My 2002 Jetta worked great for about 8 years in Arizona. After it was shipped to MA a few months ago, I noticed that it was a bit harder to start. It would always start, but I had to keep the key turned longer than usual. The fuel economy also dropped with the move. I attributed this to MA selling lower quality diesel than the D2 I could get in AZ. When I tried to start it a few days ago, it would not start and the oil pressure light would start flashing with a beeping noise. The oil level was within acceptable range. I noticed that the trip odometer and clock had been reset, but the radio stations were still programed in. I had the car towed to the dealer, who told me that there was no compression in any of the cylinders. The timing looked good and the battery was fine. The technician could not say what was causing the problem but recommended replacing the engine, as it could turn out to be cheaper than finding and fixing the root cause.
The only issue before this was the check engine light indicating a sporadic glow plug issue. I checked them out over a year ago (as outlined by another member) and they were all fine, so I never took this light seriously. The same dealer looked at the error code and didn't see a problem. They did eventually replace a wire. They cleaned out the EGR (for about $600), saying that was the reason the car had problems starting.
Here are my questions:
1 - Is replacing the engine the most viable solution? I.e. What could be the real root cause? The estimated cost for a new engine is $6000. (A used would be $7000 for some reason). The car is worth between $3000 and $6000. I don't know that it makes economic sense, especially since there might be another problem with the electrical system or some other, currently unknown problem.
2 - Could I have done anything to cause this? I changed the oil every 5000 miles with Mobile 1 10W-30. I never got around to changing the fuel filter or anything else. The last scheduled maintenance I did was at 50,000 miles (before the warranty expired).
Vehicle Specs:
2002 Jetta
Manual transmission
115K miles
Thanks!
The only issue before this was the check engine light indicating a sporadic glow plug issue. I checked them out over a year ago (as outlined by another member) and they were all fine, so I never took this light seriously. The same dealer looked at the error code and didn't see a problem. They did eventually replace a wire. They cleaned out the EGR (for about $600), saying that was the reason the car had problems starting.
Here are my questions:
1 - Is replacing the engine the most viable solution? I.e. What could be the real root cause? The estimated cost for a new engine is $6000. (A used would be $7000 for some reason). The car is worth between $3000 and $6000. I don't know that it makes economic sense, especially since there might be another problem with the electrical system or some other, currently unknown problem.
2 - Could I have done anything to cause this? I changed the oil every 5000 miles with Mobile 1 10W-30. I never got around to changing the fuel filter or anything else. The last scheduled maintenance I did was at 50,000 miles (before the warranty expired).
Vehicle Specs:
2002 Jetta
Manual transmission
115K miles
Thanks!
