Passat TDI Vibration

NarrowGate66

New member
Joined
Jan 21, 2005
Location
West Virginia
TDI
Passat GLS, 2005, Reflex Silver
'05 Passat TDI - 27,000 miles

For the last 3,000 miles I've been getting a vibration of the entire vehicle when accelerating at highway speeds. There is no vibration when I accelerate very gradually. The VW tech who rode with me says it's in the engine but isn't sure what the problem is. There are no diagnostic codes showing up and no check engine light. He's going to check the TSB's this week. I've refueled about seven times from three different stations since I first noticed it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Randy
 

philh

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
When I accelerate in 5th gear in the Passat (no downshift) and the RPM's are low (1500-2000) I get a pretty mean vibration. Sometimes people forget that this engine is no slouch and it takes a lot of huff to produce 247 ft/lbs of torque from a 4 cyl. I currently have 47,000 miles.
 

redmax

Active member
Joined
May 8, 2005
Location
NE, USA
TDI
2005
I am a newbie to the forum but recently has similar experience with my 2005 passat 2.0L TDI automatic with 30K miles. Luckily it is under warranty but I am not satisfied with results.

I had missed changing the fuel filter/water seperator at 20K. Instead, during a very cold nigt of -6 degrees, the car lost power. 800 VW service arranged to tow to a local dealer and determined it was a plugged filter not a jelled fuel line. They installed a new fuel filter and sent me on my way.

As soon as I drove off the lot I notice very high vibration. I drove for 30 days and decided to return to dealer. I had their technician in the front seat and he opted to replace motor mounts. The vibration did change but it still idles worse than before the calamity.

I sent a note to the TDI's forum and one response suggested it could be due to a bad EGR valve. The fuel filter may have gunked up the valve when the filter plugged. Another TDI thread reply thought the tow truck could have damage something underneath the vehicle while loading on the tow truck.

The net it, VW guru/master mechanic will look at it next in 3 weeks. When I meet, I will tell him the car did not vibrate like this brand new and the motor mounts acts like a band aid. It did not solve the problem only covered it up.

Good luck in solving the riddle. I will let you know what the VW expert says. I can only reference how nice smooth the car operated before and after. I hope VW does not jerk me around.

If your car is under warrantly (mine is 50K or 5 years) return it to them.
 

adurel

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
2005 Passat GL TDI
Vibration when stopped

I have an '05 passat tdi, and I've been having a vibration problem when the car is at a complete stop but I have the car in drive. I've owned the car for over a year and it has approximately 42500 miles on it. I think I started noticing this a few mos. ago. The service dept at my local dealership told me this is 'normal' yesterday.

Also, I just noticed yesterday (right after I got it out of the service dept) that my computer gauge that shows how many miles I have left until I have to refuel is about 200 miles short of what it should be. I filled the tank up, and where it usually shows I have about 660 miles left (when my avg mpg is 39), it's showing around 470. I changed the fuel filter at 25,000 miles. I don't know if this could be the problem and if I need to change it again (?).
 

PlaneCrazy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 3, 2000
Location
Province of Quebec, Canada
TDI
Gone...
The computer can be wildly inaccurate immediately after fillup. I don't know what the algorithm is...probably a mix of average consumption last tank, current speed, etc. When I fill up after a long run at 60-65 mph, it will show 1040 km to empty; other times it barely shows over 900 but as you drive, the DTE actually goes up as the computer figures you aren't going to flog it after all. Pretty weird, but IMHO inconsequential.

As for the vibration at idle in gear: get a hold of a tennis ball. Next remove the glovebox. Then wedge the tennis ball between the heater box (behind the glovebox) and the firewall. That should just about put in enough damping to separate out the resonance and natural frequencies and quiet things down a bit. Oddly in doing this it's better in drive and neutral, but worse in reverse. Can't have it all I guess. Some vibration is inevitable. After all, this is a diesel with an automatic. Our manual Jetta has no idle vibration, but the Passat is quieter and smoother on the highway.

The pain-free fix of course is to crank up the stereo.
 
Last edited:

TDI Believer

Responsible For Global Warming
Joined
Sep 20, 1999
Location
Charles Town,WV
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
adurel said:
I have an '05 passat tdi, and I've been having a vibration problem when the car is at a complete stop but I have the car in drive.
Touch the headlights and see if the vibration stops. Really.
 
Top