Hello New Friends

Hello, as a lot of you seen in my other post, asking about the 05 Wagons, I owned an 03 Jetta Wagon TDI that was totaled about three weeks ago.

Well I went and test drove an 05 Passat Wagon GLS TDI, 99,158 miles, earlier today. It drove a million times better than the Jetta, The seats are way more comfortable, much more room inside, quieter, nicer finish. Just about everything with this car was better than the Jetta Wagon, except the mileage. So I did the math and it would cost ~3.1 cent more per mile to drive a the 05 Passat Wagon TDI. Well, it didn't take long to figure the economy trade off would be worth the ride comfort and more room. Now its parked in my drive way. I know you all know what they look like, but this one is a little different, because its mine, lol.



I do need to do the balance shaft upgrade, but I got the car for over $1,800 below BB. I figure the below BB price and it being priced well below other, much higher mileage cars in the area it would be worth getting it.

I look forward to learning about this car and glad I could stay in the TDI community.

One other thing I noticed is the po hooked up some sort of blue tooth phone thing that is integrated into the radio, well the blue tooth thing and the radio don't turn on. I checked the fuses and they are good, although there is a blue wire connected to one of them. Any ideas on what to check to get the Monsoon system to work. I will be having a new head unit, a 1000 watt amp and a sub in a custom box installed soon, but would like to listen to the stereo until then.

There is a fuse in the back of the factory Monsoon radio that blows. If you get the radio removal tools it isn't hard to pull it out and check the fuse.

Welcome to the world of the BHW Passats. Enjoy the ride. As long as you spend the money to make it right, they are great cars.

Besides the balance shaft upgrade, what else should I do for it?

Well of course while you are in there doing the balance shaft you will also want to do the T-Belt and Water pump along with new motor mounts and probably a transmission service. The Alternator Pulley ought to be replaced because one day it will eat your belt. Be sure to use only the right oil in this car. 5w40 505.01 spec. Not 5w30. An aluminum skid plate is nice to protect all those expensive components that are prone to damage under there. And whatever you do, when your CV boots tear (which they most certainly will) do not replace your factory axles with cheap aftermarket ones. Instead rebuild the joints or just replace the boot if it hasn't been torn long. If you do put the aftermarket axles on chances are your car will vibrate like crazy when stopped and in gear like at a stop light. I am sure there are a couple other things that I am forgetting at the moment but these are the main ones. Check out the sticky threads at the top of this forum for more information.

Welcome! Nice wagon. My wife has an 05 Jetta TDI wagon, and I have the Passat TDI wagon; they are both beautiful for different reasons. Plan on keeping the car for the long haul, and the repairs and upgrades won't be quite so painful. Enjoy the sweet ride.....hey, kinda looks like mine:

get the gp's upgraded to the ngk's if it hasn't been done....its a free vw thing. they also upgrade the software. winter starting will be greatly improved and you will have less vibration.

thundershorts said:

get the gp's upgraded to the ngk's if it hasn't been done....its a free vw thing. they also upgrade the software. winter starting will be greatly improved and you will have less vibration.

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So just contact my local VW shop and inquire about it?

It might be worthwhile to PM Dr_Greenthumb (also in the Denver area) http://forums.tdiclub.com/member.php?u=163591 to find out what dealer he went to. He initially had a hard a hard time because they could not find the correct TSb/recall notice but they seemed to be eager to work with him and get it straightened out. They should be well aware of the procedure now.

Thanks for the info, ill look into it.

figured out the radio issue. I guess they don't like $5 worth of quarters shoved in them lol. Having a new deck installed now.

Hi Jason,

I also just purchased an 05 Passat. Mine had 85k on it and all was in good shape. Although I knew about the BS problem before the purchase, I thought I would what until in made noise before replacing. I freaked out a bit when I sat down an really listened to the engine. I was clearly able to hear the chain noise. So I ordered the parts and began the BSM replacement as well as doing the TB. As it turned out, the chain, sprockets and tensioner were in really good shape and I could have waited to do the repair. However, peace of mind was worth it and the TB needed to be done soon anyway. If your inclined, the BSM replacement is straightforward with the procedure offered on this forum. Thanks to all who have had input to this, It made the job very doable.

Good luck with your Passat,

Rob

jasongind said:

besides the balance shaft upgrade, what else should i do for it?

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rc2!!

1854sailor said:

rc2!!

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Is that the Rocket Chip tune?

I was quoted $2800 out the door for the bs upgrade by the ship in Golden, CO that is listed here on the website. Its that about average for this repair?

RC=Rocket Chip for sure! The added torque is amazing, and I can still get around 40+- MPG on the highway. When the right foot is making the seat of your pants feel good, your mileage may vary.

$2,800 is a fair price given the parts are nearly $2K with the TB, water pump, etc. done at the same time.

Good luck with the car, we love ours.

Aaron Bora (www.boraparts.com) is selling the complete kit with timing belt parts for about $1600. $2800 is a good price installed.

Welcome to the Dark Side, my friend!

They really are nice to drive, aren't they?

jasongind said:

figured out the radio issue. I guess they don't like $5 worth of quarters shoved in them lol. Having a new deck installed now.

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You mean that thin slot is not a coin holder?

1854sailor said:

RC=Rocket Chip for sure! The added torque is amazing, and I can still get around 40+- MPG on the highway. When the right foot is making the seat of your pants feel good, your mileage may vary.
$2,800 is a fair price given the parts are nearly $2K with the TB, water pump, etc. done at the same time.
Good luck with the car, we love ours.

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Ill have to look into that rc2. If also like to look into bigger Mozilla and other upgrades s well, once I figure out what they might be fire these cars.

oilhammer said:

Welcome to the Dark Side, my friend!

They really are nice to drive, aren't they?

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i absolutely love the ride, reminds me of my BMW 740I only with more versatility.

Although some, including myself, do have RC2, Jeff at Rocketchip now recommends RC1 (or maybe RC1+) for all B5.5 Passat TDI's. For quite few years now, he has recommended against having RC2 installed.

One thing to remember is that an RC (or any other) tune will be erased if you have the glow plug recall done after the tune is installed. So your options are to get the GP recall, then a tune, or have your tuner tune your car for the current glow plug update and install the updated plugs yourself when you have your tune done.

johnboy00 said:

Although some, including myself, do have RC2, Jeff at Rocketchip now recommends RC1 (or maybe RC1+) for all B5.5 Passat TDI's. For quite few years now, he has recommended against having RC2 installed.

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He did mine last spring at Impex Fest. I asked about RC1+ and RC2 and Jeff said RC2 was a good set up for these cars.

Hmm ....... Maybe he has changed his opinion on this again. When I had RC2 installed 5+ years ago, I heard nothing about it not being recommended for anyone. Then a few years later posts started showing up here that Jeff was recommending against it. When I had my update done for the steel glow plugs I asked Jeff and he said he's never recommended it.

In any event, I've never experienced problems with RC2, though I do have a boost valve installed for added protection. I have gone into limp mode occasionally , but I believe that this was more related to a loose hose than the RC2. It has not reoccurred since I removed and reset my inter-cooler hose about 4 months ago. I think I may need to get some new o-rings.

So I guess the best course of action is to talk to your tuner.

Maybe the RC2 parameters have changed...

I guess I'll just call my local VW dealer tomorrow and inquire about the gp recall so I can get it done.

1854sailor said:

RC=Rocket Chip for sure! The added torque is amazing, and I can still get around 40+- MPG on the highway. When the right foot is making the seat of your pants feel good, your mileage may vary.

$2,800 is a fair price given the parts are nearly $2K with the TB, water pump, etc. done at the same time.

Good luck with the car, we love ours.

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What about the emissions? So what does the law say about the re-tuning? Are they certified in anyway to meet ALL the Standards (grams per mile, not just the simple opacity testing).

"off road use only" ..wink-wink...

I was only at 8% opacity so I have plenty of wiggle room. The limit is 35%, opacity & check engine light is the only thing they test here.