I'm not really sure there's a significant distinction between what he works on for occupation but I see people try and make this case a lot, and I don't know why. There's nothing mysterious about the TDI that would cause me to believe that a diesel mech, even one for HD vehicles, couldn't handle a cylinder head replacement or a head gasket replacement.
Granted it's on a much smaller scale than what they're used to but as for tech it's not all that different now.
Steve
Other than the basic diesel 101 functionality, my Cummins and TDI are 2 different beasts. They do not cross over and there are certain specific procedures to ensure each run how they are supposed to. Troubleshooting, programming, mechanical...all different. They do both lack spark plugs though and have turbos
To your statement in blue, there are endless accounts of TDI's having paint marks on sprockets, covers, blocks, shafts, indicating that I wouldn't just want to bring my TDI to a diesel mechanic and have them fumble their way through a TB job. Turns a $1000 job into $5k really quick
Yes, there are some diesel mechanics that are very savvy, but to the mechanic who works on an HD truck and think they can bang out a TDI job, I would beg to differ, unless they have taken it upon themselves to become well versed on the model specific vehicle.
I've worked on a lot of different vehicles, gas and diesel, from about every company. I do a lot of front end research on the model of each one before I jump into something. Difference is, shops make a profit with a quick turnaround time, or they lose money.
Not saying at all that the mechanic in question couldn't handle it, because at this point it's all water under the bridge and it's done, but it takes some sort of know how, model specific to work on any engine configuration