07 Passat Parking Brake Fault - Costs to repair?

DriveSkill

Hi,

I have an 2007 Passat which on Sat displayed a 'Parking brake failure' on the electronic handbrake - basically it seemed to disengage but then wouldnt work again and was beeping and flashing warning lights in the dash. After turning off the car and leaving it for approx 10 mins I started up again and no more warnings and brake working as expected again.

So I brought it to the garage this morning just to check it out and got a shock :eek:

Firstly the charge to diagnose is €100 - seems a little high (was expecting maybe €50-€60) considering as far as I know it basically involves plugging it into a diagnostic computer and seeing what the system reads back.

Main shock however came with the results - apparently parking brake ECU needs to be replaced and also the 2 caliper motors as they are all showing faults...total cost for repair - €1560 !! Obviously they are showing faults as I saw it on Sat but the idea that only solution is to replace them all seems a bit drastic.

I know there are lots of reported issues with these electronic handbrakes but wondering if anyone has any advice, I should say the button has already been replaced 2 years ago.

BTW prices are being quoted from a main VW dealer.

I'm tempted to just leave it be as it is working now - I know it may fail again at some point but seems a bit much to be spending based on a single occurrence of fault. After all if your PC crashes once you dont go out and buy a brand new one immediately

Any ideas on how much it would cost to get the ECU and motors replaced with an indy - according to VW the parts alone cost €1300 but unclear if I could get them elsewhere (online ?)

Thanks!

cadaliac

Try a dealer in the north for the same parts and compare.

FrontDoor

DriveSkill wrote: »

Hi,

Main shock however came with the results - apparently parking brake ECU needs to be replaced and also the 2 caliper motors as they are all showing faults...total cost for repair - €1560 !! Obviously they are showing faults as I saw it on Sat but the idea that only solution is to replace them all seems a bit drastic.

Why do these guys always suggest replacing everything as a solution?

I'd say a second opinion would be useful.

DriveSkill

FrontDoor wrote: »

Why do these guys always suggest replacing everything as a solution?

I'd say a second opinion would be useful.

I agree, seems a bit much to just to all out and replace everything!

Mind you if each opinion costs €100 to diagnose I cant really afford to get many of them!

andyseadog

what was ever wrong with the handbrake that you just pull up anyway? its not like pulling a lever to your left is dramatically more difficult than pushing a button to your right.

this was always going to happen with a system like this, and a car fitted with this electronic ****e would put me off buying it. we're going backwards instead of forwards, we had a simple, efficient system that worked perfectly and we had to go replace it.

sorry, my advice, get a second opinion from an independant garage.

mickdw

Thats a load of bullcrap from the dealer IMO. They simply found faults recorded at those components and are now recommending replacement of everything. If for example the control unit for the parking brake sent intermittant signals etc to the actual calipers, they would most likely show a fault then themselves - my point being that one actual fault may trigger loads of fault codes. Anyone can read codes, its knowing what to do next that is the skill and that is what you should be paying the diagnostic fee for, not just getting a list of codes and a repair suggestion of replace everything.
Go to another garage. There are known faults with these. The switch, the control unit I believe(I have not seen this myself) and the calipers can suffer from broken wires at the motor. There is NO circumstance IMO that a car that only suffered one failure on the parking brake and is now working fine could require 2 new calipers.

Bonus_Pack

FrontDoor wrote: »

Why do these guys always suggest replacing everything as a solution?

I'd say a second opinion would be useful.

Because they really have no idea what's wrong. "If we just replace everything, Jimmy, it might work"
Most "mechanics" these days actually know very little and are simply doing what a computer tells them to do.

Rather than mechanics, they are more accurately described as parts replacers.

Anyway, my sister had a passat with the electric handbrake. NIGHTMARE. In addition they engine gave untold bother too. The day she traded it for a Megane was a god send she says.

andyseadog

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

The day she traded it for a Megane was a god send she says.

you know things are bad when someone says that.

mickdw

andyseadog wrote: »

what was ever wrong with the handbrake that you just pull up anyway?.

These electronic ones have a few advantages.
They free up the centre console area allowing design improvements.
They are elecronically controlled so will actually adjust the squeezing force on the disc as the disc cools when parked to maintain an absolutely strong brake so prevents roll away.
They help bad drivers with taking off on hills as it automatically releases at the biting point.
Another feature that is seldom mentioned but I think is useful is that the parking parke on vw/ audi at least can be used as an emergency brake. So on the audis where the button is positioned around the gear lever, should the driver suffer heart attack or something at the wheel, a passenger pulling the electronic brake lever for a number of seconds activates emergency braking. This brake force is applied to all 4 wheels through the hydraulic system and not through the parking brake system as that would only act on the rear wheels. Trying to stop a car with a traditional handbrake when at speed would be useless.

Bonus_Pack

what was ever wrong with the handbrake that you just pull up anyway?.

Nothing. That's why they changed it. Shure with a normal handbrake, they could squeeze you for money because it never gave trouble.

The points raised mickdw are grasping at straws tbh. The normal handbrake i have never "got in my way" so to speak.
I, and most for that matter, would much prefer a simple reliable system that doesn't give trouble rahter than a fancy gimmicky button that will break you heart and your wallet. Nuff said.

andyseadog

They are elecronically controlled so will actually adjust the squeezing force on the disc as the disc cools when parked to maintain an absolutely strong brake so prevents roll away.

or just handbrake up and park it in gear like to good old days?

They help bad drivers with taking off on hills as it automatically releases at the biting point.

cant do a conventional hill start, cant pass the test, shouldn't be on the road.

Another feature that is seldom mentioned but I think is useful is that the parking parke on vw/ audi at least can be used as an emergency brake. So on the audis where the button is positioned around the gear level, should the driver suffer heart attack or something at the wheel, a passenger pulling the electronic brake lever for a number of seconds activates emergency braking. This brake force is applied to all 4 wheels through the hydraulic system and not through the parking brake system as that would only act on the rear wheels. Trying to stop a car with a traditional handbrake when at speed would be useless.

i take this as a fiar point, but its a costly addition.

as for taking up space on the center console as a reason, i mean ffs what are they going to put in its place only another cubby space or a cup holder or something.

mickdw

Bonus_Pack wrote: »

The points raised mickdw are grasping at straws tbh. The normal handbrake i have never "got in my way" so to speak.

You may say that, but I wouldnt go back now tbh. Ive had an audi with electric brake for over 4 years now. It has not had any issues while many other areas of the car have had issues. Another advantage is that they generally dont suffer from imbalance from side to side like some of the traditional systems. Alot of traditional handbrakes were also woeful for needing adjustment although, audi and many others have run with a self adjusting setup for many years.

mickdw

andyseadog wrote: »

or just handbrake up and park it in gear like to good old days?

Still do that tbh. It has to be said it is good driving practice to do this but there are very many that dont.

andyseadog wrote: »

cant do a conventional hill start, cant pass the test, shouldn't be on the road.

I dont know, Ive seen many drivers who cannot take off on a hill and they were on the road. Shouldnt be, but there were!

andyseadog wrote: »

i take this as a fiar point, but its a costly addition.

How is it costly?

andyseadog wrote: »

as for taking up space on the center console as a reason, i mean ffs what are they going to put in its place only another cubby space or a cup holder or something.

We will see a major design change in the next few years imo. With that lever out of there and with differing gear change options available, the whole of the centre area of the car has been freed up. Sure, there are not making great use of this for now but its sure coming.

andyseadog

mickdw wrote: »

How is it costly?

€1500 to repiar a faulty system. i only paid a little more for my current daily driver :pac:

mickdw

andyseadog wrote: »

€1500 to repiar a faulty system. i only paid a little more for my current daily driver :pac:

A faulty diagnosis more like. Sure you could go into a garage with a faulty spark plug in any basic car and the computer might tell them misfire on cylinder - they could say you need a new engine. Thats about as bad as this diagnosis seems to me so its hard to condemn the system just because of poor diagnosis or fraudulent repair quotes.

andyseadog

mickdw wrote: »

A faulty diagnosis more like. Sure you could go into a garage with a faulty spark plug in any basic car and the computer might tell them misfire on cylinder - they could say you need a new engine. Thats about as bad as this diagnosis seems to me so its hard to condemn the system just because of poor diagnosis or fraudulent repair quotes.

i totally agree just putting abit of perspective on it, some people don't have the ability to question bills, fortunately this guy is.

DriveSkill

Well I've picked the car up again, paid my €100 for the 'diagnostics' and had a discussion with the service guy. He went to great trouble to justify the €100 saying it was 1.75 hours work but he was only charging for 1.5hrs !

I was making a lot of the same points people made here in that as a result of the 'diagnostics' I'm no wiser than I was on Sat - I knew at that stage that there was a fault in the system and all they can tell me now is there is a fault in all 3 parts of the system! I asked was it not unusual for 2 caliper motors to fail at exactly the same time and all I got was that is what the fault is saying - there doesnt seem to be any level of granularity as to what the fault might actually be or what the real root cause was.

The fact that its all working fine now seems to suggest the faults recorded are all related to that one incident but could be anything, maybe there was glitch, it was wet so maybe water get in somewhere - I dont know but I dont think the calipers are really broken or damaged. I think its like saying if your PC crashed once and you check the logs you find a fault, does that mean you go buy a whole new PC!

End result is he is going to ask for a goodwill gesture from VW but unlikely to succeed I think as car is 5 years old, only thing in its favour is it has a full VW Service history which maycount for something.

So going to wait and see what comes back from VW and then decide.

mickdw

DriveSkill wrote: »

End result is he is going to ask for a goodwill gesture from VW but unlikely to succeed I think as car is 5 years old, only thing in its favour is it has a full VW Service history which maycount for something.

So going to wait and see what comes back from VW and then decide.

If he goes to vw with that kind of a diagnosis, there would be questions asked I feel. Then again, you wont know what he says to vw. Its likely he wouldnt go to them at all. You can always ring the vw warranty people in dublin, I think I have the number somewhere - to keep the garage honest.
Even if he comes back to you offering 75% off that bill due to a goodwill offering, I wouldnt take it without a good second opinion.

ShadowHearth

i just wonder how much these passats will be worth in next 2-3 years...

the early ones of this model already going for feck all. With bill likes this passats will be only good for breaking.

i know someone will say " oh, you see on forums only bad points ", but fecking hell, simple stuff like this breaks and costs stupid amount of money. Just because its complicated mechanism its not better! i wont even mention the whole injector feck up etc.

rugbyman

my nephew knows quite a lot about these things and has saved people thousands. pm with contact details sent

regards,Rugbyman

mickdw

ShadowHearth wrote: »

i just wonder how much these passats will be worth in next 2-3 years...

the early ones of this model already going for feck all. With bill likes this passats will be only good for breaking.

i know someone will say " oh, you see on forums only bad points ", but fecking hell, simple stuff like this breaks and costs stupid amount of money. Just because its complicated mechanism its not better! i wont even mention the whole injector feck up etc.

They are actually holding up well to fairly high mileages so I dont agree at all on the theory that they will only be fit for breaking. Even your typical old man mechanic knows his way around these at this stage, and can often repair a broken wire in the calipers or whatever.
Worst repair on the parking brake is probably a new caliper and they can be had used on ebay for about €70 so no big dramas really. Parking prake switch is a simple repair too.
The injectors and engin wear issues were the major nightmare on these but vw are looking after the injectors a least. Also steering colum defect resulted in a major bill early on but now, the faulty part on the column can be changed so that is not a major issue either now.

galwaytt

mickdw wrote: »

These electronic ones have a few advantages.
They free up the centre console area allowing design improvements.
They are elecronically controlled so will actually adjust the squeezing force on the disc as the disc cools when parked to maintain an absolutely strong brake so prevents roll away.
They help bad drivers with taking off on hills as it automatically releases at the biting point.
Another feature that is seldom mentioned but I think is useful is that the parking parke on vw/ audi at least can be used as an emergency brake. So on the audis where the button is positioned around the gear lever, should the driver suffer heart attack or something at the wheel, a passenger pulling the electronic brake lever for a number of seconds activates emergency braking. This brake force is applied to all 4 wheels through the hydraulic system and not through the parking brake system as that would only act on the rear wheels. Trying to stop a car with a traditional handbrake when at speed would be useless.

I understand the design thing - but I still think that's a sh!t reason: look at an A6 console, or a 5008 - the fuggin' consoles just got enormous. I blame cans of coke...........

Hillstart is a good idea, just remember: you can't do your driving test in a car that has it........

As for the heart-attack - is that because of the repair quote ?? No, seriously, never knew that. Only a couple of snags as I see it..........the handbrake button is on the farside of the driver, from the passenger.......no ? Will it be like the little air-hostess routine, where you'll have to tell all impending travellers what to do in the event of an emergency......?....I mean, I was only going to the shop go get a loaf of bread...

mickdw

galwaytt wrote: »

As for the heart-attack - is that because of the repair quote ?? No, seriously, never knew that. Only a couple of snags as I see it..........the handbrake button is on the farside of the driver, from the passenger.......no ? Will it be like the little air-hostess routine, where you'll have to tell all impending travellers what to do in the event of an emergency......?....I mean, I was only going to the shop go get a loaf of bread...

Yes in the passat it is, but I mentioned that in audis its at the gear lever on the centre console in many models.

DriveSkill

galwaytt wrote: »

Hillstart is a good idea, just remember: you can't do your driving test in a car that has it........

Just to clarify if by "Hillstart" you mean the auto-release of the handbrake once you get to the biting point then there is no issue doing your test with it - perfectly acceptable! Only requirement is that it must be a 'standard' feature of the car and not an after-market add-on.

_Kaiser_

mickdw wrote: »

They are actually holding up well to fairly high mileages so I dont agree at all on the theory that they will only be fit for breaking.

Indeed, my 2.0 TDI 2006 model has 212000 km on the clock and still going strong... aside from an impending injector fault (which was covered under the recent recall) and a DMF failure (well it was on the way out as opposed to actually failed and common to any modern diesel), it's never given me any trouble really.

Depends how it's been looked after really - mine is serviced every 3/4 months or so by a dealer so that likely helps.

shanec1928

galwaytt wrote: »

Hillstart is a good idea, just remember: you can't do your driving test in a car that has it........

yes you can do your test in it;)

deadlast

DriveSkill wrote: »

Well I've picked the car up again, paid my €100 for the 'diagnostics' and had a discussion with the service guy. He went to great trouble to justify the €100 saying it was 1.75 hours work but he was only charging for 1.5hrs !

I was making a lot of the same points people made here in that as a result of the 'diagnostics' I'm no wiser than I was on Sat - I knew at that stage that there was a fault in the system and all they can tell me now is there is a fault in all 3 parts of the system! I asked was it not unusual for 2 caliper motors to fail at exactly the same time and all I got was that is what the fault is saying - there doesnt seem to be any level of granularity as to what the fault might actually be or what the real root cause was.

The fact that its all working fine now seems to suggest the faults recorded are all related to that one incident but could be anything, maybe there was glitch, it was wet so maybe water get in somewhere - I dont know but I dont think the calipers are really broken or damaged. I think its like saying if your PC crashed once and you check the logs you find a fault, does that mean you go buy a whole new PC!

End result is he is going to ask for a goodwill gesture from VW but unlikely to succeed I think as car is 5 years old, only thing in its favour is it has a full VW Service history which maycount for something.

So going to wait and see what comes back from VW and then decide.

On phone so quick reply. It's a common fault that water gets into motor on caliper and causes it to fail. I got mine fixed for price of a second hand caliper(just motor needed from it) and labour.€100. Listen at each rear wheel, I could hear which caliper was not engaging.

And stay away from VW unless you're still under warranty, get a good independent to sort it!

Edit:- I didnt fully read all the posts but it's very common for switch to fail also, €15 part and replace yourself...

barneygumble99

mickdw wrote: »

These electronic ones have a few advantages.
They free up the centre console area allowing design improvements.
They are elecronically controlled so will actually adjust the squeezing force on the disc as the disc cools when parked to maintain an absolutely strong brake so prevents roll away.
They help bad drivers with taking off on hills as it automatically releases at the biting point.
Another feature that is seldom mentioned but I think is useful is that the parking parke on vw/ audi at least can be used as an emergency brake. So on the audis where the button is positioned around the gear lever, should the driver suffer heart attack or something at the wheel, a passenger pulling the electronic brake lever for a number of seconds activates emergency braking. This brake force is applied to all 4 wheels through the hydraulic system and not through the parking brake system as that would only act on the rear wheels. Trying to stop a car with a traditional handbrake when at speed would be useless.

passats are a disaster that way, you need to have the clutch engaged obviously, you need to have the brake engaged to release that handbrake switch and you need to have your foot on the accelerator. not the easiest thing to do for a learner driver.

mickdw

No. You are completely wrong. The parking brake has an auto release function. That's the whole point of it. You just let the clutch up and drive away. The car let's the brake off just when clutch reaches biting point.
You are not the first I've heard say this. Mostly people who don't wear their seat belt as without the seat belt, the auto release is disabled.

DriveSkill

barneygumble99 wrote: »

passats are a disaster that way, you need to have the clutch engaged obviously, you need to have the brake engaged to release that handbrake switch and you need to have your foot on the accelerator. not the easiest thing to do for a learner driver.

Think you are missing the point - the handbrake disengages automatically once you get the clutch to the biting point and are on the accelerator. You only need to engage the brake pedal if you want to manually disengage the handbrake using the switch.

fullstop

DriveSkill wrote: »

Hi,

I have an 2007 Passat which on Sat displayed a 'Parking brake failure' on the electronic handbrake - basically it seemed to disengage but then wouldnt work again and was beeping and flashing warning lights in the dash. After turning off the car and leaving it for approx 10 mins I started up again and no more warnings and brake working as expected again.

So I brought it to the garage this morning just to check it out and got a shock :eek:

Firstly the charge to diagnose is €100 - seems a little high (was expecting maybe €50-€60) considering as far as I know it basically involves plugging it into a diagnostic computer and seeing what the system reads back.

Main shock however came with the results - apparently parking brake ECU needs to be replaced and also the 2 caliper motors as they are all showing faults...total cost for repair - €1560 !! Obviously they are showing faults as I saw it on Sat but the idea that only solution is to replace them all seems a bit drastic.

I know there are lots of reported issues with these electronic handbrakes but wondering if anyone has any advice, I should say the button has already been replaced 2 years ago.

BTW prices are being quoted from a main VW dealer.

I'm tempted to just leave it be as it is working now - I know it may fail again at some point but seems a bit much to be spending based on a single occurrence of fault. After all if your PC crashes once you dont go out and buy a brand new one immediately

Any ideas on how much it would cost to get the ECU and motors replaced with an indy - according to VW the parts alone cost €1300 but unclear if I could get them elsewhere (online ?)

Thanks!

I got my handbrake motor replaced for just over €700 in a main dealer. They said that often the housing gets damaged as well and it would have cost €1200 if that needed replacing too but I got away without that.

dharn

@ mickdw that seems to be a well kept secret, my brother has that car im sure he does not know that the handbrake button can be used us you describe mick

dharn

DriveSkill wrote: »

Well I've picked the car up again, paid my €100 for the 'diagnostics' and had a discussion with the service guy. He went to great trouble to justify the €100 saying it was 1.75 hours work but he was only charging for 1.5hrs !

I was making a lot of the same points people made here in that as a result of the 'diagnostics' I'm no wiser than I was on Sat - I knew at that stage that there was a fault in the system and all they can tell me now is there is a fault in all 3 parts of the system! I asked was it not unusual for 2 caliper motors to fail at exactly the same time and all I got was that is what the fault is saying - there doesnt seem to be any level of granularity as to what the fault might actually be or what the real root cause was.

The fact that its all working fine now seems to suggest the faults recorded are all related to that one incident but could be anything, maybe there was glitch, it was wet so maybe water get in somewhere - I dont know but I dont think the calipers are really broken or damaged. I think its like saying if your PC crashed once and you check the logs you find a fault, does that mean you go buy a whole new PC!

End result is he is going to ask for a goodwill gesture from VW but unlikely to succeed I think as car is 5 years old, only thing in its favour is it has a full VW Service history which maycount for something.

So going to wait and see what comes back from VW and then decide.

this diagnostic thing is a real scam ,you plug your car in to the computer it probably searches every known system running away happily on its own, even if it is a well known fault, can the not direct the computer to the relevant system? i had my bmw diagnosed, same story, i knew what was wrong and what needed replacing , but no it had to be diagnosed,.. car left unattended for nearly an hour, yet charged 1 hours diagnostic time to tell me what i already knew, 75 euro.. Mad

_Kaiser_

dharn wrote: »

this diagnostic thing is a real scam ,you plug your car in to the computer it probably searches every known system running away happily on its own, even if it is a well known fault, can the not direct the computer to the relevant system? i had my bmw diagnosed, same story, i knew what was wrong and what needed replacing , but no it had to be diagnosed,.. car left unattended for nearly an hour, yet charged 1 hours diagnostic time to tell me what i already knew, 75 euro.. Mad

That's why I keep promising myself to invest in VAG COM/VCDS so I can do my own diagnosis and hand them a print out. No doubt though they wouldn't accept that and insist on running the same report again

Ballyv24

mickdw wrote: »

No. You are completely wrong. The parking brake has an auto release function. That's the whole point of it. You just let the clutch up and drive away. The car let's the brake off just when clutch reaches biting point.
You are not the first I've heard say this. Mostly people who don't wear their seat belt as without the seat belt, the auto release is disabled.

I recently bought a 2008 Passat from a VW main dealer and I was not told this. Luckily I was given the correct instructions by someone within a few days of buying the car, otherwise the hill starts would have been a nightmare.

I did have some small issues with the warning light for the handbrake and I had to turn off the engine and start again. I have not seen it in a few weeks, so hopefully it is gone!

DriveSkill

fullstop wrote: »

I got my handbrake motor replaced for just over €700 in a main dealer. They said that often the housing gets damaged as well and it would have cost €1200 if that needed replacing too but I got away without that.

Was that €700 for just one motor or did they replace the motors in both calipers. When I asked about prices they said €770 for the calipers which I believe included both.

Jonny303

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

That's why I keep promising myself to invest in VAG COM/VCDS so I can do my own diagnosis and hand them a print out. No doubt though they wouldn't accept that and insist on running the same report again

I don't think people understand what "diagnostics" are. The clue is in the name, diagnose

Being very familiar with the VAG system, its not just a case of plugging in and reading faults. Yes this can be done, but if you are to do it properly, it involves running test plans on individual faults, checking certain voltages etc. To be honest if someone came to me with a print out of faults and told me they wanted "these parts" replaced, I'd make sure I have my ar*e well covered as more, as more often than not, the fault could be down to something else (wiring, fault further up the system etc)

fullstop

DriveSkill wrote: »

Was that €700 for just one motor or did they replace the motors in both calipers. When I asked about prices they said €770 for the calipers which I believe included both.

Both calipers

Dionysius2

I stopped going to main dealers a long long time ago. When you give them business you are paying for overheads and excesses of every king. Just like the pubs and so many other businesses now that their big businesses has fallen off significantly they have to fleece the few that they get to make some money. It's just plain madness to support that kind of trading.

Do yourself a favour and check around.....talk to some knowledgeable car folk who drive nice cars NOT supplied by companies, check for private small garage businesses in your area or at least reasonably convenient and check out the 'Motor' blogs and very soon you will come up with a nice reliable easily accessib and customer friendly guy who does a good job without the marketing overlaid crap that is now so prevalent.

Deal with practical plaintalking people and do not expose yourself to the charm of people in marketing whose job it is to sell you what you don't want in sales and/or services.

DriveSkill

Jonny303 wrote: »

I don't think people understand what "diagnostics" are. The clue is in the name, diagnose

Being very familiar with the VAG system, its not just a case of plugging in and reading faults. Yes this can be done, but if you are to do it properly, it involves running test plans on individual faults, checking certain voltages etc. To be honest if someone came to me with a print out of faults and told me they wanted "these parts" replaced, I'd make sure I have my ar*e well covered as more, as more often than not, the fault could be down to something else (wiring, fault further up the system etc)

I completely agree that what you suggest should be done to call it diagnostics but it doesnt seem to be that way at the main dealers. All I got was there is a fault showing in X, Y an Z so solution is to replace all of them! I knew there was a fault in the system before they ever ran the diagnostics as it shows in the dash so charging €100 for telling me something I pretty much already knew is not good value.

As you mention for diagnostics I would expect someone to be able to tell me that component X failed due to whatever reason (loose wire, burnt out component, water damage, unknown etc) and this caused a fault on Y and Z but we can repair or replace X and system will be fine again. That would be worth €100 and I'd be much more willing to pay for the repair. The actual info I got gives me no confidence in getting a repair done as essentially the system is working fine again so while there was a problem I think its highly unlikely that all three elements of the system need replacement and in fact the root cause could be something completely different such as a loose/bad connection and the problem might still exist even after replacing them all!

dharn

as everything is now working, it seems the garage diagnosis was completely wrong,the three parts are unlikely to suddenly fix themselves again !

Mar4ix

dharn wrote: »

as everything is now working, it seems the garage diagnosis was completely wrong,the three parts are unlikely to suddenly fix themselves again !

Must be fixed themselves

My friend has vw passat 08, once he had a trouble with electronic handbrake, it didnt disengage , after restart car, it worked well, i did diagnostic with vag-com, it showed up electronic handbrake button work intermittently , .. my friend havent done yet anything, waiting till next time fail, or it will be annoying

George Dalton

Anyone who brings a 07 Passat to a main dealer for fault diagnosis and repair deserves what is coming to them in my opinion. A fool and his money....

JHet

mickdw wrote: »

Also steering colum defect resulted in a major bill early on but now, the faulty part on the column can be changed so that is not a major issue either now.

Is that the problem with the steering Torque sensor on the Rack?

This happened on my 2005 b6 passat. Yellow steering light came on, on the dash. The torque sensor on the steering rack had failed. VW in the infinite wisdom(after sales!!) engineered the steering rack in such a way that once the sensor failed the whole rack had to be replaced. Disgusting really. I refuse to change the rack cause there is nothing wrong with it. So instead of it costing 50quid for a new sensor the bill would be more like a 1000 now. Have been driving it for over a year now, not a bother on it, and sure why would there be, its only the stupid sensor thats gone. When/if i eventually sell it'll be getting a second hand rack to turn off the light in the dash.
Its little stupid things like this that have annoyed me about the passat that would make me seriously question buying another one although having said that I've had few problems with it, but the rack thing just really rubbed me up the wrong way. Its immoral and it should really be illegal to engineer cars in this way or at the very least some sort of code of conduct standard that manufacturers should seek to attain.

NordicDiver

Did a DIY on both motors after I could not get off the spot,, was a crack in booth housings letting moisture in.

Two torx screws at the back of the motor housing and then some araldite glue over the cracked housing + some grease fro the gear cluster.

https://sites.google.com/site/1810martin/passat-b6-electric-park-brake

galwaytt

shanec1928 wrote: »

galwaytt wrote: »

Hillstart is a good idea, just remember: you can't do your driving test in a car that has it........

yes you can do your test in it;)

...just confirmed this, you're right !
Which is unbelievable......you certainly can't in NI or UK, so I assumed same, here...

DriveSkill

George Dalton wrote: »

Anyone who brings a 07 Passat to a main dealer for fault diagnosis and repair deserves what is coming to them in my opinion. A fool and his money....

In general I would agree but did have an experience with a so called 'VW Specialist' independent who when I returned informed me he couldnt stamp the service book as the mechanic couldnt find it in the car. I walked out to the car, opened the glove box and popped down the little holder and lo-and-behold there it was, exactly where it should be :rolleyes:

Really inspired confidence in their knowledge of VW! The cost was only slightly less than the main dealer so I went back to the main dealer, the car has never needed anything major done to it apart from standard servicing.

I did ask in the very first post on this for an recommendation for an indy if I was going to get this repaired.

OldmanMondeo

I sell Calipers and those VAG electronic ones are a pain. You could have a hydrualic leak and it can be fixed / reconditioned. But if the electronic motor goes, your fecked. These motors do not seem to be available anywhere. Also knowing VAG and most main dealers, you would probable need to code these up to the ECU.

Also, even reconditioned, these calipers cost a fortune.

Gen.Zhukov

Came out of a shop the other day to find a locked, empty 2011 passat stuck to my bumper having rolled back.

So its still a issue.

Told owner 'leave it in gear etc'. Its a bloody dangerous fault.

_Kaiser_

So this morning as I pulled up in work the dreaded yellow P light appeared on the dash.. helpfully of course the service manual tells you to "refer to dealer".

Brake seems to engage/disengage correctly so I suppose we'll see what happens this evening - worst case scenario, being a DSG it shouldn't roll anywhere from Park I assume?

sheehan12

would it be best not to used the handbrake and just put it in gear maybe used the handbrake some time to keep working