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Tue May 11, 2004 10:04 am

I know this question doesnt belong here but I have to ask it! Since I have been working on my own aircooled bugs for 30+ years now my wife asked me to change the plugs in her 01 Passat. Quite frequently it runs rough and when we bring it into the dealer they almost always say it had a fouled plug, they change the plug and it is fine again! Well, it started this rough running thing yesterday and my wife asked me if I could change the spark plugs to save the $50.00 per hour charge that it will cost her at the VW dealership. I opened the hood and looked for the plugs and couldnt find them! Does anyone know where they put the plugs in this Passat? Does it have spark plugs? Is this normal for this car to keep fouling plugs over the past 3 years/ 50k miles?

Fri May 14, 2004 2:43 pm

There is obviously something wrong other than the plugs to make them keep fouling out. Sounds like you need some good diagnostic work done to find out why the plugs keep fouling. I've worked for VW for 3 years now and I can assure you we aren't throwing plugs at Passats everyday. No offense, but if you can't find the spark plugs, and are actually quesitoning if the car even HAS them, maybe you aren't the best person to be working on this vehicle. Of course there are plugs, how else would it run? It's obviously not deisel, so are we talking about a V6 or a 1.8T? On both engines, the spark plugs are underneath the plastic covers. There are coils over each cylinder, you need to remove the covers and the coils, and then the plugs are right there. The 1.8T is pretty straightforward, buyt the V-6 can be a real PITA to someone not used to working on it. The right hand rearward 2 plugs can really suck. You can keep throwing plugs at it if you want, but that's just a band aid repair. You need to find the root cause of the problem, right now all you know is the result, fouled plugs. If all you're paying for labor at your garage is $50 an hour, you should be kissing their feet, minimum labor rate around the area here in Syracuse is $65 an hour and up depending on the dealer.

Sun May 30, 2004 5:12 am

are the coils giving you problems and not the plugs? vw had/has a recall for the coils. check with the dealer to see if yours has been done yet!

Tue Jun 01, 2004 4:29 am

That's true there is a recall for the coils on the 1.8T, however if one of the coils had gone bad, replacing the spark plug would not give that cylinder spark at all, it would still be misfiring like hell. If you've ever seen or driven a 1.8T with a bad coil, you would know the problem right away, absolutely no power, check engine light going crazy..I think there is an underlying problem if the car keeps fouling plugs.

Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:14 am

Alright , 50k miles = yes time for new plugs.
Fouled plugs in a MKIV 2.0 is usually caused by bad O2 sensor or MAF being dirty.
If there were no codes for either one of these being thrown , and the dealer would have seen these codes as code check is the 1st thing they do, then i would rule those out.
Go to www.vwvortex.com and do a search on sprk plugs.
Awsome site for H2O VW.
I replace my spark plugs , but they are a pain in the ass , but well worth it.
Oh yeah , dont by the bosch platinum 4 .
i replaced my stock plugs @ 73k with these and have lost alittle torque.
Replace them with the NGK that the manu suggests.