Hello,
A few weeks ago the emissions light came on in my 2001 Volkswagon Passat. The light was on for a couple days, then went off. About a week later, the light came on again. Like before, it was on a couple days and then went off. I took it to the dealer and they gave me a grocery list of at least $6,000 worth of repairs, which I said no thank you. They told me I am losing my cat converter, among other things. They also told me my timing belt is going. I then took it to another shop and talked to them about what the dealership told me, they told me to change the timing belt and company at 105,000 miles and that they couldn't tell if the cat converter is bad since the code is off. Since the emissions light is only on sometimes (not flashing), could it be that I need to replace the cat converter or is it more likely to be something like a plug? If anyone has any insight to this I would appreciate it, I am waiting for the light to come back on to take the car in. Thanks for the help!
RepairPal Certified shops can diagnose and repair your 2001 Volkswagen Passat. They provide transparent pricing with a minimum 12-month or 12,000-mile warranty on repairs and services.
Find a VW specialist. Your timing belt and associated parts are a regular maintenance item and should not be ignored. If you're at the mileage, the only thing a responsible technician would recommend is to service the t-belt. The results of a timing belt failure are valve and piston damage at the least.
A good technician could read data with a scanner while driving the car to see of the catalytic converter is working properly, as well as checking other systems at the same time.
The computer turns on the light when it detects malfunction in the engine control system. and should have data and trouble codes in memory which would be useful in diagnosing what's actually wrong with the car.
Here's a directory link for you:
http://repairpal.com/volkswagen-repair-in-san-diego-california
Your intermittent engine light will need to be diagnosed. I am not sure why the other shop could not diagnose the concerns. There is specific VW diagnostic software that will test the Catalytic converter efficiency and/or any other contributing failure that the computer may be detecting.
As for the timing belt we strongly recommend replacement along with all the underlying components at 90,000. Timing belt failure will lead to valves bending which becomes a major repair.
Your intermittent engine light will need to be diagnosed. I am not sure why the other shop could not diagnose the concerns. There is specific VW diagnostic software that will test the Catalytic converter efficiency and/or any other contributing failure that the computer may be detecting.
As for the timing belt we strongly recommend replacement along with all the underlying components at 90,000. Timing belt failure will lead to valves bending which becomes a major repair.
