Help! Timing Belt Disaster w/ Independent Shop

Wy wife bought a 2001 Jetta TDI GLS in October. I changed the TB and all rollers, tensioner, water pump at that time. 3 months later the belt broke, head was trashed. Took it to shop, they replaced head with used, replaced TB and tensioner. Total ~ $2000. Just now, 3 months later, I inspected the TB and it is torn halfway across and also along the belt ( T shaped split). I'm convinced if it had run for another minute it would have snapped. The shop only offers a 30 day warranty. I found out too late (I know, don't assume anything, my fault).

What should I do? Since it broke the first time I am banned from working on my wife's car. She needs a reliable ride and I can't have TBs breaking every 3 months.

Please, I appreciate any advice.

Bite the bullet--take it to a good dealer, one that will guarantee their work.

And be sure to be up front about the history of this timing belt. If it broke that soon and is about to break again, something isn't right. That needs to be found and fixed before the new belt goes on.

Absolutely. I was going to edit my post to say that, but whitedog beat me to it. It is essential that the dealer know the history of your problem so they can find out what's causing it.

take it to a good dealer

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Good luck on that one. Surely you can find a TDI member in your area that has done many TB.

Greg

Don't know how close this is, but for sales I have this listed on my "Sources" page:
Mike Grady (602-541-1528) at Chapman VW in Scottsdale. Tell him that Amber sent you.

MAYBE their service department is good as well--might not hurt to call up Mike and ask him.
-BB

>>take it to a good dealer, one that will guarantee their work<<

And would you happen to know of one in Tempe, AZ ??? And for how long do you think they'll guarantee their work? (We've heard of enough Timing Belt disasters following dealer repairs, also...)

Yuri.

There is a tdiclub member in Casa Grande, whose name escapes me at this moment, who is reputably the best TDI timing belt pro in Arizona. Perhaps someone can help out here?

But Casa Grande is not that close, with a TB due to fail at any time.

>>There is a tdiclub member in Casa Grande,<<

Well, the Vag-Com list shows "Dogbreath"... does that sound familiar ??

Yuri.

Yes, it could be Dogbreath.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=4964

>>take it to a good dealer, one that will guarantee their work<<

And would you happen to know of one in Tempe, AZ ??? And for how long do you think they'll guarantee their work? (We've heard of enough Timing Belt disasters following dealer repairs, also...)

Yuri.

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They've already trashed the engine once, the second belt is in shreds and your advice is to what, find another shade tree mechanic on the grand assumption that a decent dealership doesn't exist?

Good luck if you follow that advice.

>>the grand assumption that a decent dealership doesn't exist?<<

I'm sure they exist, but finding one that has sufficient knowledge of the TDI engine isn't that easy - especially in the U.S... I would trust one of the TB gurus here (or my own careful repair work) many times over the "typical" dealership... Besides, a 12,000 mile "warranty" doens't provide the level of assurance I need... Even assuming that the dealership wouldn't try to weasel out of covering something that was probably due to their workmanship, in my case we'd be out of that warranty in less than 2.5 months... I can see some TB-related catastrophe ocurring in 12,131 miles...

YMMV,

Yuri.

Check out my photo to the left!

Thanks for your posts. I know Dogbreath - great guy - but he's dropped out of the TDI scene. Some of you have hinted at my next question: even if a dealer does it and it breaks under warranty, won't they try to weasel out of all the extensive, related damage? My case seems like a possible chronic, underlying problem.

One of the potential problems with going to a VW dealership is that they may try to put in an old-style belt and tensioner (and idler), as those are the "official" parts... they may not wish to warranty work done with 2003-Model-Year components... In any case, the engine will need hyper-critical evaluation of everything in the belt pathway to rule out a repeat performance... (are all the toothed pulleys tracking properly? Were the idler bolts torqued properly? Bearings have been known to fail, as have water pumps... )

Good luck !!

Yuri.

UPDATE - the shop stood by their work and it turned out the TB tensioner tab (the fat one, not the one that goes into the block) snapped off and punctured the belt when it got wedged near the crank. The suspicious thing is when the belt broke the first time, that same tab on an identical aftermarket tensioner bent but did not break. I will never use an aftermarket belt or tensioner again! HOWEVER, that same kind was used by the shop. Hopefully the first two were flukes and this third one won't break too.

Sorry I got in a little late on this post...

Brian Cassidy is no longer working on TDIs. He defected to the diesel Dodge Ram group

Go to Exklusiv Motorsports for timing belt changes. They do excellent work and are a VW specific shop. They've filled the hole that Brian left when he stopped working on VWs.

http://www.exklusivmotorsports.com/