Roadkill Repair

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
So one evening I'm driving along a country road in the early twighlight. Not speeding of course.

Suddenly I see a giant loping lump of fur illuminated 50 ft in front of the Passat.
It was bigger than a basketball.

Jam on the brakes, make a decision not to serve into oncoming traffic or the ditch as the raccoon tries to race me down the road.

The big fella lost and so did the Passat.

Pics to follow:
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
I pull over inspect the damage with the Iphone flash light. verify what's scraping and howling. Confirm the raccoon is not still in the bumper, and finish the 30+ mile drive home at a reduced speed.

I removed the front bumper lower spoiler because it was dragging on the pavement. It's ruined. And proceed to inspecting the damage.
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
Radiator core support made out of fiber reinforced plastic. Seriously..

AC Condenser
Radiator Fans
What else?

 
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Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Ouch !!!
I don't know if in your case an Evolution or similar skidplate would have made a difference. I've ben using one on my former 2002 Jetta as well as now on my Passat.
Well worth the cost !!!
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
Well I gotta drive it to work the next Monday.

I'll just drill some holes and zip tie the core support together.
Freiburger and Finnegan of Roadkill fame would be so proud.

 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
Ok that works but jeez the fans are vibrating the whole car and making a big racket. Regens are downright hazardous.

So I order up the core support, Fan assembly, front spoiler. For 4 hours on a Saturday I took the front end apart.





Don't worry, I didn't use the blue and yellow hammer for any of the work.







 
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jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
I took the two radiators out and gently straightened them out on the garage floor. That saved at least $350. Also straightened the ac condenser out with a block of wood and my hands. Never disconnected the unit, so never had to recharge. The ac works as before.

Got it back together in a few hours.



Like it never happened.

Fortunately the bumper inserts just popped out, and I retrieved them in the dark, and just popped them back in when completed. That saved a large chunk of cash.

There is still a bit of vibration with the fans, and the aftermarket ones are a bit louder. 175K mile 2012 Passat TDI vs. big Raccoon = Repair bill that will nearly total out a car, I believe.
 
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d2freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Location
NC
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
I feel you pain, this morning at 6am a Dump truck passes me and then pulls back in front of me and the wind from the truck catches a 5 gal bucket on the side of the road and spins it right in front of my car, broke the right grill out, tore the lower spoiler off, broke the bottom of the radiator support and pulled the right side of the bumper cover off tearing out all the screw holes. Bumper is held on now by tie wraps and duct tape.
Afraid to check on the cost of the parts.
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
If the radiator support is broken, I suspect any of the 3 heat exchanges in the front end are damaged.

The timing of my little story may be helpful, but that is an unfortunate accident.

I never checked to see what the insurance deductible hit would be for this repair. I have full coverage, and that may have been the less expensive route.

Have someone else perform the repair on the insurance policy.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
We get cars in here all the time for this sort of thing. It ALWAYS is much worse than people think. The last one was an Escape that lunched its transmission because the cooler was damaged and a slight leak was allowed to go unchecked until it quit moving.

The concrete parking lot curbs can do a thousand dollars worth of damage without even trying.
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
Does the DSG transmission have an external oil cooler?

There is not ATF lines going to either of the radiators. I understand the DSG is not a traditional automatic transmission.
 

d2freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Location
NC
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
Cooler is on top of the transmission by the filter.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
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06bluebeetletdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Location
Middlesex, NC
TDI
'14 Passat TDI SEL and '13 Beetle TDI
I hit a raccoon with my 2005 beetle in about 2010, damage was $2000. Just dealt with a 2013 passat with busted core support, leaking radiator and missing lower spoiler $2200 (without any damage to the radiator fans).
 

d2freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Location
NC
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
If the radiator support is broken, I suspect any of the 3 heat exchanges in the front end are damaged.

The timing of my little story may be helpful, but that is an unfortunate accident.

I never checked to see what the insurance deductible hit would be for this repair. I have full coverage, and that may have been the less expensive route.

Have someone else perform the repair on the insurance policy.
Did you purchase the VW radiator support or an aftermarket unit?
 

jw4free

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Location
NW Boston Metro
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE
I purchased a CPP Radiator support assembly off Amazon. Must have been aftermarket. $132. Fitment seems good enough.
 

nicknack2

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
Location
Rio Rico, AZ (Nogales, AZ)
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SE & 06' TDI Jetta
does anyone know how to take apart the lower grill(center)? I had a collision with a coyote and I'm in the process of doing the same kind of work done in this post, but my lower center grill(broken) is still in the bumper cover and I can't figure out how to take it apart to replace.
 

d2freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Location
NC
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
the side grills must be taken out first, everything snaps in from the front, has tabs along the edges that fit into slots in the bumper cover.
 
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