICAL EARLY WEAR AND FAILURE AS 2006-07 MODELS, THOUGH VW REFUSES TO EXTEND WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR 2008 CARS. FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF 2008 VEHICLES WITH THE IDENTICAL PROBLEM SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. VOLKSWAGEN CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS BEEN CONTACTED BY SEVERAL AFFECTED OWNERS IN THIS MATTER AND IS UNWILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS FLAW RECOGNIZED IN 06-07 VEHICLES EXTENDS INTO SOME 2008 VEHICLES AND IS DENYING COVERAGE OF THIS SAFETY/EMISSIONS ISSUE. VW CUSTOMER CARE HAS DENIED ANY FLAW OR EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR 2008 2.0T OWNERS DESPITE THE WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR PRIOR MODEL YEARS FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM.

THIS "CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED" VEHICLE HAS CONSISTENTLY PERFORMED DANGEROUSLY AND UNRELIABLY SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED. THE CAR WOULD NOT START ON SO MANY OCCASIONS THAT WE LOST COUNT. WHEN THE CAR WOULD START, IT WOULD CUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING IT DOWN THE ROAD, COMING OFF OF EXIT RAMPS, AND ON BUSY HIGHWAYS, NOT EVEN GIVING THE DRIVER AN OPPORTUNITY TO PULL OVER. THE ENGINE WOULD REV AT UNEXPECTED TIMES, CAUSING THE CAR TO WANT TO MOVE FORWARD EVEN WHEN THE BRAKE WAS BEING DEPRESSED. THE CAR WOULD WANT TO MOVE FORWARD AT STOP LIGHTS, IN TRAFFIC, AND IN PARKING GARAGES. THE ENGINE WOULD ALSO RUN LOUDLY AND AT A VERY HIGH RPM ANY TIME THE AIR CONDITIONER WAS ON. THESE CONCERNS WERE REPORTED TO THE DEALER ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. WE HAVE EMAILS FROM THE SERVICE MANAGER SAYING THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. IT WOULD CUT OFF AND REQUIRE TOWING THE SAME DAY IT WAS BOTH DROPPED OFF AND PICKED UP FROM THE DEALERSHIP FOR THIS VERY REASON. THE VEHICLE IS NOW PARKED AT THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE IT IS COMPLETELY UNDRIVEABLE. WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA. THEIR SOLUTION IS TO ALLOW THE CAR TO GET REPOSSESSED, AND THEY WILL GLADLY SELL US ANOTHER VEHICLE. THIS IS OUT OF THE QUESTION. PAYMENTS CONTINUE TO BE MADE ON THE CAR.

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT PROMPTED ME TO TAKE MY 2008 VW PASSAT 2.0T TO THE DEALER TO HAVE CODE READ. ADVISED IT WAS A MALFUNCTION OF THE CAMSHAFT AND THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP (HPFP) CAM FOLLOWER THAT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A FLAW MERITING WARRANTY EXTENSION ON THE 2006-2007 MODELS. I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THE 2007 MODEL YEAR WAS PRODUCED THROUGH 7/2007. MY VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED IN 8/2007 AND THUS HAS THE 2008 MODEL YEAR, BUT THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE MANAGER INFORMED ME THAT THIS WAS THE SAME PARTS AND THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE PRIOR YEARS WITH EXTENDED WARRANTY. THIS FAULT CAUSES PREMATURE WEAR ON THE CAM FOLLOWER AND THE HPFP ROD WEARS INTO THE CAMSHAFT CAUSING LOSS OF FUEL/SPEED, ACCELERATION, OR ENGINE POWER UPON FAILURE. SEEING AS HOW MY VEHICLE HAS THE SAME BUILD AS THOSE OF PREVIOUS MODEL YEARS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE WARRANTY EXTENSION, FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF 2008 VEHICLES WITH THE IDENTICAL PROBLEM SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. VOLKSWAGEN CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS BEEN CONTACTED BY SEVERAL AFFECTED OWNERS IN THIS MATTER AND IS UNWILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS FLAW RECOGNIZED IN 06-07 VEHICLES EXTENDS INTO SOME 2008 VEHICLES AND IS DENYING COVERAGE AND DISREGARDING THE SAFETY ISSUE THAT FOLLOWS FAILURE OF THE CAMSHAFT DUE TO THE EROSION OF THIS PART. VW CUSTOMER CARE WAS NOT ABLE TO PRODUCE PROOF THAT MY VEHICLE HAD DIFFERENT OR IMPROVED PARTS BY WAY OF A DIFFERENT SET OF PART NUMBERS INSTALLED. THE TECHNICIANS CONFIRMED THAT MY CAMSHAFT WAS IDENTICAL TO THE RECALLED CAMSHAFT, AND THE CAM FOLLOWER WEAR WAS SO EXTREME THAT THE HPFP ROD WAS ERODING THE CAM SURFACE DIRECTLY. VW CUSTOMER CARE HAS DENIED ANY FLAW OR EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR 2008 2.0T OWNERS DESPITE THE WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR PRIOR MODEL YEARS FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. *TR