Mechanic "blew engine" after repair while test driving

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Probably not. And I'll acknowledge there's a lot about this situation we don't know, so perhaps they aren't responsible. But to me it looks like something happened that they're not sharing that caused the damage. That's a pretty dramatic failure to just spontaneously happen. Not common, either.
 

Matt-98AHU

Loose Nut Behind the Wheel Vendor
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Location
Gresham, OR
TDI
2001 Golf TDI, 2005 Passat wagon, 2004 Touareg V10.
Quantum,
I'm about 3 hours away (central coast) but can get to Portland - would be thankful for any involvement. Mad at myself for getting into this position.
I've got family that way... Waldport and Newport-ish.

Maybe we should link up sometime. Could give you a hand with the car whenever I'm in the area visiting.

Though at this rate I may not be up until sometime near 4th of July.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
From what I read, it sounded like the mechanic was fumbling around trying to open the hood while the engine was running away. If that is the case, he should have tried to stop the runaway immediately before doing anything else.

With a runaway, redline doesn't mean anything because the engine is consuming oil that is not metered by the fuel system so the engine will usually reach the highest RPM that it is capable of and then quite often hydrolock if you don't get it shut down immediately. Like in a few seconds after the runaway starts.
 
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MarsBar

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Location
San Jose, CA
TDI
B4V#2 "Flash", 2000 Jetta GL, B4V#1 "PaTuDI" (2008-2018 RIP)
Does the statement "with the mileage the car had on it that catastrophic failure wasn't a surprise" bother anyone else? Sounding like some tap dancing. Awaiting further details on the situation.
 

bizzle

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Location
Southern California
TDI
2015 GSW SEL (totaled), 2013 Touareg Executive
Does the statement "with the mileage the car had on it that catastrophic failure wasn't a surprise" bother anyone else? Sounding like some tap dancing. Awaiting further details on the situation.
It doesn't bother me in the sense that it's a typical response from a typical non-TDI specialist/owner, reflecting a typical perspective regarding mileage on vehicles.

That's generally what will fall out of people's mouths when they see our odometers--even mechanics. I don't think it's being used as some sort of tap-dancing so much as reflecting his worldview in regards to older/high-mileage vehicles and his responsibility when something that seems unrelated to the repair he did breaks.

We already figured this guy shouldn't have been working on the TDI so there isn't much to say about that part of the problem at this point.
 

CoolAirVw

Vendor
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
Kansas City Missouri
TDI
Jetta
Has everyone in this conversation who keeps pointing at the injection pump work, taken into account that as the runaway happened, if the ip was the cause simply shutting off the key would have turned the engine off?

This seems like its a turbo failure, feeding the engine on engine oil. Someone needs to check the turbo and intercooler for oil.
 

MarsBar

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Location
San Jose, CA
TDI
B4V#2 "Flash", 2000 Jetta GL, B4V#1 "PaTuDI" (2008-2018 RIP)
Shutting the key off won't stop a runaway, hence the term. Also won't usually result in a rod being thrown clear through the block. Engine will still be toast, though.



Any updates on a post-mortem of the engine?
 

Typrus

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Location
BCS, TX, USA
TDI
2002 Black Jetta Sedan GLS/TDI 5mt
If you have a functional ASV it will shut it down with key-off.

His phrasing, as you put it, strikes me as deceptive.
It would sure be nice to get hands on it and do a quality failure analysis...
My gut says this is his responsibility- he played with the fuel pump then the engine failed. Injection pump repairs should not be conducted by those unwilling to pay close attention to detail.
As a mechanic, I'm sorry that some people in my profession are worthy of the general distrust our vocation brings...

Have you made any headway with this?
 
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