I've had the car for two years without trouble. All of a sudden it's costing me a mint (at almost 125K miles). By the end of this month I will have put in $3,000 or more since the beginning of the year.

The current problem happens very intermittently. When we are going at low RPMs and accellerate quickly (like to pass another vehicle or go up a hill), the engine stutters/hesitates like it isn't getting enough gas. I have a VW shop (not dealer - independent) up the hill here. They first diagnosed it as a bad spark plug (caused by running low on gas, sediment getting in & fouling a cylinder). So replaced the plug ($120 repair). I drove it away and a few miles later the problem is there again. So back to the shop. This time they say fuel injectors - and I may as well replace all 6 since with the car's high mileage if one is failing the others may be following soon. So replaced all six (total $725). Picked it up last night & was running fine for me today but after about 10-12 miles, when my boyfriend got behind the wheel - he is a more spirited driver than I am - he accellerates going up a hill and the problem shows up again. Every time the check engine light has come on (and stayed on). I don't want to keep pouring money into this car for mechanics to take stabs at fixing it. I found this VW shop (Hans in W Seattle) recently but they seem reasonable (and are certainly saving me money over the dealer). If anyone out there has had similar problems and/or has ideas I'd really appreciate it, thanks.

If anyone in Seattle knows of a really good VW shop I'd love to know about that as well.

 

check engine light is on....download the code and see what it says. Auto parts stores usually download them FREE, so will some independent shops. Is it starving for fuel or is it just hesitating a little bit. Any smoke? Any noises?

 

Yes, I have had these looked at (this is how the shop diagnosed what they needed to do - although it apparently wasn't specific enough). According to the mechanic the codes were:

P0300
P0303
He said that those fault codes were for a “random misfire on cylinder 3.” Which I guess can be caused by a number of things and so far their guesses have been incorrect.

Good to know that auto parts stores might download these for free - I didn't know, and my shop charges $90 "diagnostic fee" to do it (although they are not charging that multiple times for this problem, only the first time).

 

ok so if you have a misfire, and they changed plugs and wires? Only other thing I'm thinking is coil pack but for mine it's a $400 part so I avoid that at all costs. The auto parts store will have those codes in a book look it up and they would tell you right away what the fix is, it's in a book there and I don't know what it's called.

 

try wires

 

hello kooms. i had the same problem with my 2000 passat. turned out to be the mass air flow sensor was flakey. the cylinder misfire code is all that sets. don't feel bad, i changed the coil packs unnecessarily before i nailed it. this is a common item ordered online or at most any parts store. dealers can be pricey. i think mine was around $60. you'll find it as a module leaving the air box in line with the throttle body. has a four or five wire plug on it. i believe the box is toward the back left of the engine compartment on a v6. left front on a 4. it will look like a plastic cylinder with a wire sensor suspended in the middle. there are mass air flow cleaning sprays on the market that should be used to keep it clean for performance sake. never use throttle body or carb cleaners on a maf as it will be damaged. you should clean the interior of the throttle body while you're there. good luck.

 

Try changing the air mass sensor, and if your buying bits go to a breakers yard it's much cheaper..
try swapping yours over from a mates car first, if you can.
I had mine on a dyno and rolling road , never showed up the fault, so I just bought one and changed it, and bingo.. computers dont always know !! do they ??

 

Could this cause a 1999 2.8 v6 to idle ruff and not take off well at all until 3000 rpms, then still not take off well? It doesn't run well until around 3000 and still it didn't have much power.

 

I am having the same problem. I replaced the plugs and wires, the igition coils, the MAFs, i have cleaned the throttle body, i replaced the Lwire and it is still doing the same thing... i don't know what to do

2001 passat 1.8 turbo