needed: auto mechanic good with german auto engines

[theperfectcyn]

this is not a joke.

my 2001 jetta 1.8T engine just "blew up".

i need help.

[AnnMarie]

Contact Chris at Bridgetown Auto, he is super honest and a GREAT mechanic.

He is right off of 17th just north of Tacoma.

[theperfectcyn]

i am near sellwood, actually.

THANKS

[KatSauce]

this just happened to us with a 2000 jetta. went to vw dealership, cost 4000. we owed less than 2000. no bueno

[theperfectcyn]

Originally posted by Katsiss
this just happened to us with a 2000 jetta. went to vw dealership, cost 4000. we owed less than 2000. no bueno

so what did you do? are you still in the middle of it? i am probably going to take it up with VW - i've heard like 5 stories like this today alone. please pm me how i can reach you.

[KatSauce]

Originally posted by theperfectcyn
so what did you do? are you still in the middle of it? i am probably going to take it up with VW - i've heard like 5 stories like this today alone. please pm me how i can reach you.

well we had them fix it. it sucked. it took a week and ate up all of our tax return money.

[theperfectcyn]

i'm just saying, it's not right that this many cars in under 6 years old would have the same problem, especially the engine blowing up. its just really fishy for well or averagely maintained cars to have the engine blow up with less than 70K miles or so... i think there's a bad batch of cars out there. and because of that, after hearing these stories i want to compile names & get a lawyer so i can get VW to pay for mine, hopefully everyones!

[KatSauce]

our car has over 140,000 miles on it.

[theperfectcyn]

okay maybe not in this case.

[KatSauce]

lol, if it makes you feel any better we get recalls about something or another just about every month. ;)

[hamsturbation]

isnt the 1.8t a high compression + turbo motor...?

[sappho]

OMG, cyn that sucks.

[theperfectcyn]

yes it is and yes it does suck :( my baby had a heart attack.

[Charlie Deep]

Hay Cynthia, you should invest in an azn car.

[theperfectcyn]

charee we will see. right now i'm in the balance, 50/50 chance that VWAmerica will be picking up the tab. if they do, i'm keeping this baby. if they don't, i'll probably have a refurbed/used motor put in it and put it up for sale.

[starseed]

dont you people do research on your cars? jesus christ. when making a $20k+ purchase, look into it.

the 1.8t engine is great, provided you actually change the oil every 3k miles, and preferably use at least synthetic blend oil. they have slight coking problems in the head if you slack on the maintainance.

[Charlie Deep]

And so the resident mechanic of Nwtekno gallantly rode into this thread high atop his pony and resoundingly proclaimed his edict.

[theperfectcyn]

hi starseed. yeah, never once was it inferred that i would need to change the oil more often than every 5K miles, not by the sales staff, or the dealer service center. i did learn that independent garages and dealers switched to synthetic oil for these engines about 2 years ago. which i believed to be what i received when i had my services. thanks for the info though.

edited to ask:
"coking" problems - what does that mean? is that sludge?

[hamsturbation]

the oil overheats and solidifies..
thats also why you want to get a turbo timer on cars with turbo engines...if you just shut off the engine, the turbo can keep spinning without oil flowing though it to cool it down, so it over heats and cokes up..and byebye turbo

[electrokid]

i am seriously beginning to wonder about this particular year. i have a 2001 1.8 turbo as well with 61k. just had to blow another 650$ on engine parts. its adding up to thousands of dollars now. the car is going up for sale immediately before anything else goes wrong with it. i'm buying a subaru damn it.

[starseed]

Originally posted by theperfectcyn
hi starseed. yeah, never once was it inferred that i would need to change the oil more often than every 5K miles, not by the sales staff, or the dealer service center. i did learn that independent garages and dealers switched to synthetic oil for these engines about 2 years ago. which i believed to be what i received when i had my services. thanks for the info though.

edited to ask:
"coking" problems - what does that mean? is that sludge?

yeah...most new car manuals tell you that changing it every 5k, or in some cases, 7k is fine.

however you should absolutely never go more than 3k on a turbo engine. period. driving in seattle, or portland, especially downtown, is considered "severe conditions." this effectively reduces oil life to 3k miles, i'd go as long as 4.5k on a naturally aspirated car. (but not my own haha. 3k for me, 4.5 if i'm using full synthetic on a NA car)

the only exception to this is some of the new mobil 1synthetics. there is one that claims to be a 10,000 mile oil, and in a new non-turbo car it might be that good. there are comparable blends being used in germany, and have been for a while; many germans use it and do oil changes once a year.

hamsturbation: sorry, that's incorrect. the part about the oil coking os basically right, but the turbo doesn't just keep spinning. a turbo timer allows you to get out of the car the instant you pull up by continuing to run the engine for a user-set amount of time. at idle the turbo doesn't spool, which means it doesnt create new heat. this gives it a chance to cool down and keeps oil from coking in the turbo. (this causes premature bearing wear, because the coked oil can be abrasive)

however modern turbos have water cooling in addition to the oil lubrication. this reduces the operating temps by a huge margin, and when coupled with synthetic oil almost completely eliminates the need for a turbo timer, as synthetic oil doesn't coke up, it burns and turns to a fine ash which is harmlessly collected by the oil filter.

when i had a turbo car i would just let it idle for 20-30 seconds after i parked my car. this is way more than enough for a water-cooled turbo, but hey, i'm anal about maintance.

Originally posted by electrokid
i am seriously beginning to wonder about this particular year. i have a 2001 1.8 turbo as well with 61k. just had to blow another 650$ on engine parts. its adding up to thousands of dollars now. the car is going up for sale immediately before anything else goes wrong with it. i'm buying a subaru damn it.

tell me about your driving habits and maintainance regimen ;)

[theperfectcyn]

Originally posted by electrokid
i am seriously beginning to wonder about this particular year. i have a 2001 1.8 turbo as well with 61k. just had to blow another 650$ on engine parts. its adding up to thousands of dollars now. the car is going up for sale immediately before anything else goes wrong with it. i'm buying a subaru damn it.

...and there's ANOTHER story for my arsenal when VW calls me back about my car today. jed i'm sorry!!
starseed - if someone had explained to me what you have explained above i NEVER, repeat NEVER, EVER would have purchased a turbo engine. not a single person on sales staff when i bought the car, or service staff at the same dealer (herzog meier) when i had regular maintenance done according the manual done, said any of the things you mentioned above. now that i know, i will never reccommend a turbo engine if it ever comes up in conversation. and yeah those forresters & civics are looking good again...

[electrokid]

Originally posted by starseed



tell me about your driving habits and maintainance regimen ;)

i change the oil from 3-5000 miles. i shift around 3000 rpms. i don't race and never usually drive it over 80mph. i've done nothing to deserve the thousands of dollars this piece of shit car cost me. at this point, if i added in all the repairs to the cost of the car i could have afforded the subaru wrx impreza wagon i was drooling over in the first place :(

[theperfectcyn]

for the record i shift btw 2K & 3K rpms. i drive about 8 miles round trip a day to & from work, and the occasional in-town trip elsewhere about once a week. only time i even approach 80mph is on the highway obviously but i can't remember the last time i took a highway trip. so yeah, we're talking about another 2001 1.8T with 58Kmiles... kaboom. they said i had balls of oil in the head.

[starseed]

Originally posted by theperfectcyn
starseed - if someone had explained to me what you have explained above i NEVER, repeat NEVER, EVER would have purchased a turbo engine. not a single person on sales staff when i bought the car, or service staff at the same dealer (herzog meier) when i had regular maintenance done according the manual done, said any of the things you mentioned above. now that i know, i will never reccommend a turbo engine if it ever comes up in conversation. and yeah those forresters & civics are looking good again...

turbo engines are fine. they do cost a little more to maintain, however.

too bad most salespeople dont know shit like this, so they can't tell you about it.

when you shift doesnt really have anything to do with anything.

but seriously, i used valvoline synthetic blend on my turbo volvo, i changed the oil every 3 thousand miles, i drove it kinda hard, but not THAT hard, and when i pulled up to park i let it run for an extra 30 seconds. if you do these things it will make your engine much, much happier.

no booms, no globs of oil :p

[hamsturbation]

Originally posted by starseed
hamsturbation: sorry, that's incorrect. the part about the oil coking os basically right, but the turbo doesn't just keep spinning. a turbo timer allows you to get out of the car the instant you pull up by continuing to run the engine for a user-set amount of time. at idle the turbo doesn't spool, which means it doesnt create new heat. this gives it a chance to cool down and keeps oil from coking in the turbo. (this causes premature bearing wear, because the coked oil can be abrasive)

im fully correct. If you think a turbo isnt spinning just because its not producing pressure higher than manifold pressure, your seriously mistaken. As long as there is exaust gasses flowing though the exaust manifold, that turbo is spinning. The other thing is that when you turn a turbo car off, the turbo will keep spinning due to the bearings that support the shaft being so effecient...it will depend on how hard you were driving, but its still spinning. The other problem is the turbo, manifold ect are all heat soaked, and when the car is turned off, the water and oil cooling systems dont work..so they are still hot

[hamsturbation]

Originally posted by theperfectcyn
for the record i shift btw 2K & 3K rpms. i drive about 8 miles round trip a day to & from work, and the occasional in-town trip elsewhere about once a week. only time i even approach 80mph is on the highway obviously but i can't remember the last time i took a highway trip. so yeah, we're talking about another 2001 1.8T with 58Kmiles... kaboom. they said i had balls of oil in the head.
thats more reason to change your oil more often..stop and go driving and short trips are some of the hardest things on engine oil.

[corbettfields]

turbo blades are one of the few things in the real world that have relativistic properties :D

[theperfectcyn]

so here's a petition that a co-worker just emailed me, something a friend of his has signed due to experiencing the same issues we are discussing:


"To: Volkswagen of America
To: Volkswagen Motor Corporation

We, the undersigned petitioners, including former and current Volkswagen owners, do hereby give notice to Volkswagen Motor Corporation, that we are dissatisfied with the current customer service initiatives for owner complaints of engine oil sludge pertaining to the 1.8T engines found in Passat and Jetta models. This includes the "Extended Warranty Initiative" sent to all 1.8T engine owners. This initiative does not restore the original warranty rights of the affected consumers who continue to be blamed for the problem by this company. In addition, these initiatives do nothing to help those who had to trade in their vehicles due to an inability to pay for exorbitant repairs within the warranty period.

There are numerous complaints on sites like www.myvwlemon.com, www.vwsucks.com, etc. where owners are denied warranty work, some for the first time ever in their lives, because they cannot find 100% of their original oil change receipts. Others have all documentation and are still denied. The stories that are added daily to these sites indicate a SERIOUS situation that must be addressed as soon as possible.

Pointing the finger at the owners is unconscionable given that untold numbers of owners properly maintained their vehicles according to your recommended maintenance schedule. We, the "Volkswagen Owners Unite for Resolution" consumer group are not willing to accept blame for this very serious engine problem any longer! We would like a formal retraction of blame immediately. A public statement by Volkswagen Motor Corporation is appropriate. We would also like a recall of the affected engines. If these engines cannot be fixed permanently, we would like this company to repurchase the affected vehicles once the problem is formally acknowledged. The owners must be compensated for the loss of resale value of their vehicles due to this condition. In addition, all incidental and collateral expenses must be covered. Nothing less would be fair to the affected owners!

Engine oil sludge development is unacceptable, especially in these late model vehicles. These engines are not the same after repair. Some owners with engine replacement have experienced a recurrent sludge condition. Lack of owner maintenance is not the cause of either the slow or sudden demise of these engines. Volkswagen owner engine analyses reveal adverse changes in the engine's oil condition even with less than 3,000 miles on the engine's oil. We, the owners, believe there is a mechanical problem which is contributing to premature wear of these engines.

Owners are very concerned about the safety of these vehicles. Some engines are seizing at highway speeds. Engine failure is unpredictable. Some owners have lost all traces of engine oil suddenly. Owners have lost faith in their vehicles based on these occurrences.

We, the undersigned are shocked and appalled by the actions of Volkswagen Motor Corporation. We expected more from our Volkswagen vehicles given the daily advertisements describing these vehicles as high in quality and reliability. We want what we paid for...a safe, reliable vehicle that holds its value over time. We don't think this is asking too much! We want Volkswagen to do the right thing!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

[starseed]

Originally posted by hamsturbation
im fully correct. If you think a turbo isnt spinning just because its not producing pressure higher than manifold pressure, your seriously mistaken. As long as there is exaust gasses flowing though the exaust manifold, that turbo is spinning. The other thing is that when you turn a turbo car off, the turbo will keep spinning due to the bearings that support the shaft being so effecient...it will depend on how hard you were driving, but its still spinning. The other problem is the turbo, manifold ect are all heat soaked, and when the car is turned off, the water and oil cooling systems dont work..so they are still hot

not when the car's off, jackass. unless you're dropping massive amounts of money on ceramic ball bearing turbos, they use a thrust bearing, which is just a brass sleeve with some holes for oil. dont believe me? take a turbo that'd not in a car, and spin it with your fingers. that's how long it keeps spinning for. (for those of you without spare turbos lying around, it will spin for a few seconds at best.) hell even the ceramic bearing turbos will only spin for 10-12 seconds with no exhaust gasses flowing thru the turbine.

also: there's no such thing as "oil cooling." that oil is for lubrication, the cooling is a side benefeit at best. and really it's not even that since it heats up your oil so much more than usual you have to have an oil cooler to really even keep temps under control.

and yes, if it's a water cooled turbo the cooling system still helps cool the turbo down, water likes to try and equalize heat, and guess what, water from the turbo runs thru lines directly to the radiator and coolant reservoir.

i'm right. you're wrong. and i can do this aaaaaaaaaalllllll day.

[dj cid 6.7]

I have always loved (and still do) the old air cooled VWs. So a few years ago I bought a used 1999 Jetta. It had a 2.0 engine and I really loved the car except for one thing. I noticed that it used about a quart of oil a month. That was just very unusual for me. I got the car hoping to break free from having to do lots of maintenance. I am really bad at doing regular maintenance. That much oil consumption was just unacceptable to me. I took the car back to the dealer many times and they always said it was normal for this car to use oil. I had friends that told me that the new vws just use oil, and thats it. So, fearfull that I would eventually run it dry and seize the engine I got rid of it.
I now drive a japanese vehicle and don't think I will ever look back.

I do want to get another old baja bug though!!

[Gucci Smoochies]

After I decided to get rid of my 99 mercury cougar which had TONS of maintainence problems (2 alternators, 2 batteries, 3 o2 senors, 1 mass airflow, couldn't pass emissions worth a damn the last year I had it, went through brakes and tires like no tomorrow even though I'm a good driver, and just tons of stupid shit including the engine being replaced at 12k) and it was just over 100k miles too, I researched many new cars before deciding on my baby.

My sister just bought a 2002 VW Jetta, turbo. She got a great deal on it with an extended warrantee and such. At first I was jealous because she had this new fancy car but after researching information about VW I came to the conclusioon that they really are finicky cars. Aside from oil problems, there have been numerous complaints about sealant problems, electrical problems with the dash, windows, and locks, as well as some airbag problems. A lot of the sealant problems were mainly associated with the new Beetles but both Passats and Jettas were notorious for these kind of problems. So far she hasn't had any horrible problems but it has had an oil leak and does need frequent oil changes to keep up on that specific engine.

It completely bites that you ended up getting a crappy car. I have been there and know the pain and drama you are going through. I mean you spend all this money on a car that's suppossed to be reliable and safe and it's far from it.

If any of you do get rid of your cars, I would suggest researching whatever type of car you are looking at very very closely. I spent MONTHS researching vehicles before I decided on my Toyota Corolla. I mean months. I loved VWs and alwasy heard they were good cars, I mean my first car was a VW Rabbit Cabriolet. They're great cars when they work. However, with any line of car there are problems that come with it.

Cyn, I think you are doing an excellent job researching the VIN numbers and seeing if it was a certain series that had problems associated with it. Keep up on this. If anything, report it to Edmunds, Consumer Reports, and JD Power. They are great resources for finding information about your car as well as checking reviews where owner has rated their cars.

Good luck on this. I would recommend a Toyota, Honda or Nissan for a future car. Subarus are great too but sometimes their repairs can be expensive, same as Honda parts. Toyotas tend to be more mechanically reliable and cheaper to insure, just a head's up if you are looking that route. This isn't me preaching about a certain car or anything. I just have been in the same boat as you guys and understnad the frustration and financial stress that comes with a lemon.