Problems with 2003 Volkswagen Passat FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

Early fuel pump failure. 22,000 miles (volkswagen). the vehicle suddenly stopped blocking the roadway. the engine could not be restarted due to failure of the fuel pump. the fuel tank was full. the dealer commented that it has been common for 2003 passat to have fuel pump failure. *ak updated 12/01/05. *jb

Fuel pump failed while traveling on merritt parkway in wilton, ct. the pump failed without warning. while traveling on the parkway, the engine sputtered and died, and i managed to have enough forward momentum to pull over to the side. no warnings at all. the fuel tank was about 1/4 full. the engine could not be restarted. i diagnosed and replaced the part by the next day. i disassembled the old pump and discovered that the brushes in the motor had worn excessively- the vehicle has only 58200 miles. i an keeping the old part in my custody. the new fuel pump part no. is 8e0906087d. researching this issue on internet discussion forums on vw enthusiast web sites reveals that the failures appear on a higher-than-normal rate on '03 model year vw passats. discussions here: http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188629 http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1982739&postid=22264430#22264430 as you can imagine, having the fuel pump fail at highway speeds can have catastrophic results. *jb

Car stopped running while traveling on a busy highway doing 65 mph. car just started slowing down, luckily i was in the right hand lane and able to pull over onto the shoulder. dangerous problem. towed to vw dealership and fuel pump was replaced. car had 53000 miles on it. *jb

Fuel pump failed at 44385 miles. *jb

Problem with 2003 passat glx fuel pumps. there are an enormous amount of fuel pumps that fail on the passat model. vw has had a recall for the fuel pump, but only on the golf, new bettle and jetta, not the passats. vw has an admitted problem, but is not willing to cover all models affected. *nm

Without warning, my 2003 passat stalled in the middle of a very busy intersection and would not start again. thankfully the police were quick to arrive and helped direct traffic so that i could be pushed off the road. the car was towed and the vw dealer diagnosed the problem as a prematurely failed fuel pump. they replaced the fuel pump free of charge, but they are denying that there is a problem or defect across the board. i have read many reports of other vw passat owners having similar problems. this could be a dangerous failure depending on when the pump stops working (there are no warning signs), and i think vw should address this. *jb

While driving consumer 2003 passat battery light came on and vehicle died. *ts the dealer did a pressure test and determined that the fuel pump had failed. *nm

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. while driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle would no longer accelerate. the vehicle had to be towed to a mechanic and it was discovered that the fuel pump failed. the fuel pump was replaced. approximately one year later, the contact received a recall notice for nhtsa campaign id number 06v017000 (fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump); however, the manufacturer stated that her vin was not included in the recall. the current mileage was 120,000 and failure mileage was 61,980.

Have owned car about 10 months. bought with warranty intact from a dealer. was driving, going along at 50 mph when car began dramatically slowing down. i had no control over engine speed, and was forced to shift down to avoid stalling. car eventually died and when i tried to restart it, it would attempt to turn over but would then quit suddenly again after just a few seconds. i ended up being towed, and didn't have car for week plus. turned out to be an fuel pump. under warranty, this was free, but had we been just a few thousand miles more we would have had to pay 500 dollars for this repair. i believe it is totally unacceptable for a fuel pump to go at 48,000 miles, and i can see that on this web site alone this is clearly an issue! this same thing happened immediately after we bought the car too but that time it restarted after a few minutes. i feel very, very fortunate that i was not in traffic at either time!*jb

Car stopped running while traveling on a busy highway doing 70 mph. towed to vw dealership and fuel pump was replaced. car had 59000 miles on it. *jb

While my husband was driving his 2003 vw passat the engine without warning stalled. he was able to restart it, but 3 miles down the road it died again. he was traveling during rush hour on a busy freeway. we suspect it is a faulty fuel pump. we have read of several others having this problem and i believe this is a huge safety issue as more cars of this year gain more mileage. the car has about 58,000 miles on it. *jb

I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden my 2003 volkswagen passat engine turned off. the fuel pump had stopped functioning, so the engine was no longer receiving fuel. my car is only 2 years and 3 months old with 60,000 miles. i have talked to numerous other 2003 passat owners who have experienced a similar fuel pump failure. this is a $700 service job. from talking to other 2003 passat owners, this seems like it is a frequent problem that vw should offer to fix. this problem is very dangerous since the car just stops working while you are driving, there is no warning it is going to happen or nothing you can do to prevent it. *jb

I purchase a new 2003 volkswagen passat from burlington volkswagen 2 years ago and have taken it back to the dealership at least 7 times since then for a myriad of problems, from airbag lights coming on to check enginge light to the latest of the car shutting off in the middle of the road.

No warning before fuel pump failure at 37,000 miles. my wife was stranded and had to get a tow. the part was replaced under warranty and the towing cost is supposed to be reimbursed by vw. i have no complaint against the dealer but a fuel pump failure at 37,000 miles is unacceptable. *jb

vw passat mainly 2003 experience fuel pump failure without any warning . the car becomes unmanageable, shuts down and stops. this could be potentially dangerous in the higher density traffic resulting in property damages and injuries.

Dt: 2003 volkswagen passat. the contact stated the vehicle stalled at highway speeds. there was no warning lights that came on before this occurred. the vehicle was pulled over, and it started up immediately. the vehicle was taken to the dealership, and they had it for 77 days. the vehicle was returned to the contact twice. the dealership replaced a coil pack, spark plugs, and four brake light bulbs. the dealership told the contact the vehicle was ready, he picked it up and drove 3 miles and the vehicle stalled. he immediately took the vehicle back to the dealership. they contacted technical support, who told the dealership to check for the electrical grounds. the dealership then took the vehicle on a test drive and it stalled again. the factory service engineers said to put every electrical wire on the car through an ohm test. all of the wires checked out, and no out of tolerance ratings were found. they told the dealership to check the ignition key adaptation, and the security system for proper function. no problems were found. they found nothing definitive at that point. the technician told the dealership to replace the engine wire harness that was replaced august 8, 2005. the vehicle was then picked up on august 10, 2005. the contact went on vacation, and 175 miles later the vehicle stalled again on the interstate. the vehicle was taken back to the dealership; they found 20 fault codes in the engine computer. they replaced the vacuum pump on august 25, 2005. they road tested it and it stalled. the contact was trying to get volkswagen to take the vehicle back. the vehicle is still at the dealership, and they are still working on it. the dealership is now going to replace cylinder heads. *ak it was finally determined that the fuel pump relay was the problem and the reason why the dealer could not determine the problem the first seven times was because they were relying on the computer to display codes. updated 01/11/06.*jb

I own a 2003 passat 4-motion. i purchased it from the dealer in july of 2005 when it had 42,000 miles on it. almost immediately i noticed two things about the car: first, it sometimes hesitates when trying to accelerate and then when it does finally take off, it "leaps" forward. second, when shifting down sometimes, it does not do so normally but will actually jerk the car badly and make a "clunky" sound, like the transmission is failing. this seems to happen when you don't come to a complete stop and then try and accelerate again, like stop and go traffic. i have had the car back to the dealer many times and have been told that this is just a "characteristic" of the car and that there is nothing they can do about it. overall i am very disappointed in the car. *tr

Have had nothing but problems with this lemon. * 500 miles cruise control fails, has to be replaced. * 16,000 miles ignition coil fails, replaced coil and mass air flow sensor. * 28,000 miles fan in dash diagnosed as faulty and needing to be replaced. parts ordered, never installed. * 40,000 miles oil pump and oil hoses are replaced due to oil pressure failures. car broke down on road. * 44,159 miles oil pressure switch replaced due to oil pressure failures. * 46,000 miles fuel pump failure, replaced under warranty. car broke down on road. volkswagen has a problem with these cars and "oil sludge". vw refuses to fix my car under warranty. last word was "we reserve the right to refuse any warrany claim, regardless of documentation of oil changes." i've talked to several dealerships and it's a #1 problem with these cars comming in for ruined engines and oil sludge. vw is refusing to pay for fixing the problems in most cases. i've got all documentation, original paperwork when purchased, etc. *jb

Passat station wagon engine stopped and failed to restart.***no answer required***. *mr the problem was diagnosed as a failed fuel pump. *jb *sc

Concerns regarding engine failure on the passat station wagon.***no answer required*** *mr the vehicle was in motion when the engine stopped and did not restart. the problem was due to fuel pump failure. the consumer would like to be informed of the number of these failures that have occurred while under warranty. *sc *jb

While cruising on a california highway at 65 mph, the vehicle just died; no lights come on, no drivaility problem or noise before the incident. the vehicle could not be restarted. the fuel tank was about half-full. the dealer work order indicated that the fuel pump was replaced.*ak

2003 volkswagen gls passat with several problems. consumer states that they have had problems with the fuel pump, cam shaft sensor and more. *kb the vehicle stalled on 2 occasions due to a faulty fuel pump. the consumer soon discovered there was a recall on the fuel pump, however the consumers vehicle identification number was not included in the recall. the front cv boot and timing belt were replaced. the vehicle also had a transmission leak. the drivers heated seat malfunctioned. *jb

1. complained to dealership more than once that vehicle stalled, ran rough. dealer could not find problem, unresolved. 2. engine stopped, died, quit running while vehicle in motion. the only reason i was able to safely pull to the side of the road is the vehicle has a manual transmission, i disengaged the drivetrain, and was able to pull off the road without power. 3. vehicle towed to dealership, determined fuel pump failed. replaced fuel pump, do not have old part. *jb

I was driving the car on the highway at approximately 50 mph when the engine just died without any warning, the engine just stopped being responsive to the gas pump. i was lucky to be able to cruise the car over to the side of the road without an accident and/or injury considering i had cars in front of me, behind me, and on the side of me, all moving at speeds 50-60 mph. in over 27 years of driving i have never had such a serious problem occurring without any type of warning lights coming on, or funny sounds by the engine. the car has 47,000 miles on it and has been serviced regularly. *ak

Fuel pump failed with no warning and acceleration capability was instantly lost. this occurred in the middle lane of an extremely busy freeway with large trucks on either side. through sheer luck, i was able to steer the vehicle to the shoulder with no power without being hit by the fast-moving traffic. this could easily have resulted in serious injury or death. *nm

2003 vw passat, built 11/2002, fuel pump failed 12/2004, at 52695k miles. now there is a fuel pump recall for 2003 vw passat built between 09/01/2002-03/31/2003 with a range of vin numbers, that mine appears to fall in, and i am being told my car shows no pending recalls associated with my vin. *nm

Relative to nhtsa recall 06v017000, my 2003 volkswagen 1.8t passat, which i purchased as a certified used vehicle with 25k miles, experienced what later was determined to be a fuel-pump failure at approximately 29k miles. this incident occurred in october 2004, while i was traveling at highway speed on a rural interstate following a weekend trip to a neighboring state. i had been using the cruise control to travel at the 65 mph speed limit, and had accelerated to pass a semi-tractor-trailer. having passed the truck, the cruise control did not kick back in as usual when i took my foot off the accelerator but, rather, the car lost power suddenly and completely. i was able to navigate to the side shoulder without property damage or injury, where i arranged for towing to the nearest town with a vw dealer (the tow-truck driver sent to retrieve me nearly was side-swiped/killed by a passing semi while loading my vehicle onto his flatbed, however). it being a sunday, my trip was disrupted and i was forced to stay overnight in the dealer locale until the problem could be addressed the following day. because a new fuel pump was not in stock and could not be delivered for another 2 days, i returned home in a rental car and arranged to have my car transported to my local dealership once the repair was completed, which turned out to be some 9 days later. expenses of the disruption were reimbursed completely by vw of america. i became aware of the subsequent recall only recently via an internet website on vw passat mechanical problems. i have not been contacted by vw about the recall, but i presume that it was because my defective fuel pump had been replaced before the recall action was initiated. *jb

I have 2003 volkswagen passat glx v6. with 35310 miles on the dash & driving on a local road in nj going 4o miles a hour my car just loss power & cut off. i was able to turn my wheel hard & pulled off on the side of the road safely. my fuel pump failed & was replaced under warranty. however, if i was on the highway, i am not sure what would have happened. this is a serious defect & would hate this happen to others. *nm

While driving at low speeds, the vehicle stalled. the dealership informed the consumer that the problem pertained to the engine cylinder. *ak the vehicle stalled at the stop sign 3-4 times. the ignition coil was replaced but the vehicle stalled the next day. the vehicle was towed and the ec module/fuel pump relay was replaced. *sc *jb

2003 volkswagen passat w6 2.8l car will not start or fails to run properly due to ignition misfire or excessive fuel flooding engine. volkswagen will not repair. car has been seviced with the best synthetic lubricants and has had extremely good care. the dealership told us the reason the car would not run was because the oil needed changing due to it being loaded with gasoline. the oil had been checked 3 days prior to the incidents and was at satisfactory levels and clean. the car had 6700 miles on the synthetic oil change and was not due for a 3rd oil change. the car has 11813 miles on it. the recommended oil change interval by the dealer was 10000 miles on the synthetic oil. if the car is failing to run and has allows severe gasoline contamination of the oil there are major problems. there seems to be many complaints regarding the reliability of these cars available through other web sites. the engine failing to maintain operation or misfiring while on the highway or if it fails to operate in an unsafe environment proves this vehicle to be a failure in engineering, and reliability.*ak

Defective coils on each cylinder

2003 passat glx with 2,500 miles had a problem where the car would shut down for no reason while you are driving it. took to dealer once, no error code, took car home and had problem happena again. dealer keept car for one week, put 200 miles on it to find bad relay. dealer said relay was then replaced from one off a new car.