Vw passat where to start?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

i have a vw passat 1995 v6 5speed that just die on a red light with no warning,it has gas going in,the battery has charge,it cranck but won’t turn over, i hope its not the timing belt and i’m afraid the cost to fix it would be too much to keep the car

2

Check to see if spark is getting to the plugs when you crank the engine. If you have spark then check the compression to see if the timing belt has slipped or broken.

3

You can hope it is something else, but it certainly sounds like the timing belt. Passats have a reputation of breaking timing belts, even within the warranty period.

Take it to a shop that knows VWs, but preferably not the dealer. My neighbor’s wife had hers break on a 4 cyl Passat 10 years ago and it cost $3000 at the dealer!!.

4

This engine has a timing chain. No BELT!
VW didn’t start using timing belts in V6 Passats until 1998.
I doubt the chain is broken. It’s unheard of.

Like Cougar said, checking for spark is the next logical thing to do. Also, have the ECU scanned for error codes. It may give you some clue as to what the problem is.
Couldn’t hurt to check the fuel pressure too. Just because gas is going in, it doesn’t mean that is going in properly.

Taking it to a VW specialist is a good idea if you can’t track down the problem yourself.

Also, not sure why Docnick thinks VWs have a reputation of breaking timing belts. Never heard of sucha thing (and I’ve owned/repaired many of VWs over the years). Might be true, but I would suspect owner neglect over anything else.

5

Thanks for the notice on the timing chain MrBean. I wasn’t sure about that and wondered if it had a chain instead.

6

READ THAT AWESOME BOOK IN THE GLOVE BOX (the owners manual)

if its lost then order a new one, (they have info like that in there)

THEN THESE LITTLE TRICK QUESTIONS WOULD NEVER EVER NEED TO BE POSTED.