DIY Upper Control Arms Part #1

Install new upper control arms purchased from ECS Tuning for $177. A pretty hard project, glad to be done with it. Car rides better and no more loud noises from my front suspension. This is part #1 of a 3 part series. I ended up taking out the half shaft and replacing the CV boot. It was torn and figured I might as well do it.

How To Fix Blinking ABS Brake Lights On Dash

DIY fix the blinking ABS/brake light on dashboard of VW Passat b5.

Transmission Service

Servicing the Tiptronic transmission on 1999 VW Passat B5 1.8 liter turbo. Fairly Easy project. I wish I would have done this sooner. The car has over 190k miles on it. 165k on this transmission fluid and filter. I bought the kit through BlauParts $104.95. Highly recommend them!

Half Shaft

Repairing torn boot on half shaft on 1999 VW Passat B5. Bought the kit at Napa for $17. Kit had incorrect size e-clip/snap ring. I had to re-use the old one. For ease and convenience I would prefer to use a kit that you can glue on with out removing the CV joint. A couple years ago I did the other half shaft with a glue kit and it took me approx 1 hr. It was a pain in the neck to do and I would not do this repair again.

Valve Cover Gaskets Replaced

Replace leaking Valve cover gaskets. Purchase at O'Reilly's for $28. They looked like they had been used before, but i decided to go ahead and install them. So far no leaks. Easy project, would recommend doing this if you are leaking oil at the valve covers.

Rear Disc Brakes for $73

I went down to Autozone and bought new brake pads and rotors for the rear of my vw passat. The total cost was only $83 and they had a $10 mail in rebate. So net cost $73. Not bad and I have allready put 500 miles on them and they are working like a charm. Here are some pics of my brake pad replacement. The only hard part was renting the tool(free) to turn the main part of the caliper so it would set back in. Most cars you use a C clamp to do this but with the VW you need a special tool.

Smell inside cab

Well I spent the past 2 days researching on-line what is causing my fumes in the cabin of the car. Some forums say exhaust leak and others point toward the emissions system. I hooked up my OBD computer and it says no problems. I think I will take it into the local german autoworks and see what they have to say. Will give an update after the service.