questions about 05 passat v6

[misterghost]

Hello everyone, im asking for your help about my new car, a 2005 passat v6.
im the 3rd owner and the car its in pristine condition, except for a few details, very very minimum details.
one of them is the coolant reservoir its brownish in color, and the previous owner(s) didnt refill it with the proper coolant from VW, so the question here is this: if i make a full coolant fluid flush, can i fill it with non VW fluid? or should i fill it with VW pentosin (if i recall correctly, thats the name of it) ??
next, the engine? ive searched for details on this particular engine, and i haven found anything...can you tell me more of this engine? (2.8liters, v6, 30valves) like common issues, durability, etc?
ive heard about the water pump and timing belt failing, but i dont really know if it applies to this engine or is only for turbos.
next its the engine oil, the manual states sinthetic but in a viscosity i didnt understand...its like 5000y7733 or something like that....wich type of oil should i put in? like 5w50 or else....
well i have a lot of questions, ill be here more than often to learn more everytime.
thanks all for your answers!!!

[misterghost]

bump

[Ross 1.8T]

Hello everyone, im asking for your help about my new car, a 2005 passat v6.
im the 3rd owner and the car its in pristine condition, except for a few details, very very minimum details.
one of them is the coolant reservoir its brownish in color, and the previous owner(s) didnt refill it with the proper coolant from VW, so the question here is this: if i make a full coolant fluid flush, can i fill it with non VW fluid? or should i fill it with VW pentosin (if i recall correctly, thats the name of it) ??
next, the engine? ive searched for details on this particular engine, and i haven found anything...can you tell me more of this engine? (2.8liters, v6, 30valves) like common issues, durability, etc?
ive heard about the water pump and timing belt failing, but i dont really know if it applies to this engine or is only for turbos.
next its the engine oil, the manual states sinthetic but in a viscosity i didnt understand...its like 5000y7733 or something like that....wich type of oil should i put in? like 5w50 or else....
well i have a lot of questions, ill be here more than often to learn more everytime.
thanks all for your answers!!!

Fully synth 5W40 will be fine for it.

You can buy G12 coolant (red stuff) from any decent motorfactors. Halfords sell it too. As long as its ethylene glycol based its fine. You can't use the blue alcohol based coolant in any half modern VW engine.

The V6 will either have 2 timing belts or 2 chains and will almost certainly have the crappy VW plastic impeller waterpump fitted. Sometimes they leak and sometimes they fail without warning. I'll check on the timing belts for you unless somebody with more knowledge on the V6 comes along first (Crasher?).

[Ross 1.8T]

Just checked, its a single belt with hydraulic tensioner, tensioner lever, tensioner damper and relay roller.

You can get any parts you need here: http://www.vwspares.co.uk/passat_3b3_belts.php

Not a job I'd be comfortable with but you could buy the parts and get a trusted mechanic/specialist to do it for you for about 1/2 the price VW charge.

[misterghost]

thanks a lot Ross, ill check that link...
do you know how close am i to need the timing belt change?
my car has 50,000 km
since i am in mexico, do you know some website over here? or in the usa? im about 2hrs from texas...

[Ross 1.8T]

thanks a lot Ross, ill check that link...
do you know how close am i to need the timing belt change?
my car has 50,000 km
since i am in mexico, do you know some website over here? or in the usa? im about 2hrs from texas...

I'm not sure what the belt change interval is on the v6. At a guess I'd say 4 years or 90000km.

Try this site, I've used them in the past for Lexus parts. They deliver very quickly, 3 days from USA to UK so probably quicker to you:

www.rockauto.com