The traditional bogey of all Volkswagen opponents at the turn of the century is the multi-link front suspension. Two small levers on top support the suspension fist, it rests on the "straight" lower arm, which has a spring stop with a shock absorber, and the reaction moment is perceived by the "curved" lower arm. All this was originally made of aluminum, except for the fist itself, which will be discussed below. The upper support of the levers and the spring stop with the shock absorber are made in the form of a single aluminum bracket. The ball joints are not removable, but the silent blocks can be changed, and even there are original ones. The design is elegant and complex in appearance.
By the standards of the late 90s, all this really seemed completely unjustified overcomplication and rise in price. But things look different from 2021. In fact, the structural elements, although relatively expensive, are very reliable. There are used release levers of the early 2000s in excellent condition. They have worked for their 20 years and are ready to serve more. In addition, there are now quite a few decent quality analogs. If you don't look for very cheap ones and change everything at once, including the bolts, you can forget about suspension problems for a long time.
In 2002, the cast-iron suspension fist was changed to an aluminum one, and as a result, restyled cars have more problems with acidification of fasteners and axles of ball joints with a steering tip. Accordingly, there are also more breakdowns of the fist itself during repairs. Repair with the replacement of the aluminum lever with a cast iron one is relatively widespread - precisely because of acidification, and not due to wear.
The rear suspension on mono-drive cars is simple and reliable to the point of disgrace, there is a twisted beam, and it is rigid and durable, without any frills. Thousands to 250-300 mileage need to change the silent blocks of the beams and springs (due to subsidence). The latter, however, sometimes happens before.
In the four-wheel drive cars at the rear, the suspension is more complicated. At first glance, the double wishbone design is simple and does not present any difficulties in operation, but in fact it is even more troublesome than the front multi-link. The fact is that the fasteners of all nine silent blocks turn sour, and often it will not even work to set the wheel alignment angles without replacing all the elements. Failure of any element entails a complete bulkhead with the obligatory replacement of the breakup thrust. As a result, the cost of repairs can easily cover the cost of replacing the entire front suspension, and in time it will definitely surpass it, since a burner and a grinder are actively used here, and a press is also needed for assembly.
A high-positioned rail and a classic power steering are, of course, an outdated solution, but the rail is well protected and the structure runs for a long time. It is a pity that the resource of the tips is not that great, and their tapered pin sour perfectly even in a cast-iron fist (not to mention an aluminum one), which requires very careful work of a locksmith.
But the power steering pump resource is 15 years, and that is only because the fluid is usually not changed, and the filter in the tank is clogged. In addition, the supply hoses lose their tightness over time and the pump begins to draw air with dust.
Another feature is the depressurization of the power steering tubes near the rail, on old cars a mud pocket is often formed there, in which the place where the steel power steering tube transitions to the rubber one is located. In wet mud, the hose folds simply rot away and the tube starts to flow. It is advisable to rinse this cavity with a pressure washer at least sometimes, since this can be done directly from the wheel arch.
The longitudinally located motor and the gearbox behind the axle allow the use of rather successful 5- and 6-speed manual gearboxes, as well as 4- and 5-speed automatic gearboxes. The latter for 1996 was a very advanced solution for a front-wheel drive car.
The CV joints of the front wheels are quite resourceful, they take care of their 300 thousand kilometers, but there is a nuance. For cars with automatic gearbox ZF, only external hinges are officially offered, and internal hinges are not supplied separately. Fortunately, non-original ones are on sale, you can not change the entire drive, but buy an internal CV joint from VW Sharan.
The mechanics on the Passat B5 are quite diverse. Boxes, as already mentioned, are 5- and 6-speed, with different gear ratios, for front and four-wheel drive. Judging by the letter designations, there are dozens of options. But in practice, boxes belong to two families.
The five-speed ones are 012 / 01W, they came with almost all engines, and the six-speed 01E / 0A1 relied only on the most powerful diesel engines, but they were often installed on everything in a row during repairs. But in practice, everyone uses exclusively the letter designations of the boxes, and not the series, since within the series there are options with different gear ratios, bells, sensors and shift mechanisms, and even for different flywheels and clutches.
In general, in terms of reliability, there is not much difference between them. Everything is as reliable as possible, with 200+ mileage, a slight wear of the synchronizers of 3-5 gears and their difficult engagement are already possible, but more often the problems are associated with an unsuccessful choice of oil - the box is very sensitive to its viscosity. Bearings rarely fail, mainly when working with very forced turbo engines, with huge mileage or missed oil level.
Yes, the plugs of the drain and the bay are made for tricky heads, which brings a lot of "joy" to the owners. And the six-speed unit may also have an external oil cooling line with rotting pipes. Repair of such boxes is quite possible, but unprofitable, it is easier to find a used unit in a live state, unless this is a rare version of the box that cannot be replaced with anything else.
A four-speed gearbox of the 01N series is found even on cars after restyling with an atmospheric 2.0 engine, and before restyling it was installed with 1.6 and 1.8 liter naturally aspirated gasoline engines and even with diesel engines of 90 and 110 forces. This series of boxes is quite old, they started producing it in 91. Despite the four-stage, there is an electronic regulation of the working pressure and a smooth blocking of the torque converter (GT) - two linear solenoids are allocated for this. The design is well weight-optimized and overall very sturdy. But there are at least two vulnerabilities.
First, vulnerability to overheating and oil starvation, with oil starvation usually leading to overheating even with a slow leak. Second: the oil cooling system with steel pipes in the radiator suffers over time due to the formation of fistulas and leaks in the O-rings in the radiator. The pipes rot in the area under the radiators and begin to leak little by little.
It is difficult to overload the box with a moment - it easily holds even 300 Nm, so gasoline engines are not afraid of it, in theory, problems can only be on diesel engines. Of the minor troubles, there are often wear of the linear solenoids of the box, breaks in trains, wear of the blocking linings of the gas turbine engine, breakdowns of the speed sensors.
Overheating or wear of the mechanics usually entails serious damage, since it immediately destroys the plastic centering rings-washers, which serve to center and adjust the gap of the K1 package. The vibrations of the packages immediately finish off the bearings, all the bushings, rings, etc. Often boxes come for repair "welded", when everything inside is coked and broken. The box is quite easy to repair, although there is a certain shortage of parts and craftsmen who are ready to take on it. There are also quite a few live second-hand options. And in general, you need to understand that with a 4-speed gearbox, the car will not be particularly economical and not particularly driver-driven.
Much more often Passat comes across with a five-speed ZF gearbox of the 5HP19FL series, aka 01V / 01L. This is a much more modern design, and not only because there are one more gears. Very strong mechanical part, high efficiency, successful gas turbine engines capable of working with high load. As a result, the dynamics of cars with automatic gearbox is as close as possible to that of cars with manual gearboxes, and in terms of economy, the difference is not always in favor of mechanics due to the high gear ratios of the fifth gear of the automatic gearbox.
The boxes are reliable, especially the all-wheel drive versions, which have noticeably strengthened mechanical parts and more clutches in the packages. The main reason for failures is the wear of the line pressure valve, the so-called "yellow solenoid", due to oil contamination with worn-out blocking linings of the gas turbine engine and subsequent problems due to overloading of the mechanical part by pressure surges.
In addition to the main trouble, the box also has an oil pump that is very sensitive to the quality of the oil, and the gas turbine engine is often damaged during overheating, after wear of the blocking linings. Yes, and the valve body here is complex, dirty and hot oil can cause dirt and wear on the separator plate. The control system is very sensitive to the motor torque, since the gearbox is very finely tuned. And the torque data is considered standard according to the mass air flow sensor, which is often a problem on old cars, since expensive sensors are rarely changed in advance, and air leaks make the readings even less true.
Shocks when turning on the second or third gears are usually just problems not with the gearbox (for the time being), but with the motor and control system. But these are more likely features not of the box itself, but of the automatic transmission control systems from VW. Shocks when switching 5-4 without thrust are almost always wear of the solenoid, but when switching 3-4 and 4-5 this is already wear of the oil pump or lack of pressure.
Unfortunately, VW did not set up the gearbox as well as it did on BMW, so the shifts are imperfect and there is a loss to the mechanics in acceleration to a hundred of the order of a second, and with turbo engines, fuel consumption grows decently. And yet this is a very good automatic transmission in terms of the set of characteristics, it is not for nothing that with its release VW refused to further improve its old automatic transmission line.
With all the similarity of the versions of the 5-speed automatic transmission in terms of the mechanical part, even the versions for the Passat B5 have many differences in valve body and control units and gear ratios. Some boxes, like the American EZS, are in short supply, because they use a rare combination of control units, which sellers use it with might and main, winding up prices for such options. But in fact, replacement with the selector and the box control unit is often more profitable than replacing it with the same box “head-on”.
As already mentioned, the all-wheel drive Tradewinds are quite different from the front-wheel drive in the design of the rear. Unlike later bodies with a unified design, where it is enough to replace the tank and suspension, put a universal joint and an intermediate support, you cannot just take and add four-wheel drive to the Passat B5.
But complex doesn't always mean unreliable. The propeller shaft, rear gear and drives are very robust here. Yes, after 150 thousand, the cardan will most likely need to replace the outboard bearing, but as such it serves more than 300 thousand. Rear drives and gearbox break down mainly on seriously tuned cars.
The Torsen center differential is located directly in the gearbox. With high mileage, it wears out, starts to work worse, and with a rare oil change and overloads, it can crumble, but this does not represent a problem. There are enough dead boxes with live Thorsen, so differentials are not in short supply. Just watch the oil level, change the oil seals in time, and you can not expect much trouble from this side.
Under the short hood of the Passat B5, the motors are located longitudinally. At first glance, this is surprising. On the second, however, too. The secret is that the motors are also very short. Inline “fours” are made in a very small block, the V6 is very compressed along the axis, the VR5 is not particularly long, but for the installation of the W8, the front panel was simply optimized, and no space was left from the word “completely”.
In the engine compartment, in general, with any engine, it is not at all spacious - it is quite narrow. Here, among other things, the installation of a very voluminous front suspension affects. As a consequence of the dense layout - for many works it is necessary to move the front panel to the service position or remove it. This is not so scary, but for many, the process seems too complicated, and the services are actively using unnecessary reinforcement work to increase the cost of work.
Before the Passat B5, this kind of connection was not installed very often, and certainly not so massively. And here absolutely everything is collected on them, there are surprisingly few ordinary clamps under the hood. A solution that is convenient for automated assembly, but during operation, the joints loosen up, and they cannot be tightened, all that remains is to replace the O-rings or the entire branch pipes.
And everything would be fine, but a couple of pipes of the cooling system in the original version will easily cost the price of a new Zhiguli motor, 5-8 thousand rubles each. Moreover, the mating part of some of the most frequently disconnected pipes is the cooling system radiator. Of course, in practice, few owners buy the original, more often put "china" of dubious quality, tighten up with clamps, collective farms and generally try to simplify everything.
Another feature is the very confused and constantly changed by the manufacturer schemes of vacuum lines and VKG, and after 10-15 years all the components of these systems begin to creep little by little from old age, hot oil and crankcase gases, which does not add reliability to the machines.
It should also be remembered that cooling systems with a fan drive through a viscous coupling (and this is on all motors, except for the W8) require regular monitoring of the clutch and fan, and they are also very sensitive to the subsidence of the engine mounts. A lot of radiators and fan rotors were damaged due to the killed motor mounts and especially the breakdown of the front support.
Before restyling, the main gasoline engines are the line of the EA827 family, which by the time of restyling were smoothly replaced by the EA113 version. Less common are cars with a 2.8 V6 engine of the EA835 family and 2.3 VR5 of the EA395 family.
The EA827 engine line, which includes both atmospheric and turbocharged 1.8, is quite old, and many outwardly cannot distinguish it from EA113, which is not surprising, since they have the same cylinder head and many attachments. The nuance lies in the block. The cast iron block of the old family has a rudiment in the form of an intermediate shaft, from which the oil pump is driven. And in the new EA113, the block is not only cast iron, but also aluminum (in versions 1.6), and the oil pump is driven by a chain from the crankshaft. At the same time, the blocks in the generations that were installed on the Passat B5 are covered with almost identical and even interchangeable cylinder heads, and it is difficult to distinguish them. As a result, the easiest way to recognize the type of motor is the location of the oil filter.
The blocks are very compact, they originate from 1.5 liter engines and have a cylinder spacing of 88 mm. For comparison, the "classic" Zhiguli engine has as much as 95 mm, as a result, the 2.0 engine from VW is much more compact than the VAZ 1.2. It was the increase in power with the motors of this line that gave rise to the term "downsizing", in fact, meaning that 5-valve cylinder heads and supercharging make it possible to abandon the larger and more voluminous cylinder blocks.
Basic engines 1.6 and rare 2.0 have an 8-valve cylinder head, and 1.8 - already a 20-valve. In this generation, there is no version with a phase regulator, so that all engines have a simple hydraulic tensioner in the cylinder head on a chain connecting the exhaust and intake camshafts, and the exhaust camshaft drive with a belt. In terms of reliability, everything is expectedly good. The propensity to coke piston and oil burners is minimal, their 350 and more thousand engines passed even with servants in garages, others nursed a million. Of course, 8-valve valves are considered more reliable, since 20-valve engines are more sensitive to oil pressure due to the chain tensioner and small hydraulic lifters.
But the absence of mechanical problems does not mean that the age motors of this line are a little troublesome. The number of unsuccessful small decisions in motors is quite large. You can recall the eternally flowing tee with a temperature sensor at the back of the cylinder head, and an unsuccessful crankcase ventilation system (VKG), and coking of the oil supply pipe on turbo engines, which was passed over the exhaust manifold, and capricious DMRV that stains with oil from VKG, and unsuccessful hydraulic belt tensioners ... Add to the list experiments with camshaft oil seals, a sometimes stratified camshaft damper, a strange pump design with an ever-flowing housing gasket, a starter right under the exhaust manifold, and it will be clear that there are enough problems with aging motors. If you miss them, then you can "put" a good mechanical part of the engine. In other words, the motor loves money and care. Even the weakest 1.6 and 2.0 with an 8-valve cylinder head. With turbines on these engines, there are no particular problems if you change the oil on time. For the first ten years, they scolded the coking oil supply pipe, which passes exactly over the exhaust manifold, but very quickly they covered it with a thermal casing, which reduced the number of breakdowns due to her fault. With the use of modern oils and replacement every 10 thousand, turbine breakdowns have become very rare. And the price of the repair is ridiculous, the cartridges cost literally from 80 euros, for the same amount you can buy a used turbine if the hot part is cracked, if, for example, the wastegate axis is acidic. It is highly discouraged to use non-original soft oil drain and oil supply pipes, they have a short resource when working with hot oil. And if you are crimped copper, then it is better to change the wiring diagram, the extra 30 cm of the length of the tube is not fundamental in handicraft production. The control valve is not particularly reliable and requires replacement at least once every 100 thousand mileage, and not with a used one, but with a new one. Now problems with under-blowing or overblowing usually occur precisely because of this penny part or a malfunction of the vacuum system.
Typical problems for cars at the age of 20 are the rattling or rattling of the chain on 1.8 motors at the start and during operation, leaks, leaks, and the consequences of overheating and oil burn are often added to running engines. And there are many, many collective farms in the form of screws that "reinforce" bayonet connections, cut pipes, non-native clamps and similar improvements.
The EA113 line of motors, which began to replace the EA827 motors of similar volume and power, is distinguished by a more successful and cheaper oil pump, a more convenient and compact pump and a more modern control system. Even new ignition modules without a switch are a little more reliable and cheaper, and the oil level and temperature sensor in the crankcase is required for this line, which can also be considered a big plus. The turbines are similar to those used on the EA827 family, so the problems were about the same at first. Now they are absent for the same reasons.
On the other hand, the use here on most versions of EGR and a secondary air system, and at the same time an even more complicated VCG, creates a lot of additional hassle in the form of leaks and leaks, replacement of membranes and tees. EGR also heavily contaminates the intake manifold. The recommended platinum spark plugs are very expensive, but they still don't last long on gasoline with ferrocenes and similar additives, so you have to choose cheaper spark plugs and change them more often.
The biggest disadvantage of EA113 is the use on the bulk of machine motors after restyling of the timing control system. In theory, this is an elegant and good solution, in practice, the original phase regulator-tensioner of the road chain, with runs of more than 200 thousand, it must be restored. Change the inner seals, chain shoes, sometimes the spring. Until recently, no one did such work in series, and the price of 400 euros for a new original part seemed ridiculous against the background of the cost of cars and motors. The Chinese tensioner for 70-80 euros turned out to be a lottery, depending on the temperature of the oil, it could go from 3 to 50 thousand kilometers. In average urban conditions, the resource rarely exceeded 30 thousand. The problem was mostly bad internal seals.
In addition to the common turbocharged two-liter engines, there is also an atmospheric engine of the same volume, and also with a 20-valve cylinder head, with the letter designation ALT. This motor has long been considered an owner's nightmare. It would seem that almost the same design, moderate boost by 130 forces ... But here is a hotter thermostat, phase regulator in the cylinder head of a different design, with a conventional "paddle" regulator, but the chain and tensioner remained, and the total cost of the unit is even higher than before. But the saddest thing is unsuccessful piston rings, narrow compression rings and an overlying oil scraper. At the same time, there are no oversize dimensions, and the choice of overhaul pistons is very limited.
As a result, the oil burner manifested itself even at low mileage, at the slightest overheating or regular traffic in traffic jams, when the oil change intervals were overestimated, or simply an unsuccessful choice of oil. When the overhaul was carried out on time with the replacement of pistons or the revision of the original ones by drilling the oil drain holes, everything is fine, only the phase regulator remained of the problems. But if the sleeve is worn out, then serious troubles begin. The sleeves of the motor are thin-walled, not every service knows how to fit it with the necessary interference so that the aluminum partitions do not sag and crack. In fact, services have learned how to stably casing such blocks quite recently. In theory, ALT can be bored to oversize, but pistons of this diameter will be custom made.
About 2.8 V6 engines of the EA835 line - They fit well and conveniently into the engine compartment, they do not cause unnecessary trouble, but in general they are a little more troublesome than supercharged 1.8T ones, and at the price of repair they are noticeably superior to in-line "fours". The arithmetic is simple: there are one and a half times more cylinders, and there are already two very expensive chain tensioners, and one is located on the side of the belt, which means that oil flows onto it.
The VR5 of the EA395 family is almost a copy of the VR6 of the EA396 family, but it has one cylinder less and is presented only in a 10-valve version for cars before restyling and only in a 20-valve version after. With a high resource and reliability, there is only one serious minus of highly running motors: the timing chain is located on the flywheel side, and you will have to remove the box to replace it. However, this is not much more difficult than disassembling the entire "face" of the car. The chains themselves run more than 200 thousand kilometers, and the earlier wear of the dampers is mainly associated with prolonged work in traffic jams and overheating. Problems with intake seals, leaks and malfunctions of the VKG system, strange seals and bayonets are also present in these motors, but against the general background VR5 does not stand out as a problem.
The W8 engine is structurally close to Bentley and Bugatti - it's true. The practicality of such a solution is questionable, the driving properties are still much inferior to Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but there are enough fans. At one time, the installation of such an engine on the Passat was VW's final training before the creation of the Phaeton. And, oddly enough, such cars were bought well both in the USA and in Japan.
W8 motors sometimes appear on sale for relatively little money from Japanese cuts, but due to their rarity, the price fluctuates a lot. It is simply very risky to buy such a used motor operated in Europe and lying in a landfill for several years. The overhaul will come out comparable to the repair of the N63 for BMW , under 500 thousand, since the spare parts here will no longer be from Audi, but from Bentley.
The main diesel engines of cars before restyling are 1.9 engines of the EA180 line with a power system with an electronically controlled Bosch VP37 injection pump. Mechanically, the motors are similar to gasoline engines of the EA827 family - for example, there is also an intermediate shaft that drives the oil pump.
Mechanically, the motors are just perfect. Cylinder head cracks, block and crankshaft problems occur, but extremely rarely, with high mileage or accompanying troubles with overheating or fuel equipment. There are no particular difficulties with the pressure in the cylinder head, the camshafts do not lift up, and from the problems with the timing, one can only note the rather weak roller tensioner pins. But this is a common misfortune of all VW engines of this age: the stud should only be installed with an original one or with a proven strength. Here the injection pump is not particularly successful and relatively expensive.
The engines of the EA188 line, which began to appear on cars before restyling, differ in the cylinder block and fuel equipment. Moreover, there was a 2-liter version with a 16-valve cylinder head. The block here, like the EA113, without an intermediate shaft and is also very similar to the "gasoline" one.
Fuel equipment on EA188 - with unit injectors. Such a scheme caused an increase in the load on the camshafts, and the poor design of the shaft plugs and leaks in the compensators often lead to scuffing of the camshafts. Their average service life with normal care is 150-200 thousand. If there is overheating and the motor is not monitored, then less.
The unit injectors themselves were at one time a very problematic type of power system due to the high cost of new ones, but now their repair has been mastered, and in operation they are cheaper and more reliable in operation than radial pumps with electronic timing control VP37 and VP44 from Bosch, and used kits are very inexpensive.
The problem with the wear of the pump wells and the nozzle fasteners is also present, but it is not very acute. But on versions with a volume of 2.0, a very delicate cylinder head, cracks in which occur surprisingly often.
Many small amenities were also added: new turbines with variable geometry, oil level and temperature sensors, and in general, the motors began to start better and run cold. On the other hand, EGR is working more actively here, so there is more trouble with intake pollution, but in general these are also strong and successful engines.
Large diesel 2.5 is a much less recommended option. Of the pluses - just soft and quiet work, and the minuses - everything else.
In the late nineties, VW was an icon for all Russian drivers due to its perfectly protected from corrosion body. Even being completely made of steel, he did not give in to either paint chips or a salt cocktail for at least a dozen years. Unfortunately, the two main advantages of the body, galvanizing and the widespread use of plastic to cover problem areas, turned out to be its Achilles' heel.
Counting on galvanizing, the bulk of the owners did not really bother with anticorrosive and high-quality repair paint. At the same time, the sills and door bottoms covered with plastic corroded over time, but this was not noticeable from the outside until the moment when the repair became impractical.
In addition, before restyling, cars were painted with relatively unstable paintwork, which burned out, lost their shine and cracked over time. Peeling paint due to oxidation of the top layer of zinc is a sign of the model, many owners have not painted over this kind of damage for years, although the paint peels off on an area of hundreds of square centimeters. The glory of the "unkillable" attracts a very specific category of citizens to the cars.
Now it is possible to find a car before restyling with a good factory paintwork, but it will be a very difficult task, and in most cases a good look is the merit of the body repair carried out on time. Cars after restyling with factory paintwork are much easier to find, but there are few ideal ones among them. The coating maintains its appearance well, but the body structure, with its exposed arch edges and numerous points of accumulation of dirt on the body, contributes to the formation of pits of corrosion. And in cases where the car has not been looked after, there may not be a single whole element on it. All edges and even some of the flat surfaces will be covered with bugs and chips. It is not very noticeable from a distance, but it is enough just to get closer, and everything will become clear.
Typical problem areas are the windshield frame, the leading edges of the roof and bonnet, the front fenders, the rear fender edge, the undersides of the doors, the molding area on the door, the door handle areas, the trunk lid and the fifth door on station wagons. Most of the corrosion centers are associated with the slow development of paint chips, and only the front fenders and the trunk lid / fifth door rot due to "internal problems" in the body structure.
Once upon a time, the Passat was famous for its build quality, but these cars have not been spared for years. So, the guides used in the design for installing bumpers break over time. Moreover, for the front bumper and headlights, even an accident is not needed: for every major repair, these parts are removed, sometimes quite rudely. And damage to plastic fixing elements is a matter of time. It is enough just to have a backlash, so that, with constant vibration, plastic fatigue begins to accumulate, and then breakdowns. As a result, the fasteners break, the front panel is a "trident", the bonnet lock fastening points, the air conditioner fan clips, as well as the fastening points of the clips of various tubes to the engine and radiator break out.
The problem is partly solved by Chinese substitutes, but they do not always fit in geometry. For example, Chinese radiator grilles without nylon clamps simply fall out of the seats.
The bonnet catch is a good indicator of the owner's attitude. If it is broken (and it breaks down regularly), then most likely there is ruin inside. The drainage panel has already been mentioned above, it is broken when the battery is removed, and the panel covering the battery is simply lost.
Optics burn out, lensed headlights on cars after restyling especially suffer, they also have sandblasting of a plastic headlight cap, cars are en masse "blind". In specimens before restyling with a glass headlight cover, the process is less noticeable, but it also goes on, at least the reflector inside is gradually crumbling and gathering dust.
Door locks are another common problem. A sour larva against the background of other troubles is a trifle, since it can be removed and cleaned easily without disassembling the door. But the lock itself is nominally non-separable, the door and lock opening sensor is built directly into it. The design of its attachment gives off insanity: here a collet clip for the back of the door handle is mixed into a bunch, and in a separate silumin case, and a few simple bolts for fastening to the back of the lock case, and plastic fasteners to the door shield for ease of installation at the factory. As a result, even to remove the lock, it is advisable to know what and in what sequence to unscrew and remove. And imagine how you will assemble the mechanism after. We add here that you can remove the shield of the door mechanisms only by disconnecting the glass from the window regulator and peeling it off the door panel. As a result, it turns out that a generally simple node causes a lot of negativity.
It is possible to find a B5 with a living whole interior, but in most cars its condition is far from ideal. Claims are not at all about the materials of the salon or the quality of workmanship - rather, about the age and style of operation of the "gypsies in the palace". There are usually more broken parts than whole ones. Typical troubles are a broken glove box lock and its broken off cover, deformation of the instrument panel in the place where the passenger safety panel is installed, even if the airbags did not fire, broken door handles, peeling of fabric inserts in the doors, a loose driver's armrest, and much more.
Normal wear and tear also show up. Even plastic handlebars with runs for 400 thousand begin to shaggy, not to mention the skin. Fabric seats are quite strong, breakdowns are more often associated with a faulty "lift" or backrest adjustment mechanism than with torn upholstery or squashed filler. Skin tears more easily and is rarely properly cared for. The hatch is a little capricious, without lubrication it wedges, and the seal passes a lot of moisture. Another unpleasant problem is the ceiling: when dry cleaning or simply getting wet, the fabric peels off the base and sags.
Magneti Marelli dashboards cause many problems, they are found mainly on cars before restyling and "delight" owners with breakdowns of dial gauges and random failures. In the event of a breakdown, it makes no sense to change the motors, look for cold soldering, etc. You need to install the VDO panel, since it fits from the Golf IV, and there is plenty to choose from. For example, you can find a FIS with a large screen and install a MultiMFA unit or replace the entire screen with an optional ColorMFA and be able to control many machine functions without an external scanner, read and reset errors, read engine and gearbox data in real time. Working with firmware and panel replacements is almost completely automated, it is not so difficult to do it yourself. In fairness, FIS displays that go out in the heat also happen on VDO panels, and there is only one recipe: soldering the screen, since they are inexpensive on the Chinese site.
The climate is quite reliable. But old covers on the expansion tank, non-working viscous couplings, dirty radiators and rather strong hoses often lead to leaks. Sometimes the weakest point is the heater radiator, especially the pipes that stick out into the over-engine niche. They crack, and the antifreeze flows partly into the interior, partly directly to the ground.
Despite the introduction of a new type of electronics into the car, there are no global problems in the electrics, except, perhaps, the already mentioned flooding of the comfort and automatic transmission control units on the floor. Otherwise, the most common troubles are the already mentioned breakdowns of locks and window lifters, breakdowns of the wiring in the corrugations of the doors and in the corrugations of the motor, flooding of the wiring and relay unit through the oil seal of the ECU box when the over-engine niche is overflowed.
Sometimes the wrong choice of fuse ratings in the passenger compartment affects, and the plastic melts. The generator on in-line motors is well located, it is more difficult to remove and install it on V6, but, for example, you can replace the regulator relay without removing it.
The wiring itself is generally strong, and electronics failures are typical mainly for cars before restyling and saturated with options. There are few such survivors. And even by modern standards, if scanners such as the Chinese VCDS clone are available on the free sale, all problems are solved
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