vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD?

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Thu 9 Dec 2010 14:21
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - bk.bas

HAve just bought this car. It is a 5.5 PAssat 1.9 TDI 130, with AWX engine code. I am trying to fathom out oils etc and there seems to be some confusion as to whether this is a PD engine or not, which affects oil used. It has done 70K miles and is on the variable/long service regime. Don't want to cock that up by using wrong oil

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Thu 9 Dec 2010 14:42
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - 659FBE

The AWX engine is indeed a PD diesel - one of the best they ever produced.

Unless your operating conditions are very favourable (mostly motorway) you should seriously consider changing to fixed servicing. You can do this yourself by following the instructions in the owner's manual for resetting the service indicator.

The minimum oil specification is VAG 505.01 for fixed servicing or 507.00 (fully synthetic) for variable. Do not ever use any other oils in this engine - the specification numbers are important and generic terms such as 5W-30 are irrelevant. The make of the oil is also irrelevant as long as the specifications are fully met.

This engine is worth looking after - in my view you can't buy anything as useful as this now as Euroregs have killed it. Use oil to 507.00 and change annually or at least every 7k miles.

659.

Edited by 659FBE on 09/12/2010 at 14:43

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Thu 9 Dec 2010 14:54
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - bk.bas
thanks, previous owner has had it on variable and done mostly motorway miles, Seems to have been serviced around 18K each time, and service books says that long life oil has always been used. As i will probably service this myself not sure whether to stick with the extended regime and use the expensive 507 oil or change to the annual service and use the 505.01, which seems to be about 2/3 the price. Will do more investigation. Apart from the ever present threat of the DMF failure, is there anything else I should watch for? Last car was a 1.8 20V Passat that I have had for 10 years with minimal cost, so hoping this will be same!
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Thu 9 Dec 2010 16:41
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - quizman
Did you read 659FBE's post?
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Thu 9 Dec 2010 17:13
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - 659FBE
As far as other things - I could write a book...

The B5.5 is potentially a very durable vehicle (heavily built and galvanised) and the availability of pattern spares and diagnostic software + loads of Internet know-how make this an excellent long term prospect. You also have the very best engine fitted to this car, bar none.

But - there are several problems which can make this car horribly expensive to own. I'll just mention the two worst:

Water ingress through blocked plenum drains and a very poorly specified (by VAG) pollen filter housing outer seal can cause criminally expensive damage to the electronics (which are on the floor) and to the trim.

Rusted in front suspension upper ball joint pinch bolts (and to a lesser extent the track rod end pinch bolts) make an inevitable front suspension job very labour intensive. Get them out and grease thoroughly if they haven't already rusted solid. Don't put it off.

Do a Google search for the water ingress problem "Wierd Little Biscuit" might be useful. You can fix it for good in a couple of hours and for the cost of a strip of mastic sealer.

659.
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Fri 10 Dec 2010 10:53
vw passat - PAssat 05 130 TDI AWX is it PD? - craig-pd130

From bitter experience, a failed upper ball joint / corroded pinch bolt costs around £500 per side to fix, because the entire suspension upper arm assembly has to be removed from the car. Also the upper arms often don't survive the heat & force necessary to split the corroded bolt.

If the suspension doesn't clonk when going over bumps while cornering, the ball joint is probably fine, but as 659 says, it's worth trying to get access to the bolt to remove it and copperslip it.

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