At about 75000 miles, I replaced my rear struts with Bilstein HD struts. Let me tell you, 90% of my handling woes were the rear struts being dead. I haven't replaced the fronts yet.
within the past six months, off the top of my head, i had the following done at tyrolsport : timing belt water pump thermostat oil cooler and housing all new coolant hoses.. thats right.. i did it just cause.. i have the reciepts. valve cover gasket cam tensioner gasket ngk pfr6q's see where this is going?
I've kept using GTX in my Passat and just recently had warranty work done (cam adjusters, valve cover gaskets etc.)...dealer honored the warranty and I got no feedback that my engine was "sludged up due to non syn oil"..so I'm stick with it!
Instead I rebuilt my original calipers with a rebuilt kit from AutoHausAZ, bought a set of Hawk HPS brake pads, ECS stainless steel vinyl-wrapped brake lines all around, and Brembo cross-drilled and slotted rotors times four. Finally I used ATE synthetic blue brake fluid and a power bleeder, which I highly recommend for our cars.
When it was time for my 80K service I used Bosch FR7HPP222 plugs gapped at .040. The current owner is now at 110K and the car is running great.
ok i just did an oil change today. i put in Elf Excellium 10W50 Full Synthetic. anyways, the difference is awesome. much more free reving and "wanting to go faster" feeling. before oil change it felt tired and revs were lazy and engine had a 'fuzzy' sound when accelerating. anyways, all is good now
I have the standard head lights. I think they are great. The way I look at it one less then to go wrong. Plus I saved $1600.00.
I just bought and am DIY installing a set of Ate PremiumOne discs and pads for the front on my wagon. They've got a coating similar to the original rotors - I'll report back once I get 'em on.
I have a 2001 Passat 1.8T, on which the oil and filter have been changed every 6 months or 3K mi, whichever came first. The dealer performed the first 4 oil changes, to the 2-year point, then I took over, always with a Bosch or Napa Gold (Wix) filter. Having received the engine sludge notice, I switched from name-brand dinosaur oil to Mobil 1 at my most recent oil change (last month, 23K miles). Although I receive no adverse temperature or indications at the instrument panel, the valve cover SEEMS perhaps to be running a bit hotter than before. What really concerns me is that, when the engine is warmed up, if I stop and idle it for 30 seconds or so, the engine starts making what to my semi-practiced (but new to VWs!) ear sounds perhaps like valve, lash adjuster, or camshaft bearing clatter. The sound emanates from the rear/cylinder 3-4 area, away from belt-driven accessories, etc. Does this sound like an early symptom of sludge, perhaps associated with insufficient oil pressure at idle? Given my history of frequent oil changes and otherwise by-the-book or better maintenance, I would not have expected to be a sludge victim at 23K miles. I suppose I could have just installed a defective brand-new Bosch filter, or I suppose the synthetic oil could have loosened some sludge from my dinosaur days, but these seem like real stretches for an explanation. Any suggestions regarding diagnostics?
Now as far as brakepads go, stay away from Mintex Redbox and go with PBR/Axxis Deluxe Plus or Metal Master pads. I had really bad experiences with Mintex pads, and I'm currently running Axxis Ultimate pads on my W8!
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