My B5.5 TDI diary.

**Col** · 31-07-2011,10:25 AM

Edit - April 2016, thought I'd update this.....

I've cross posted stuff from another forum, quite why I forget about this fine place I don't know.

Updates start from page 2.....

Hello,

I've been on here quite a while but have had an 18 month break after my A6 got written off. I bought a old Ford Focus as a temporary stop gap. The Focus was so good that the stop gap turned into 18 months!

I also very much enjoyed motoring on a shoestring budget which is why I've plumped for an old (2004) B5.5 Passat Estate.

I picked it up on Weds 27th July 2011 and intend to post up details of my ownership experience with it. My ownership experience will be totally hands on and I will endeavor to carry out all work myself.

This is the second Passat TDI Estate I've had and along with the Audi A6, all three have shared the same AWX 130hp TDI engine and 5 speed box. So I know my way around them.

From the ownership of my first, I posted up a few 'how to's' on here which seem to have been quite popular, the most popular being this one;

VW Audi Forum - The #1 VW Group Community

Anyway, the purpose of this thread will be to document how I get on with the car. Please feel free and please do post into here with any of your thoughts and comments.

**Col** · 31-07-2011,01:45 PM

Here is the car, quite unremarkable, but it is mine.

Very pleased with it so far.

A niggle I had was it had a 'smell' in it which I diagnosed when viewing it. The passenger side taillight was not water tight thus letting a fetted pool of stinking smelly water form in the 3/4 panel behind the jack cupboard. So removed the jack cradle, cleaned out and no more smell!

Another scary one I found was this...

The oil filter cap is off a mercedes !! God knows why but it put my plans to do an oil change on hold until I can get the correct VW part. Luckily there was one on e-bay, so it was promptly bought and should arrive in the week.

Other than that I've given the car a good clean and polish and a full interior clean.

**adamss24** · 31-07-2011,02:52 PM

Looks good mate, hope this last you a damn lot longer than the a6 you wrote off ! Pity as it was such a good car...

**Guest 2** · 31-07-2011,02:57 PM

Looks very well, the Passat suits silver and the best looking.

**Col** · 31-07-2011,04:07 PM

Originally Posted by adamss24

Looks good mate, hope this last you a damn lot longer than the a6 you wrote off ! Pity as it was such a good car...

Hello Chris, long time no speak.

Yes still a bit gutted about how the A6 ended up but never mind.

**Col** · 31-07-2011,04:09 PM

Originally Posted by A6_Chris

Looks very well, the Passat suits silver and the best looking.

Absolutely.

My last B5.5 was also in Reflex Silver.

It is taking a bit of getting used to as my last two car have been black.

**Col** · 31-07-2011,06:22 PM

First and most important job was to make sure the plenum drains were clear. If these are blocked all sorts of problems can occur; water ingress through the pollen filter housing causing the central convenience module and wiring to fail, rotting out the brake servo which can possibly lead to a very expensive repair bill.

Anyway, this is how I did it. Please note I thought about taking the pics part way through the job so some may appear to be out of sequence.

Tools,
10mm spanner for battery terminals.
13mm socket with 10" bar for battery clamp.
13mm spanner for battery cradle.
Pressue washer (if you have one).

So;

1, Pull the rubber seal off at the front edge of the plenum cover.
2, Ease the plastic plenum cover out.

Some say that the wiper arms and the scuttle cover that butts up to the screen needs to come off to remove the battery. This isn't the case, you can move the rubber incased loom forwards to provide access to remove the battery but you need to be careful not to damage the very brittle windscreen scutte panel.

3, Picture below shows the 3 clips securing the loom in place, you need to roll the loom over the bulkhead to release the clips and also release the grommit where the loom pases through the bulkhead. Also shown is the scuttle panel part removed. (Ignore the fact all of the engine covers are also off as I was going on to clean the engine bay as well as doing this, you don't need to remove them to clean the plenum drains).

4, Undo the battery terminals, 10mm spanner, and set aside.

5, Undo and remove the battery clamp, 13mm socket on 10" bar. See picture below for location.

6, Remove battery cradle, x2 13mm nuts and one 13mm bolt, see picture below. Note that the alarm sounder is secured by one of the nuts. Note this was taken on re-assembly so it appears clean!

7, This is what I was faced with, a dirty but dry plenum! The location of the battery side drain is shown arrowed and the approx location of the drain under the servo is also arrowed. I chose to poke the grommits out. There are two schools of thought on this, one being that they should remian in place as they stop fumes rising into the plenum as thus into the car interior via the pollen filter which is in the plenum. The other is to remove and not worry about fumes unless your exhaust is blowing. Im not worried and so poked them out! You can make your own decision on this.

8, Cleaned with TFR (traffic film remover) and my pressure washer. I also ran an open hose in there as well to ensure all crud was removed.

9, With battery back in.

10, Connect everthing back up, replace plenum cover and rubber seal, job done! Took me about 45 minutes in total.

**Col** · 01-08-2011,06:06 PM

Tailored car mats
Collinite 476s paste wax
Cigar lighter

All arrived today from various peeps off e-bay.

Ordered a towbar from PF Jones, some gliptone leather cleaner as well.

Want to order a cruise kit now but may halt the spending spree for a while.

Might have a go at the mission that is replacing the ciggy lighter bulb this evening, centre console out anyone