Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly!

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Mon 26 Feb 2007 13:51
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - craig-pd130

Just a quick heads-up to any other Passat B5.5 (MY2000 to MY2005) owners -- be ready for a bigger bill than expected if it fails the MOT on the front upper suspension arm ball joints.

My 2003 car (51,000 miles) has failed on ONE ball joint but the entire upper arm assembly on that side has had to be removed to drill out the pinchbolt, which is corroded in place. This has turned a 2-hour job into an all-dayer, luckily NOT at main VAG dealer hourly rates.

The garage tells me they are seeing a LOT of 4 / 5 year old Passats with this problem, and it's a right pig of a job. I've also seen a couple of posts both here and on UKPassats about this, it seems to be an Achilles heel on these cars

So if you're looking to buy one, ask if it's already had the ball joints done!

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Mon 26 Feb 2007 14:06
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}
I've got a MY2002 Passat Estate. 93,000 miles.
No trouble so far. Touches wood quickly. Thanks for the warning.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Mon 26 Feb 2007 14:38
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Aprilia
But the fastners on the front suspension of the Passat (and equivalent Audis) have always corroded in place and been a pig to shift. Its very well known. Best to do both sides at once to minimise 'down time'.
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Mon 26 Feb 2007 14:39
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - 659FBE
I have a clone of the B5.5 Passat and I'm aware of this problem. Although my vehicle is only 2.5 years old (still under warranty) I took these pinch bolts out, together with those for the track rod ends, greased them well with anti-seize and put them back.

This must be the all time lousy suspension detail. The pinch bolts are unplated steel in a malleable iron knuckle housing and are in line with the front tyre. Consequently, they get pelted with muck and water which makes them rust in, especially as there is another entry for water via the pinch slots. As the pinch bolts are quite long (one bolt pinches 2 balljoints on each side) a bolt well rusted over its length is a real pain.

The irony is that on a newish car, you can get these bolts out in 5 minutes without even jacking the car up or removing a wheel - it's that easy. This will be part of my annual maintenance shedule together with a few other things (eg plenum chamber drains) which I have found on the Internet. I'm just very pleased to have all of this information available from others before it's too late - forums like this are a real boon.

659.
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Tue 6 Mar 2007 09:26
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - craig-pd130
Just a quick update on this -- because of the corrosion and need to drill out rusted bolts etc, the total price for the job for the driver's side front was £350 (parts & labour, inc VAT) at a local, trusted garage.

I would estimate £500+++ at main dealer labour rates, just for one side.

The garage ower said he's seen a lot of Passats, A6s etc with this problem.
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Tue 6 Mar 2007 10:08
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Alec
Worth trying this method.
VAG have a special puller to remove the pinch bolt.

www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233225
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Tue 6 Mar 2007 10:24
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Collos25
There seems to be plenty of bits on EBay at reasonable prices.
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Tue 6 Mar 2007 10:33
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Hamsafar
My VW uses a special VW tool set for Pasat suspension that cost £400 or something rediculous (as they do a lot it's worth it to them). While it is apart, I would have the whole lot done once and for all, all joints and arms.
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Tue 6 Mar 2007 15:53
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - 659FBE
I've seen the special tool and it's just not strong enough to deal with a bolt well rusted in throughout its length. I've not tried this - but here's another way:

With a Dremel cutting wheel slice the bolt in two via the slot nearer the bolt head. Turn out the short "head" portion of the bolt. Now tighten the 16AF nyloc nut progressively so that the shank of the bolt is drawn through the knuckle. The thread is fairly long, but you will have to add washers/spacers in order to pull the shank out. Obviously releasing oil, heat and profanities have to be applied strongly and frequently.

I'll stick to my method of taking the pinch bolts out annually.

659.
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 09:27
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - George Porge
I would estimate £500+++ at main dealer labour rates, just for
one side.



Who says that the dealer who sees this on a weekly, if not daily basis would charge this much? The fact that this is such a regular occurance means that the correct tools are at hand and previous knowledge of removal speeds up the process.

Perhaps someone who's had these joints replaced at the main dealers will post up the price paid.


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Wed 7 Mar 2007 10:00
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Aprilia
Having done this job a couple of times now I am doubtful that the VW tool (which is a kind of puller) will make a massive difference. It will certainly be an expensive job at a deal. IME some heat is what you need to break the rust bond on these.
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 10:50
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - George Porge
If you'd done the job a 100 times would you now be doing it in less time the first one took you? Much less would be my guess and a main dealer would give the job to the tech that had the most experience of this job and does the job the quickest would'nt they?

Hopefully someone will post up the price chaged by a main dealer and we'll see if they charged £500
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 10:59
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - craig-pd130
Before going to my trusted garage I did actually get a main VW dealer quote -- which is why I went to the trusted garage.

The upper front arm & balljoint replacement was £125 labour plus £55 parts plus VAT

The upper rear arm & balljoint replacement was £265 labour plus £55 parts plus VAT

I make that £580 for both arms

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Tue 9 Jun 2015 18:32
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - sicko-zero
Hmmm I wonder what the price is now for this job?
I have this car, it took me 5 mins to heat up both rusted in bolts with oxy acetylene and about 10 mins to change the burnt out upper arm (£50) parts
If I was doing these jobs since 2007 till now I'd be a millionaire, even if I charged £200 per side.
This is an over rated job, and over complicated by people who have no access to oxy acetylene ;)
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 11:03
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - RichardW
Makes me glad a drive one of the rubbish Citroen things where they actually bother to use plated bolts.....

Even the bolts came out of the rear subframe relatively easily on my Wife's 12 year old ZX that's lived in salty Scotland all its life.
--
RichardW

Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 11:53
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Aprilia
Indeed. I don't know what VAG were thinking of when they came up with that front suspension design.
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 12:08
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - 659FBE
The idea behind this convoluted design is to eliminate torque steer by ensuring that the steering knuckle swivels in a plane normal to the articulation force produced by the CV joint at all times. This was an important brief for VAG as they knew at the time this chassis was designed that their diesel engines would be capable of considerable low speed torque.

The execution is pretty gruesome as is generally agreed, but I have to say, it works. On my B5.5 the traction control cuts in well before any torque steer is discernable and even with it switched off, there is hardly any - although the front wheels are doing dreadful things, particularly on one sided loose surfaces.

A totally bum design not repeated on the later models, but I have my own way of dealing with it....

659.
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 13:38
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - George Porge
Thats horrendous Craig ;O(
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Wed 7 Mar 2007 16:06
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - craig-pd130
@659 -- I believe that I can sometimes feel the TCS "shaping" the torque when I want to accelerate, so I always switch it out when I start the car ..... but you're right, torque steer is minimal even under dire provocation.

Unlike my old Volvo T4 which was exciting, if unpredictable, under power ;-)
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Tue 9 Jun 2015 18:37
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - sicko-zero
What? A 2 hour job? Your on drugs!
You don't drill out the bolt, hit it up with some oxy acetylene pop the pinch bolt out, replace the upper arm, job done in 20 mins.
I wish I'd of known you in 2007 I'd of took your money & others all day long.
An over complicated job, made even more complicated by incompetent fools ROFLMFAO
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Tue 9 Jun 2015 21:54
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Steveieb

My mechanic has loads of experience of this job as he worked on Passat taxis. But the bolt sheared off in the housing even after heating up. So he had to take it to an engineering centre to get the bolt drilled out in a jig .

He charged me £160 which seems a bargain compared with the other quotes and all new arms from GSF.

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Wed 10 Jun 2015 21:48
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - sicko-zero
VW actually have a tool for the removal of the pinch bolt, that you can buy or use if you know someone ?? just google it, it pops the bolt out in 5 mins???? and costs less than buying all the arms ect that get destroyed by cutting or heating up the bolts on both sides???? also there is a tool that does the job for sale on eBay for about £15
I am a taxi driver still driving a Passat on a 2003 plate with 500,000 miles on the clock, currently I have a bet on with another driver whoever gets to 750,000 the first wins £1000.
Sadly I'm loosing?? think I need more airport runs??????
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Thu 11 Jun 2015 09:41
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - old-school-tech
currently I have a bet on with another driver whoever gets to 750,000 the first wins £1000. Sadly I'm loosing?? think I need more airport runs??????

You taxi drivers are charging way too much if you can afford to bet like that !! lol

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Thu 11 Jun 2015 21:07
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - kiss (keep it simple)

I had this job done on my A4 a few years ago. My indie soaked the joint in whatever he uses to free seized units but eventually gave up and ordered the whole assembly. I returned a week later to have the job done and the ball joint popped open without any hassle! Smiles all round.

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Thu 11 Jun 2015 21:27
Passat B5.5 front balljoints - costly! - Steveieb

I'd be interested to hear about other replacements that have been necessary on the Passats that have covered the monumental mielages detailed above in their role as taxis.

E.G replacement clutches, cam belt period replacements, oil changes etc.

Spoke to a taxi driver who uses B5 Passats and he reckons the pre 2004 models are the best . Is this because they have the Bosch PD systems.

Also is there a similar model year dividing line affecting the Golfs fitted with the 1.9 TDI engine i.e did they also switch to the unreliable Siemens injectors?

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