98 Passat Starting Problem

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Oct 18, 1998 | 08:51 AM

Ken

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98 Passat Starting Problem

The same day I got my 5000 mile service, the car took a few tries to start. Same thing two days later. Two days after that, it took a jump start to get it to the dealer, who found nothing wrong. Two days after that, even a jump start wouldn't work. I was towed to the dealer, not a pleasant experience, although no damage was done. The problem turned out to be a loose ground at the starter motor. Some observations: 1. The VW road maintenance service just calls AAA. I could have done this myself, but I figure there are two advantages to going through VW: first, they will tow to the nearest dealer, while AAA will only tow to the nearest AAA shop; second, if the car is damaged, VW is at risk, not AAA. 2. I think the oil change caused the loose wire. It's too much of a coincidence.

Oct 19, 1998 | 07:16 PM

HermanH

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Re: 98 Passat Starting Problem

I don't see how an oil change could cause this type of problem; seems to me it was coincidental; you did not mention if this was the 1.8t or 2.8-30v engine. Looking at the 1.8t, there doesn't appear to be any "space issue" getting to the filter from below; there's no need to do something like removing the starter to get to the oil filter. Don't know if that's the case with the V6.HermanH 98.5 Passat 1.8tm

Oct 20, 1998 | 08:38 AM

Darren

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Re: 98 Passat Starting Problem

I experienced the same problem about two months into the car. FYI, I have the V6. The car was slow to start for about 2-3 days, then it would not start at all and had to be towed to the dealership. I was pretty p.o.'d when I was told that it would be 2-3 hours before someone would pick me up, and demanded that they call the nearest dealer directly and have them come tow the car. Then the dealer that the car was towed to would not provide a rental car, because I did not buy my car from them. Again, I was pretty upset. This has been the only bad experience that I have had. Otherwise, I love my car.

Oct 20, 1998 | 05:44 PM

Ken

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Re: 98 Passat Starting Problem

I have the 1.8. I was guessing that a wire could have been bumped while changing the oil, but I didn't take a look. The good news is, there was no out of pocket cost to me, and I got the tow with no hassle. The bad news is that I wasted about 7 hours on this problem and got a bad first impression of VW's. This is my first tow in 29 years of owning cars.

Oct 23, 1998 | 08:12 AM

Mical

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Re: 98 Passat Starting Problem

I don't know if any of you are on the Passat listserv, but I recall a couple of incidents where posters indicated that they had trouble with the ground wire also. Specifically, they indicated that they were just driving along, the engine would cut off for just a moment, and then would resume running perfectly again. I beleive both of these people found the problem to be in the ground as well. FYI >