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Well that sounds like it’s going to be a good learning experience for you so embrace it and enjoy it, as I said there are a lot of people out there into VW’s so if you got good at working on them I’m sure you’d have more than your fair share of work. It seems I’m not alone in my German car experiences however as many have also commented on the issues with clearance and plastic parts that break when you look at them for too long.
Sarah you’re always welcome here and don’t worry, as far as I’m concerned your ‘one of us’ and your gender has nothing to do with you ability to do anything, if your into auto repair and wish to get better at it that’s all that matters in my book, we all start somewhere.
Someone may have previously mentioned this but buy a quality service book like a Haynes manual, I think they do one specifically for cars with the VR6 engine, in all honesty most of the cars I work on are VW’s and they aren’t that bad to work on, when it comes to the TDI’s they are a breeze apart from the damn triple square fasteners holding the CV axles to the transmission flanges as someone had previously mentioned, but on the plus side when you do swap out an axle you don’t have oil leaking all over the place because you aren’t left with gaping holes in the gearbox. The jobs that you mentioned intake manifold oil air fuel filters etc should be pretty straightforward despite the more limited access you are given, but the exhaust manifold could be tricky…the bolts are usually rusted up and may require special extractor tools like Turbosockets to remove.
I also wanted to mention that Bentley publishes some really good service manuals for VW (and other German cars too). They are a lot more comprehensive than the Chilton/Hayes books, and unlike the factory manuals, they don
johnzcarz is 100% correct on the Bentley manuals- they are well worth the money. Amazon.com is a good place to find them used, as they are pretty expensive new.
[quote]Quoted From johnzcarz:
I also wanted to mention that Bentley publishes some really good service manuals for VW (and other German cars too). They are a lot more comprehensive than the Chilton/Hayes books, and unlike the factory manuals, they don
Yup, Bentley is the best manual in my book for German vehicles.
I Have grown up with all kinds of Vw’s and Euro cars.
Air cooled bugs are my favorite Vw.
My Dad has a ’98 Audi A4 1.8t quattro (same thing as a vw passat) and that is one of my most favorite cars to work on, I actually find volvo’s to be one of the worst (my family has owned many many of them) the old 240 volvo’s are easy though.
Just make sure you know 100% what you are getting into before you start, like make sure you have all the correct tools and info you’ll need.
And take a bunch of pictures of everything as you go so you can review them later if you need to.Yep, that was my experience too. Not difficult, but just different. Just load yourself with the information and dig in. The major difference is when getting into the engine work, the bumper and radiator assembly swings out to front like a door. I don’t remember seeing torx bolts working on VW. BMW and Mercedes – yes. But not in VW.
I think I’m going to respectfully disagree with the difficulty in repair that many people have expressed concern over. Just so you know my perspective, half of the cars I’ve owned have been Audi, the other half were GM products. I currently have 2 Audi’s, and my wife drives a Malibu. It’s a strange combination, I know, but even my parents always had an Audi and a GM in the driveway. Weird.
There are always some bad apples, (Audi’s 2.7T, VW’s W8, etc.), but the basic workhorse high-volume vehicles that VW/Audi sell are actually quite easy to work on. 1.8T, 2.0, 2.0T, I-5, and VR6 (with the exception of the d*mn timing chains problem) are actually very simple engines. The difference is many procedures/ways of doing things do differ from your average American cruiser, and it’s just something you need to get used to – but I don’t feel it’s any more difficult. Like previously mentioned, Bentley manuals are awesome, and are leagues better than any Chilton’s or Haynes that you can buy, but bear in mind that Bentley manuals are not for a novice, and aren’t step by step. I’ve heard some people recommend having both a Chilton’s and a Bentley, and I guess I can’t argue that. Also, you’ll need a full set of metric tools, + metric allen sockets, +triple squares (sometimes – for cylinder head and axle R&R mostly. I don’t think you’ll need triple squares for the work you’ve described). Somebody mentioned torx, but I can’t recall ever seeing a torx head fastener on any of my German vehicles. Not saying there’s no chance you’ll need them, but I’ve just never seen them in my experience.
Looking at your list, if you have experience doing the same work on other vehicles, you won’t have any trouble with doing these service items on this vehicle, with the exception of the transmission. I’d probably leave that alone to be honest. If you pull the intake, plan on breaking some hard plastic vacuum lines and/or tee’s, it’s almost unavoidable. Your FLAPS should have suitable replacements that should be inexpensive.
Good luck and have fun!
vwvortex.com is you’re friend most definitly, they have a whole section of 12 valve vr6 and 24 valve vr6, which the 03 is a 24 valve, and if its a 6 or 5 speed the tranny oil is eay, just a big allen key to drain and a hose or on of those bottle pumps to fill it up pretty much like any manuel transmission. Oil is easy, the only thing that maybe hard is the oil filet is in a canister type device needed a very large socket or vise/ channel locks, but you can drain the oil from that canister so you dont get it all over you it’s about a half quart in there. Also you have the newer updated timing chain guides and rails, so unless you here a terrible rattilng slapping noise on the driver of the car i wouldnt worry too much. The older obd1 12 vr6 engines were the ones that had bad timing guides and tended to break. Intake easy, also might want to replace intake shift rod bushings simple job to do, by from gruven parts. Really i can’t tell you how much vwvortex forums will help you there are so many vr6 do it yourself guides (DIY) you will be able to find almost all of what you need there, but never hesitate to ask questions here of course. As far as tools metric is good standard will works though, and good sett of alen keys, and alen sockets will help you out, torx bits, and if you ever really start getting into the car triple square headed bits, best way to describe them is a 12 point but a bit instead of a socket or wrench. Good luck and be pacient.
This thread and some of the posts above reminded me of this funny article I read a while back:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/tips-article/1007794_mechanics-tale-vw-heal-thyself
I have a VW, and my car before was also a VW. They are simpler than most people think they are. True, there are a lot of issues with clearance and plastic parts, but if you take the time to look at what you are doing and do it right…that and you gotta make sure you have the proper tools for the job, you should be ok. All you have to do is know the procedure, do everything the right way you’re supposed to do it in the procedure, take your time, and again I cannot stress this enough, you have to have the right tools. In addition, you have to make sure you do the job safe. You can get hurt pretty bad if you don’t watch what you’re doing. Never wear any jewelry on your hands or wrist, especially if you’re gonna be working on alternators or starters. Always wear protective eye wear and gloves. Make sure the car is on the E brake (emergency brake) and make sure that the jack stands are positioned correctly. Point of all this is that it is easy to work on a VW once you have all the proper procedures, tools, and safety.
I guess it all depends on what you are use to. +1 on having the right
tools (VW loves 5mm allen)
I’ve mostly worked on Toyota’s, but on the rare occaison I’ve had
To work on a VW it was not a
pleasant experience.
I think this may be because I’m spoiled because Toyota’s are so easy
to work on. I’ve gotta give credit to these VW guys, it takes a specialperson to work on them, and you will have plenty of work. But for me I’m glad not to be married to my friend’s A4 Avant 2.8 Quattro anymore.
My first hand experience with VW’s is limited to the ’89 Quantum Quatro I had for about a year before getting rid of it (to be fair it was about 6 years old when I got it, so any car would have some issues.) I remember the cruise control servo arm always used to pop off its mini ball-joint and I used electrical tape to fix the leaking pneumatic lines that ran under the back seat for the power locks. I ended up selling it because it needed an exhaust resonator that cost $1400 to make its exhaust “legal”. Never did get the Quatro lock-up to work right either– the guy that bought it from me said he found a pneumatic leak and got it working though. This was all before I knew very much about fixing cars.
I will say that the thing handled like it was on rails though. It sure was fun to drive.
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