DSG/Common Rail Help!?!?!

Long story short. I took the plunge last night and bought my first mk6, my first DSG, and my first Common Rail TDI. I bought a 2011 Jetta TDI with DSG transmission and 111,000 miles. I cannot stress how disappointed and stressed I am right now. I have worked on mk4's forever and loved them, but it's time to learn something new.

Drive home....55mph zones for about an hour and all was fine. Got on the highway and started cruising 75mph and within 10 minutes had a low coolant light. Pulled over, as I pulled over the light went away, but coolant was black. So, I popped the cap loose and coolant boiled and bubbled and spewed out. I let it cool down and filled with distilled water. Took off, did it again about 10 minutes later, same procedure but this time I felt the hose coming out of the thermostat and it was outside temperature, not warm at all. I cranked the heat, set cruise and 50 and milked it home. I assumed that the water pump or thermostat were stuck so I ordered timing belt kit and thermostat today. I later called the dealer and told them what was going on, they said if I fixed it they'd cover parts, and said that the head was replaced on this car. I am now more concerned about the black coolant. was this a cheap Chinese head? (is there an easy way to tell?) is the head gasket leaking? could egr leak be causing the black coolant?

I also noticed an odd vibration while accelerating as I neared home. When I got off work today, I played around with the car a little bit more. If I put the car in drive and try to accelerate it shakes something fierce from a dead stop. if I hold brake and apply some throttle is also shakes very bad. however, if I put it in reverse and do the same it is smooth as glass. I originally thought it would need a DMF, but the reverse thing through me for a big loop.


Any thoughts or suggestions would be great, I think I may just pull the engine and transmission out as one unit tonight, pull the head off, inspect everything from the ground up and see what I find. I guess this is one way to learn a new (to me) chassis, engine, and transmission.

Update.... Found broken motor mount on passenger side,possible explanation for noise in drive but no noise in reverse?

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I had an oil cooler leak which let oil into the coolant.

not a huge problem.

Spoke with the dealer, they informed me the car had broken a timing belt but ensured me that the head was rebuilt and that the water pump and timing belt were all replaced with a new head gasket so there should be no leaks. The dealer did agree they would be willing to split the cost of parts with me 50/50 to get things right on the car. So, with much patience and thoroughness I began to dig into the car and see what I could find. I am honestly amazed at how screwed up it is. Here is a list of things I found so far.

1. Broken Engine Mount....engine mount must have been replaced because this is the wrong mount.(too deep of a notch) they were aware of this and just stuck a big nut under it to try to shim it up, needless to say that did not work.


2. New Dayco Timing Belt .......Original tension, water pump, and all idlers


3. Bolt missing that holds the egr to the turbo, and also secures the oil return line from turbo to block


4. Broken cylinder head bolt...safe to assume they reused the original TTY bolts and caused the break. The rest of the bolts were very uneven torque.


5. Blown Head Gasket you can see the exact area around the broken head bolt has a different color on both the head gasket, and the cylinder block.




I assume that the engine mount is the cause of my strange noise, but I will separate the transmission from the engine while it is out. I will inspect the DMF, but have full intentions to put in a new one just to make myself sleep good at night knowing it is 100%.

I don't get it? Did you buy the car as is? If not, I would take it back where I bought it, tell them where to stick it, and get my money back. I reckon he will pay half of parts. What did you pay for this junker?

Unfortunately when buying a used car that comes down to a really big he said, she said thing and probably wouldn't be worth my time to try to take to court or anything like that. And realistically I wouldn't want to give the car back even with these issues. A little of my time and some money and I'll have everything right and won't have any doubts about it. I got the car about $2k cheaper than I could find another like it, they say you get what you pay for. Personally I'm just happy some poor teenage or college girl didn't drive buy the dealership unknowingly saying "oh that thing is cute" and buy it.

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thesearcherman said:

I don't get it? Did you buy the car as is? If not, I would take it back where I bought it, tell them where to stick it, and get my money back. I reckon he will pay half of parts. What did you pay for this junker?

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^This. Any dealer worth their name should have some sort of 30-day no-questions asked return policy. Glad you're competent enough to set things right on your own, but all of that info you're only now finding out from the dealer should have been offered (and asked for) beforehand.

Good luck!!

mxracer291 said:

3. Bolt missing that holds the egr to the turbo, and also secures the oil return line from turbo to block

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what about the missing sensor?

I removed that sensor when I pulled the engine out. Left the downpipe on the engine, left the sensor with the car

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This dmf slack seems acceptable actually. It has no out of the ordinary slop in the bearing either so I think I will reuse.

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mxracer291 said:

I'm just happy some poor teenage or college girl didn't drive buy the dealership unknowingly saying "oh that thing is cute" and buy it.

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good deeds like yours will never get the just respect they deserve.

I drive by a 2009 TDI sedan everyday on the way to work, its been on the dealers lot for over 2 years, i shudder to think what has caused it to sit there and pitty the poor sole who picks it up.

You're much better than I am. I would have been screaming at someone, and demanding money back, if I noticed those issues, even more so since you said it started when you were bringing the car home.

i just bought a 2013 jetta tdi a few weeks ago, so happy i didnt have the same issues!

All fixed up and back in action with dpf delete... Malone stage 2 econo tune and DSG tune going in tomorrow after work!



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very nice please do a writeup after the dsg tune and all that, I plan on doing the same setup you are

Took it down to CR Performance in Peoria last night for tuning. Great guy to deal with was very easy to schedule an appointment in the evening. $1285 was the total bill for Malone tunes and install. Definitely a different car when done! I would like to see the DSG tune shift sooner at wide open throttle, it shifts at about 4k rpms I'd like to see it closer to 3500 rpm, perhaps Malone will modify this for me. Engine tune is really smooth clean power with no torque spike or smoke "chirps" the tires when you step on it, and again when it shifts to 2nd gear

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It will probably be a few tanks before I see any mileage increase as I'll be smashing the pedal and smiling for a few weeks!

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