VW Passat 1.8T Remap or not?

Lokken86

Lokken86

Lokken86

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Hi guys.
Friend of mine has a 2003 passat 1.8T, 150ps. He has spent £1600 on repairs so far. He really wants to have the car remapped for the extra performance but he's concerned because the car has 130k mikes.
The question is will a stage 1 remap effect the lifespan of the engine? He doesn't want to spend any more money on this car shall anything go wrong since its pretty old anyway.
Thanks.
 
The simple answer is yes a remap can result in a shorter life or quick failure of certain components, particularity ones which are old in the first place.
 
How old is the clutch? That'd be my first concern at that mileage. If its original then an extra 40bhp and 40lbft will probably fairly rapidly bring it to the end of its useful life. I know my old 1.8T was a dual mass flywheel (not sure if the variant in that age passat is) which can make this expensive though there are options to revert to a single mass.

Also expect things like recirc valves to go pop sooner or later until upgraded.
 
Kenai said:
How old is the clutch? That'd be my first concern at that mileage. If its original then an extra 40bhp and 40lbft will probably fairly rapidly bring it to the end of its useful life. I know my old 1.8T was a dual mass flywheel (not sure if the variant in that age passat is) which can make this expensive though there are options to revert to a single mass.

Also expect things like recirc valves to go pop sooner or later until upgraded.
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The duel mass flywheel, the clutch and the prv valves have all been just been replaced for new parts but they are original parts. Am I correct in supposing this bodes well for it not to pop after just a few months?
 
Depends what oil the car has been run on, how often it was changed and if the owners have treated the turbo correctly (i.e. let the oil warm up etc).

Like everything its a gamble and if he is unwilling to spend any more money fixing it then the risk is not worth taking.
 
Lokken86 said:
The duel mass flywheel, the clutch and the prv valves have all been just been replaced for new parts but they are original parts. Am I correct in supposing this bodes well for it not to pop after just a few months?
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I did 50k in my A3 2.0 TDI after replacing the clutch and flywheel for OEM parts. So he might be ok with that.

Lokken86 said:
Do you reckon the car could get another 70k having the above parts replaced on the original turbo if driven reasonably?
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I would be questioning the reasoning of getting a remap in the first place if he

1. Doesn't want to spend any extra on it because it's old

And

2. Will just drive it reasonably to possibly prevent future failures.

Tell him to just leave it as is if he doesn't want to spend any money on it. A remap can be nice on these. And I would definitely consider one if I were him. But I would be willing to spend money on bits that might need replacing. Thankfully the clutch and flywheel have just been done, as they are the big cost items. Turbos and stuff aren't terrifically expensive nowadays for these, certainly second hand. And I don't think they are overly difficult to change (although I wouldn't myself).

Basically, if he doesn't want to spend more money on it, then he shouldn't map it. If it's not quick enough, then he should sell it and get something quicker in the first place.
 
xs2man said:
I did 50k in my A3 2.0 TDI after replacing the clutch and flywheel for OEM parts. So he might be ok with that.



I would be questioning the reasoning of getting a remap in the first place if he

1. Doesn't want to spend any extra on it because it's old

And

2. Will just drive it reasonably to possibly prevent future failures.

Tell him to just leave it as is if he doesn't want to spend any money on it. A remap can be nice on these. And I would definitely consider one if I were him. But I would be willing to spend money on bits that might need replacing. Thankfully the clutch and flywheel have just been done, as they are the big cost items. Turbos and stuff aren't terrifically expensive nowadays for these, certainly second hand. And I don't think they are overly difficult to change (although I wouldn't myself).

Basically, if he doesn't want to spend more money on it, then he shouldn't map it. If it's not quick enough, then he should sell it and get something quicker in the first place.
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Good answer thanks.
I don't think he actually means just driving Granny style just to use the extra oomf when needed and for a laugh now and then. In other words it won't be getting ragged on every journey.

Good info though I shall let him know to be prepared to at least need the turbo replaced. I'm sure that would be OK if it's not overly expensive so long as the new clutch won't go with it.
 
Might as well go for it.

Turbo deisel got about a million and a half things that can wrong at all times anyway.

Might as well live life in the danger zone (ask Kenny Loggins) and push it in to overdrive.

Then when it breaks, (not if) decide if it was worth it or not.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Might as well go for it.

Turbo deisel got about a million and a half things that can wrong at all times anyway.

Might as well live life in the danger zone (ask Kenny Loggins) and push it in to overdrive.

Then when it breaks, (not if) decide if it was worth it or not.
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Nice. Except it aint a TDI, its a 1.8T.
 
Go for it. Fix things as they break.

Just remember to let the car warm up properly before booting it and don't constantly be ragging it around. The extra power will be nice and I doubt it'll be used all the time, it'll be safer for overtaking. Plenty of recon turbo's if it does go, or use it as an excuse to put a bigger unit on it :D

Pretty sure the 1.8T's were good for 240bhp
 
That big a of a remap on it's own would be risky I'd say. It will be generating a lot more heat.

A turbo going is a big deal as it can take the engine with it.
 
AHarvey said:
Go for it. Fix things as they break.

Just remember to let the car warm up properly before booting it and don't constantly be ragging it around. The extra power will be nice and I doubt it'll be used all the time, it'll be safer for overtaking. Plenty of recon turbo's if it does go, or use it as an excuse to put a bigger unit on it :D

Pretty sure the 1.8T's were good for 240bhp
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Kenai said:
The 150 will hit either 190 or 210 depending on the engine revision. A 180 or 225 version would go higher but that wasn't in the Passat I don't think.
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Yeah, depends on what turbo was in there. K03 / k03s or k04. I don't think the K04 made it into the Passat though. The K03s might have done, but more likely in later models, but you never know.

The k03 would struggle to make 200 bhp though, and the k03s needed extensive supporting mods to hit 240 bhp. Typical post generic map results would be closer to 190 for the k03 and around 210 for a k03s engine. As Kenai stated.

I had to do extensive engine mods to get to 240 BHP on my k03s AGU in my Golf. I realise the Passat is a different engine, but I'd expect the parts in that engine would all have similar limiting factors.
 
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