Volkswagen Problems and News Tagged #fire

The right half-shaft grease boots in 2012-14 diesel Passats are leaking grease.

And as luck would have it, those same cars have a heat shield that is too short to stop the leaks from hitting hot exhaust parts.

When that happens, you'll really be burning up the quarter mile.

But wait, there's more about the recall from CarComplaints.com:

"Engineers also determined diesel particulate filters overheated because they were being overloaded with soot caused by failures of the upper boost hoses. VW learned Passats made up to July 2012 had higher failure rates of the upper boost hoses and if the hoses fail, compressed air from the turbo chargers can escape before entering the combustion chambers."

This leads to more fuel being injected than needed, which results in soot and a higher likelihood of the engine overheating.

Jetta owners can expect a fix in July 2017.

Volkswagen is recalling 21,000 Touaregs because failing fuel filter flanges are causing fires.

Yikes, and I thought Touareg was hard to say.

"Investigators found that with time, oxidization can ... allow the components to intrude into the fuel filter flange material under pressure from the inside. In addition to the pressure, tension can cause the formation of small cracks where the fuel will eventually leak."

Owners will either be given new fuel filter flanges or protective covers.

Some VW Passat TDIs are being recalled, but it has nothing to do with emissions. At least not yet.

VW says faulty wire seals in an underbody sensor can be affected by water, causing corrosion of the connectors inside the sensor.

"The corrosion can cause overheating and an electrical short that can lead to an underbody fire."

Does anyone know if NOx emissions are flammable?

Volkswagen is recalling 825 Touareg Hybrid SUVs with batteries that can get wet and catch on fire.

VW determined water could enter without the rear hatch open because the sunroof drains and rear lid seals weren't assembled correctly. Engineers say the hybrid battery tray is located in the rear hatch area ... In the worst case, the electrical short could cause a fire.

Buying a hybrid and generating your own heat source? That's taking "going green" to a whole new level.

The recall was expected to begin at the end of February, 2016. If you haven't received your notice or have questions, contact VW at 800-893-5298.

Manufacturers can sometimes drag their feet when it comes to issuing recalls.

But whenever there's reports of fuel leaking out of cars they start to move like someone lit a fire under their butt. That's because, well ... there might actually be real fires soon.

Last week Volkswagen -- parent company of Audi -- recalled 26,000 cars for fuel injectors that leak. Just a couple days later they expanded that recall to include an additional 45,000 cars.

Owners had been complaining about the smell of gas inside the cabin. VW traced the issue to a bad soldering job where the sealing cap meets the fuel rail and blames the problem on their supplier. Looks like someone's getting grounded.

For more information about the problem and the range of manufacturing dates this affects, visit CarComplaints.com. VW owners with specific questions can contact customer service at 800-822-8987 and give them recall number 24BL. Audi owners can call 800-822-2834 and reference recall 24AP.

Turns out VW had a good reason for issuing a stop sale on some 2014 models last week -- they were catching on fire.

The manufacturer recognized a potential safety defect, stopped selling cars, found the problem and issued a recall, all within a month -- see how that's done, GM?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), O-ring seals in some VWs can leak between the oil cooler and the transmission. Once flammable transmission fluid hits a hot surface only bad things can happen.

The recall affects the 2014 Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, and Passat equipped with the 1.8T engine and an automatic transmission. Owners should see a notice in the mail soon at which point they can bring their cars in to have the O-ring seals replaced.