2001 Passat battery or electrical problem

Hi,

I have a 2001 Passat GLX with 47,000 miles on it. The car has been perfect till last week...

The car won't start - I have to jump it. The battery seems dead, I have had it checked twice and am told by the dealer that the batter doesn't need changing and that the starter looks ok too - cost me $45 for that piece of information.

I suspect some sort of power leak or drain and have read several postings about the monsoon stereo being the culprit. I am goig to pull the fuse for the stereo and see if that is the issue.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I suspect this is going to end up costing big dollars to fix and the "I don't care" attitude from the dealer has put me off the entire VW experience.

Thanks for any help!

Replace the battery.

I got my local mechanic to check it... turns out that the alternator is grounding (i.e. messed up) and there is a short circuit being caused by a broken light switch in the dashboard.

Total cost for fixing it including parts and labor: $1,100

The car only has 47,000 miles on it. There is no way an alternator should go this early.

I will NEVER by a VW product again.

So the car was perfect until last week and now you're swearing off of VWs because you've got a repair to make that you feel is premature? Wow, good luck finding a car that satisfies you.

Having said that, the $1100 price sounds way too steep for that repair - I'd find a new mechanic. You're talking about $200-$250 for the alternator and another couple hundred for the labor to install at most. Add in the cost of the bad switch and the labor to repair and you shouldn't be looking at more than about $600 total. At $1100, you're getting hosed and you should be pissed at the mechanic not at VW.

Well thanks for your informed comments.

Here is the damage:

The alternator if purchased from the dealer costs $650 - just for the part!

My mechanic purchased an after market alternator from Bosch with the same specs and cam with a lifetime warranty for $475. It is 4 hours labor to put the alternator in. The way VW Passats are engineered, you have to remove the whole front end of the car to get access.

The light switch. The part from the dealer cost $145, istallation was free.

Prior to that there was about 4hrs of diagnostics.

After all this, there is still a parasitic draw on the battery that he is trying to trace.

This is the first time for me posting to this web site, so far no one out there has provided any usefull information, only criticism. I though this would be a useful source of independent info, but its really just a waste of time.

Well thanks for your informed comments.

Here is the damage:

The alternator if purchased from the dealer costs $650 - just for the part!

My mechanic purchased an after market alternator from Bosch with the same specs and cam with a lifetime warranty for $475. It is 4 hours labor to put the alternator in. The way VW Passats are engineered, you have to remove the whole front end of the car to get access.

The light switch. The part from the dealer cost $145, istallation was free.

Prior to that there was about 4hrs of diagnostics.

After all this, there is still a parasitic draw on the battery that he is trying to trace.

This is the first time for me posting to this web site, so far no one out there has provided any usefull information, only criticism. I though this would be a useful source of independent info, but its really just a waste of time.


I was able to do a quick search on the internet and find an alternator for a 2001 MY (pre facelift) Passat 1.8T engine for $225.00 or a rebuilt one for $177. If you factor in 4 hours of labor at $75 per hour (btw I spoke to my indy mechanic and he gave me an estimate of 2.5 hours for the labor rather than the four yours quoted), its still only $525 for the alternator repair. You didn't indicate that you were also paying for 4 hours of diagnostics - of which I would contest some of that with the dealer. I still think you're paying way too much for the repairs as you've described. So when I told you that I thought the repair was too expensive, and that you should be upset with the mechanic for charging you so much vs. Volkswagen for your car having a problem, I WAS giving you useful info - sorry you don't see it that way.

I was also just trying to point out that if this issue has you so wound up as to swear off VWs, then I think you'll be hard pressed to find a car that will make you happy. Cars are mechanical things assembled by human beings - they're bound to have problems. Your car has been perfect for 47,000 miles and the first time it gives you trouble you're hopping mad - I think that's an awfully high standard to hold it up to - that's all I was saying.

BTW - so glad I even bothered to try to help you out - it was nice to get your sarcasm and lousy attitude back in return. I hope you'll stick around the forum, ask questions when you have issues/problems but you can be sure you'll not get help from me going forward if you do. I don't need the attitude.

Thank you for your post... this time around you really helped me out. I appreciate that. I interpreted your first post the wrong way. Sorry about the misunderstanding.

As for the alternator, my engine is not the 1.8T, the specs for the alternator are different and thus the price is different (more in this case).

did you know your alternator is covered under factory warranty still.

5yr 60k


Bummer you paid to have a new alternator put in.