[Prash]

Hey, I am extremely sorry to barge into someone else’s thread but there was something important I wanted to share it with Passat owners.

I had gone through Passat forums on Team-bhp and found that 2-3 Passat owners had to replace the ‘reverse camera module’. The problem was common between all, the module had got rusted. As the part is very expensive I tried to have my module saved before it stopped working. After searching on the internet I found that module is been placed in the right side of the boot behind the storage compartment.

I opened the carpet all by myself and there I found this piece of electronic gadget. As you can see in the pics mine had also started catching rust and the culprit was the rubber part covering the boot lid hydraulic.

I removed the module from the car, opened it completely and scraped off the rust part from the metal box. Thankfully the circuit board was in decent condition but the pins where the plug is attached had (and still has) some fungus over it.

After cleaning this module I sealed the rubber part with silicon. This silicon is a material which acts as a barrier between the rubber and the water that tries to seep in. When this silicon dries it feels like a rubber. A good point is that it can be easily removed without damaging the rubber seal or the car paint/metal.

This sealant had stopped water from entering the boot. In fact there was a leakage on the right rubber seal and water was falling on the car battery which is placed on the left side of the boot.

One more step that I took to safeguard the reverse camera module is that I changed the position/placement of the expensive electronic gadget. Previously it was bang below the strut and rubber seal. Now I have placed it on the side wall of the same place. Also have placed good number of silica packets which will hopefully help absorb the moisture if at all water enters that side of the boot. Hopefully this reverse camera module works good number of years after all the juggad that I did.

Please find the pics attached to better understand the steps taken.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Prash

Hey, I am extremely sorry to barge into someone else’s thread but there was something important I wanted to share it with Passat owners.

Many thanks for sharing, Prash! Moving your post to a new thread so that no Passat owners miss it.

[vw_passat]

Hello Members,

I have a 2012 VW passat highline with me and reverse camera stopped functioning recently. I took it to the authorised service center and he checked the reverse camera module and stated that water got into it somehow. I could not really how did water get in there. He quoted 40K. I do not want to spend that amount. Can you please suggest me if there is any way to get this part repaired or a cheaper alternative please. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by vw_passat

Hello Members,

I have a 2012 VW passat highline with me and reverse camera stopped functioning recently. I took it to the authorised service center and he checked the reverse camera module and stated that water got into it somehow. I could not really how did water get in there. He quoted 40K. I do not want to spend that amount. Can you please suggest me if there is any way to get this part repaired or a cheaper alternative please. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

I had faced this same issue with my car. Moisture seems to seem in over a period of time (possibly from around the boot hinge seals) and eventually damage the camera module.

No other solution but to replace the camera module. The VW service center has quoted a similar price to what I had paid here in Kolkata, when I had the repair carried out. Try sourcing a used unit if possible, to reduce the overall cost of the repair. But be warned, a used unit will come with no guarantee. Unfortunately, since the B7 Passat didn't sell in very high numbers, finding a working used unit may be hard.

[Prash]

Originally Posted by vw_passat

Hello Members,

I have a 2012 VW passat highline with me and reverse camera stopped functioning recently. I took it to the authorised service center and he checked the reverse camera module and stated that water got into it somehow. I could not really how did water get in there. He quoted 40K. I do not want to spend that amount. Can you please suggest me if there is any way to get this part repaired or a cheaper alternative please. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

The way the boot hinges are, and also the place where the reverse camera module is placed it has great chance of being damaged. I would suggest you to take this entire module (which is slightly bigger than a computer hard drive) to some professional who repairs laptops/mother boards, etc. A complete wash by some solvent might help if the problem is rust.

Also there is an option to get this module from some other country, maybe from some European country. Though I am not sure this will help in saving some money or not.

[kaholster]

Greetings to every one. last year i had replaced rear view camera module of my father's passat but somehow i didn't bother about shifting the location of module. Two days back when we started the car in the morning there was no light in climate control module and a blue screen in place of rear view camera display .I took off the dash compartment fuse box cover and found out fuse 15 blown( common for climate control and rear view camera etc). I replaced it with an extra fuse 15 amp but it blew out instantly. Today i opened up a rear compartment and found lots of water in the tray where this module is placed. But this time the module was not burnt, on the contrary wiring had melted and was grounding. Then I took out the pins from socket and wrapped them with electrical tape. I didn't have heat shrink tubes handy but i'll surely put them on as soon as i get them. After being guided by this post i finally replaced the location of module. I also placed circular cut foam to stop water from ingressing inside and also cleared tubes which were choked with sludge.

Please note if anyone intends to take out pins from socket for re taping/repair do remember the number of pin as there are no. of empty sockets.i myself got confused twice.


Thank you Team-bhp.

[Prash]

Originally Posted by kaholster

last year i had replaced rear view camera module of my father's passat but somehow i didn't bother about shifting the location of module.

You have placed the camera unit very neatly. I shall do the same this year.

Can you please let me know how has the foam performed? Has it been good enough to let water not go in the boot area?

After 2 years and 1 month I have again removed the reverse camera module. Wanted to check if things were ok as when I had removed in June 2018 it was rusting from few places.

But to my surprise things are actually ok. No rusting problem, circuit board looks clean.

So basically the place where VW has positioned this reverse module is wrong. It stays right below the boot struts. As the rubber grows old it lets water seep in and this water accumulates right where the module is placed, resulting in reverse module being submerged in water. The reverse module is an expensive part and we Passat owners should be careful about this part.

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[kaholster]

Hello every one , I have few updates on the same vehicle Passat B7 2.0 TDI. "Water ingress in ECU" In December 19, few months before lockdown in 2020 started our car started showing malfunction lights off and on. when ever I restarted it, for a day or two it would resume to normal functioning. Finally on one day while coming back from court instrument cluster lit up just like Diwali celebrations. Apparently the first suspicion which arose was regarding 3 year old battery so I immediately went to nearby market (Khan Market Delhi ) and bought a new battery. The car started perfectly and we left the place happily but to my utter shock with in 5 km of running the entire juice of new battery just vanished. So the next thing which I suspected was some sort of short circuit which was draining the battery at such a pace.

I tried to physically inspect the wiring from all corners and also tried to smell if any wire was melting or not. Soon I realised that something major has occured which needed deeper inspection. I then called a towing truck and towed the vehicle to friend's garage.

Attachment 2144208

Next day I returned from office a bit early and started to probe into electrical systems. All fuses relays and wiring seemed to be in perfect condition. When I check the alternator current at battery terminal, I noticed it was missing the beat.

Having thought to have found the problem was quiet happy, my friend called up few alternator guys at Mayapuri and Jama Masjid (Scrap/salvage parts market Delhi)but the exact same part Bosch Alternator 180 A was not readily available however one of the friend's at Mayapuri sent us the pic of a voltage regulator (scratch less condition) Valeo brand used in Audi Alternators. The placement of the connector was on different angle but the fitment was exactly the same. So I brought the piece from his place for Rs 1500 and fitted the same immediately and happily came back home.( for voltage reg. replacement u don't need to remove entire alternator) This new regulator had two pins in its connector while the original one had only one pin "LIN" for sending/receiving signal.

Next day early morning I scanned the vehicle and found that although the voltage was revived at 13.8 V however No signal from generator was displayed on VCDS. I again opened up the voltage regulator doubting the other pin to be function i cut out a spare connector and connected the other pin to other wire but again to no avail.

Very next day the instrument cluster again lit up entirely and all sorts of errors came up regarding miscommunication of modules. The only difference this time was that the battery was fully charged and the voltage supply from alternator was around 14 V constant.

Attachment 2144207

I searched for similar things online and found a common problem of water ingress into ECU's of this vehicle. The ECU in this vehicle has been placed in a really crappy place, in the tray near windshield wiper motor. When I inspected the area I found leaves stuck in drainage outlet and entire ECU had water marks on it. So before removing the ECU or opening it up I immediately plugged in the VCDS and copied the coding and software No. 03L906018QE and its upgrade no.

Then I removed the ECU and opened it up, just to find lots of water in it and also few disconnected pin joints. I took the ECU to a ECU repair guy , he charges 5 K to copy the dump from original ECU to newer one and to turn off the immobilizer. But unfortunately the ECU was fried up beyond repair.
Disheartened a bit very next day I ordered an ECU from "ebay.co.uk" having same part no. but I didn't match the Hardware no. and software no. (i'll mention its ill effects at a later stage.)

Parts which I procured for this vehicle from ebay.
Attachment 2144182

During lockdown due to banned international traffic. several seller denied posting goods to India. Only major brands like DHL, Fed Ex and UPS were functional all the time. So postage cost was a bit on higher side.

As the ECU arrived I was thinking to copy and paste coding of ECU with VCDS being little aware that there tools are useless without an online account especially in cases of SVM( Software version management) coding. After a little research I found out that the same can be done though either ODIS Service & Engineering with GEKO online connection, Launch/ Autel or similar such tools with online connections.

I traced few guys having ODIS but all of them were pretty costly. The first guy who came took 10K for coding the ECU and the car started immediately immobilizer files perfectly downloaded from VAG server. Another option of starting the vehicle was to turn of the immobilizer. However the same it not advisable at all. Moreover "Immo Active" would have been displayed on the cluster. After coding of ECU the ABS lights were still on and the guy was asking another 10k for separate module. I bargained a bit and he agreed for additional 6K. But to our hard luck even after two attempts the ABS did not get coded.

Despite replacing a new ECU ( salvage car part) several fault codes cropped up in Engine Module in VCDS. All of these codes were related to DPF(diesel particulate filter ) and EGR codes but with the mercy of god at least the vehicle came back on its feet and I brought it home from friends workshop( where it had been lying aroung for around a month or so) after a quick visit to the temple.

Next day I ordered an ABS module from some seller in Europe and continued my search regarding the fault codes of DPF and EGR. Soon I found out that the software installed in the ECU with same part no. were for euro 5 Vehicles and the ones installed in Indian cars were for euro 4 vehicles. Some 4-5 sensors were missing on Indian cars which were present internationally. If you remember the diesel scam by VW where in no penalty was levied on them in India with the grace of Judges . Thereafter I consulted several ECM guys who were of the opinion that foreign ECU's shouldn't be placed in Indian vehicles as stock and that one should write Indian ECU dump files on them from similar vehicle and then get it coded.

Few years back I had read some where that guys abroad used to remove the DPF and EGR after doing modifications in ECU files so that no error codes cropped up later on. So I started searching about tools with which it can be done and also which softwares ought to be procured for this purpose. Finally i ordered KESS V-2 and KTAG Master Version (clone from China ) along with 22BDM adapters, probe wire set/stand and VAS 5054 A (AAA quality clone ) [Dongle to be used with ODIS along with software]. At that time Aliexpress app. messaging was functional however the payments were not being accepted through app. I did it through other modes and with the grace of god seller was very helpful even during custom clearance.

This shipment was held by Delhi Airport Customs as it arrived on 23rd Jan and due to republic day approaching near the check must have been on a stricter side.
Note : If any one reading this article wishes to import some goods for personal use from CHINA which they are generally sending through free ports of Dubai or other ports. Please ask your sellers to fill customs invoice in format as available on DHL 's website clearly mentioning senders and buyers address along with cost of product plus shipment as IDV.


By the time my ABS arrived I had found out another coding guy charging 6.5K per module. New part blended in very well and was in a much better condition than mine.(sound of the motor).

Soon after the parcel from China arrived I tried to install ECU softwares on my windows 10 laptop but failed to do so entirely. KTag and Kess were working fine on win 10 platform but for WINOLS, DPF EGR remover and MTX DTC remover and ECM titanium windows 7 were required. So without thinking much i went to Nehru place mkt and bought a used Asus I5 7th gen touch laptop for 20 K but unfortunately that too with win 10 preinstalled. That night when tried to reboot the old laptop with windows 7 I found out that required drivers for win 7 were never made by the company as the lappy was win 10 compatible. so the trackpad and several other features were not working. I also tried to install these software through Virtual machine boxes but most of them did not work. But I loved the new lappy so I kept this one also.
Attachment 2144226
Attachment 2144227Attachment 2144228

Next day I again bought a win 7 originally installed refurbished HP laptop i5 4th gen scratch less condition for 17K.
Note: any one who wishes to used pirated/clone softwares these windows 7 machines are a must and try to avoid buying i3 in that range.
Attachment 2144221 .

Now comes the fun part where u start seeing the cosmic play and observe as to how beautifully all the pieces of our lives are joint together.
I plugged in the devices Ktag with my ECU which I opened up carefully.
Attachment 2144230
Attachment 2144231
Attachment 2144232

In first attempt I was able to read the ECU perfectly fine and then I used other softwares to turn of DPF and EGR files on the Micro file read from ECU.






First problem occured when the after completing 80 % of writing the device showed "writing error". I messaged the seller about this issue who informed that few ECU's require more powerful adapter/power supply while writing. The one which comes with clones is 1 amp while min 2 amp 12 v is required. I confirmed the same through a website called "MHH-auto" of which I later on became a member for technical help and software purposes.

Note : extremely important thing which i read was that the power supply to KTAG should not dip/cut off during writing process other wise it could screw up the ECU. As a solution to these two thing i bought a mini router UPS of 2.5 amps along with a charger/adapter of 12 v 2 amps. this solution is better that buying a big ups or using a mini 12 v battery. I have tested the device for 4 hours continuously and the current does not drop. just make sure ups is fully charged. All internet routers now a days use same amperage so any thing which works with routers will work with KTAG or KESS V2 on bench.

After installation of this setup everything went on as smooth as silk. I read and wrote the device several times just for fun . testing most of the softwares I had got free along with the device. Every thing went on smooth for few days in the vehicle but as they say nothing except god is perfect, the heater coil light started flashing. after a bit of research online I found out that some times even after deletion of DPF and EGR the ECU runs periodic check on the sensors. So the heater coil light starts flashing.

After this i ordered another ECU with exact same part no. same hardware no and same software no. but this trick also failed as the file inside this one is also for Euro 5 specs although EGR problem was not present in this one but the DPF issues were existing. I used ADS DPF remover for this new ECU but with this software i had to correct the checksum of the dump file with Winols software subsequently. But when I installed the ECU new warning came up in the instrument cluster "Press clutch" abb DSG auto mein clutch kahan se laun. this was a technical glitch of removing DPF switch from original file dump.

Note: Don't used ADS DPF remover for Bosch EDC17c46 ECU other softwares work fine with this one.
Best part of these events is that I learnt online coding using ODIS S 6.2.0.

At this point of time it suddenly struck me that I had taken a snapshot of original coding and software version through VCDS. Subsequently it struck my mind as to why can't I flash ECU with the original software file with ODIS Eng which does not require online connection for flashing. For that I need the flash file. However the concerned flash file was available for 7 euros on some website, searching a little bit further I found out free link to download 66 GB of Flash files for VAG group incl. VW Skoda, Audi, lambo, bentley etc. I downloaded files for first three only and found the concerned file with updated version.

Since I had purchased ODIS Service version and had to purchase ODIS ENG version for that matter. So I decided to become a member of some forum which provides free softwares to its members i.e. MHH Auto.

So next week probably ill proceed with this idea further and soon thereafter I am planning to upgrade my Jaguar's ECU to stage 1 but ill have to keep a spare ECU ready first for that as God is sometimes ultra happy with me .

In the meanwhile I also replaced one rear right ABS sensor and bearing with magnetic ring on it and one transmission cooler thermostat also. I also repaired the sunroof shade cloth with out removing the sunroof ( on the shade portion )












Although for some it may be quiet useless but as far as I am concerned I can't thank the almighty enough to have taught me use of several new things ,allowing me to connect to many people both in and out of country and last but not the least for placing me in such situation where I can help someone someday stuck in similar scenario.
At least I paved a way of things not to be done in such scenario.

Thanking you all for maintaining this wonderful forum

[vsaravind007]

Excellent work kaholster! I've been through a similar ordeal, I bought a non runner VAG secretly, the car was declared "parts car" with multiple electric issues, but excellent body & immaculate interior. I'm currently keeping it at my FNG and slowly working on it as my FNG doesn't want to work on software side of things! MHH Auto, Nefmoto & Digital Kaos are my go-to resources for these sort of things. The car is still undercover as my missus will kill me if she finds out that I bought another car!

Right now I'm stuck at coding the ABS, no matter what I do, the module won't accept the code, tried replacing the module 2 times and still no luck!