So i thought it was about time that i put together a thread to document my time with my trusty Passat B5.5 1.8T Estate. I've had the car now for approximately 15 months and put maybe 16k miles on it in that time. To date nothing major has gone wrong, bar the usual servicing requirements, and rear discs and pads its been good as gold.
I purchased it with 134k miles on it, and paid just over £1100 for it.... the thing that attracted me to it though was that it had virtually new michelin tires on it.... I thought if it looks as good as it did in the pictures then someone's obviously looked after it. Unfortunately it had no service history with it bar a little print off from VW HQ showing 3 services some time ago, and 2 gates cambelt stickers, one on the bulkhead and the other on the drivers door. A Quick check with VAGCOM brought nothing majorly scary back. The test drive went well even though it was a little short.
On the way home (30 miles) i then noticed the temp gauge was sat at 70 degrees..... bit of research pointed towards a fairly common thermostat being faulty.
I commuted at the time 35 miles a day, now 70 miles a day since December, usually returning approx 32mpg.
I made the decision a couple of months ago that i'd keep the trusty steed for at least the next 2 yrs, presuming nothing catastrophic goes wrong. With it now just ticking over 150k miles I decided some preventative measures were due to take place to make sure it lasts.
2 weeks ago i had the following fitted.....
• Gates Water Pump, Cam belt, pulleys + tensioners,
• Thermostat
• Pagid Front Discs, Pads + hoses, and a full flush through with Pagid brake fluid
• Full Service - Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter, Fuel Filter + Spark Plugs
• Sachs Viscous Fan Coupling (Nothing Wrong with the old one, but for £23 all in it was worth doing whilst the front end was off).
TBH the cambelt probably didn't need doing..... but due to the lack of history i wanted to have it done for peace of mind.
Now on the 70 mile a day commute its returning 37 to 39mpg which for a 1.8t isn't bad.
Next big plan is to replace all of the following, which have all already been purchased through work.
• Sachs Front + Rear Shocks
• Lemforder Front Wishbones (Complete Set
i'm glad i work for ZF!)• Lemforder Bump Stops and Gaiters Front + Rear
• Lemforder Engine + Gearbox Mounts
• Lemforder Rear Beam Front mounts
• Apex Lowering Springs (as i could get these cheaper than one standard spring)
• SKF Front Top Mounts
• Lemforder Rear Top Mounts
I managed to purchase a complete subframe, uprights, shocks, arms, brakes off another B5.5 for the measly sum of £60! an absolute bargain I thought, as this would now help reduce labour times when i come to fit all the above.
Idea is to tart the subframe up with a couple of coats of black paint on it before hand and the same with the uprights, fit the lower arms to the subframe before fitting, and get all the shocks built up, top mounts etc, and fit the top arms. Again, will make changing things over much easier, rather than struggling getting rusty bolts off with it all attached to the car.
I'm hoping that after this has all been done, it should last me then for the next couple of yrs.
Bodywork on the car is pretty tidy tbh, no rust, couple of deep stone chips around the front screen + the roof, arches are solid. Only bad point on the bodywork is a dent on the drivers side, then your usual light scratches and stuff around the boot.
Over the 15 months its been pretty solid, however over the past 3 weeks i've had the EPC light come on after a delayed cranking time. After turning the car off, lock and unlocking it and then re-starting after maybe 45 seconds the EPC light has gone and no restricted revs at 4.5k RPM. Any ideas what this may be? Possible Crank Position Sensor maybe?
Also had the common blocked drainage points on the front panel..... must have been easily an inch or so of poo blocking them.... When driving the car in very heavy down pours, when you braked the pedal would be solid, and with more pressure applied (no servo assistance almost) it would feel like the car was braking across the brake circuits as the back end would try to overtake the front. Not something you really wanted to experience lol.
Next purchases are going to be to replace the VAC lines and boost pipes / intake hoses as these too are looking a bit tired when i was under the car.
Anyways i don't really have too many pics of the cars, bar the ones from the advert and one i took the other week when i had the summer wheels plasti dipped. (CBA with a full refurb, so £45 all in has smartened it up a bit) Also got a set of winter wheels the same style with Kuhmo winters on them. Also you can see below the Steering display rig i made in one of my old roles.... this is used for technical training and trade shows that ZF now attend. I also made one for ECP's head office after the old MD, Sukpal Singh seen it he wanted one for the reception in the Wembley Branch
Pictures from the advert
Quick Wash
Different coloured wheels now on (apologies for the poo picture lol)
Little Display Piece from Work and hopefully how mine will look once I install all the new and revised parts
