NHTSA Complaint #10485111 — 2004 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

POWER TRAIN ISSUE: BAD TORQUE CONVERTER (TC). WHY A SAFETY ISSUE? IT CAN FAIL WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY SENDING DEBRIS INTO THE TRANSMISSION CAUSING A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. CAUSED BY A BAD SEAL GASKET. TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 2011908 ADDRESS THE ISSUE IN 2007. BUT THE TDIS WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE TB [SAME TC & TRANSMISSION], AND THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM IN MANY VW, AUDI AND BMW VEHICLES, INCLUDING TDIS. E.G. VW & AUDI: HTTP://KANSASCITYTDI.COM/AUDIPASSAT-P0741-17125-CODE/ BMW: HTTP://FORUMS.BIMMERFORUMS.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=1601642 WITH A P0741 ERROR: DTC RESULTS: 17125 P0741 003 TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH CIRC. PERFORMANCE OR STUCK OFF INTERMITTENT IF YOU DO A WEB SEARCH FOR: P0741 ERROR CODE TRANSMISSION TORQUE CONVERTER THE RESULTS ARE STARTLING, IT SEEMS THAT VW, AUDI AND BMW ALL HAVE THE SAME ISSUE WITH TCS, "MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE INTERNAL TC SEALS WERE NOT UP TO THE TASK ON THE ORIGINAL TCS OF THAT ERA. ...INCLUDING AUDI". HTTP://FORUMS.TDICLUB.COM/SHOWPOST.PHP?P=3036384&POSTCOUNT=5 "IF THE PROBLEM IS NOT ADDRESSED THEN THE TRANSMISSION WILL OVER HEAT DUE TO THE SLIPPAGE AND YOU WILL NEED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION." HTTP://FORUMS.TDICLUB.COM/SHOWPOST.PHP?P=3038540&POSTCOUNT=11 IT SEEMS THAT THIS SHOULD OF BEEN FIXED UNDER WARRANTY, THERE WAS A RECALL FOR NON-DIESEL VEHICLES SERVICE BULLETIN: 2011908. THE TC IS THE SAME IN ALL B5 MODELS. HTTP://WWW.IMPORTDRIVETRAIN.COM/AUTOTRANSCROSSREF.HTML#VOLKSWAGEN SO WHY WAS THE TDI S NOT COVERED? ------------------------------------ BODY: DOORS: WON'T UNLOCK FROM OUTSIDE BY REMOTE OR UNLOCK BUTTON FROM INSIDE. *TR