Help! Brother is broken down in Las Vegas

[otty]

Hello all, my brother has been trying to head to Mexico from Canada in his 97 Jetta TD. He has been overheating chronically. In Washington he got a new rad and made it to LV and overheated. New coolant fan, no luck. New thermostat before he left. They have done the sniff test for exhaust in the coolant looking for a blown head gasket twice and no positive. I am running out of suggestion! He is not mechanically inclined. Anyone there willing to help with some knowledge of these cars? He will try Wolf Auto when they open on Monday but any other suggestions appreciated! You can text him (no LD plan on his cell) at 1250 814 9999. Thanks!

 

[otty]

update: he is now just over the Arizona border heading towards Phoenix but still over heating. I have sent him the trusted mechanics list from this site but he is unsure he can make it to the nearest shop listed there in Phoenix. Anyone able to help? He will pay you...

 

[TDI smile]

I just googled here for a trusted Mechanic in AZ. There is one right in Phoenix. Hope your Brother finds a problem solver b4 heading south ?

 

[otty]

i hope he does too. I have been telling him and I hope he is learning that you need a tdi guru or you throw parts needlessly at problems...

 

[otty]

Thanks for the tips. Anyone have any feedback about tnt auto in Kingman, AZ? http://www.tntautocenteraz.com/

They claim to know their VW diesels. They are doing the water pump and claim to need to do the timing belt at the same time for $800. doesn't seem too bad but the mechanic is not taking advice or being communicative. He doesn't seem to feel the thermostat is an issue...

 

[otty]

Well, apparently the head is cracked in two places! I hope this shop knows what they are doing... $1300 to fix it doesn't seem to bad.

 

[migbro]

They are doing the water pump and claim to need to do the timing belt at the same time for $800.

Well, apparently the head is cracked in two places! I hope this shop knows what they are doing... $1300 to fix it doesn't seem to bad.

The perils of on-the-road repairs. I'm sorry to say this brings out the cynic in me.

Actual problem - lower radiator hose.

Fix - water pump, timing belt, cylinder head, lower radiator hose.

Let's hope they don't "find" cracked pistons after the head is off.

 

[otty]

I know what you mean... I am pretty sure the first couple of places did just throw parts at it - radiator, coolant fan probably weren't needed. By now though I think my brother is just as skeptical and I have drilled into him to check flow and heat in ALL the radiator hoses, thermostat and water pump before going to the head. I am pretty sure this has been done. They have the head off and say $1300 will do it.

If I were him I would have immediately gotten towed to a trusted mechanic from the list on this site and would have been in close contact with my mechanic at home...

 

[migbro]

I know what you mean... I am pretty sure the first couple of places did just throw parts at it - radiator, coolant fan probably weren't needed. By now though I think my brother is just as skeptical and I have drilled into him to check flow and heat in ALL the radiator hoses, thermostat and water pump before going to the head. I am pretty sure this has been done. They have the head off and say $1300 will do it.

If I were him I would have immediately gotten towed to a trusted mechanic from the list on this site and would have been in close contact with my mechanic at home...

You might tell him to insist on taking the old head with him. Who knows what kind of new head the shop will be installing. Probably solid Chinesium.

 

[otty]

You might tell him to insist on taking the old head with him. Who knows what kind of new head the shop will be installing. Probably solid Chinesium.

good advice although I believe they actually remanned it. They have a machine shop. Problem is that they don't let him talk to the mechanic. Can't get past reception. I HATE shops like that... Problem now is they can't find a head gasket. I found several googling in a few minutes. Third shop that said it was never sold in the US and no parts. What BS. These places have their suppliers and won't look around at all. #*-'=#*!!

 

[migbro]

good advice although I believe they actually remanned it. They have a machine shop. Problem is that they don't let him talk to the mechanic. Can't get past reception. I HATE shops like that... Problem now is they can't find a head gasket. I found several googling in a few minutes. Third shop that said it was never sold in the US and no parts. What BS. These places have their suppliers and won't look around at all. #*-'=#*!!

Well, I'm no expert but I don't know if you can properly repair cylinder head cracks. There are people here who know but I'm not one of them.

Gotta love the process.

"The head's cracked."

"Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's in the back room and you can't go back there."

"Why not?"

"'Cause that's where we do fixing an' stuff. We'll tell you when it's "fixed" - wink, wink."

I started to wrench as a young man when I had no money to pay a mechanic. The money's not an issue any more but I keep doing it so I can avoid having to wonder if I'm being taken for a ride.

My cynicism is not helping you, so my apologies for that.

 

[v8volvo]

Yeah, IDI heads seem to always have the cracks between the valve seats. Presumably that is what they found, and hopefully they actually *pressure tested* the head before going to a bunch of trouble to fix those cracks that probably did not need fixing. If they had been inside a few of these motors before, this would have been something they already knew was OK.

$1300 for a head R&R seems pretty cheap -- would be good to know what exactly they're proposing to do, and whether they have ever done it before.

They're right that that AAZ 1.9 TD motor never got sold in the US, Canada only. The MLS headgasket it uses won't come off the shelf at any US parts store. (Probably something the shop should have considered *before* tearing the head off...)

I have heard of where guys with 1.6 TD cars have adapted the 1.9L MLS headgasket to their motor, so it may be possible to make it work the other direction and use a composition-type 1.6 gasket on the 1.9 if he can't wait for a gasket from outside the country and absolutely has to get it back on the road -- however, the guy working on it would have to carefully evaluate whether this is possible and maybe modify the gasket, requiring a pretty good familiarity with the motor that it doesn't sound like he has. Going from a metal to a fiber HG would be a downgrade but, given the situation, any option might be worth considering...

 

[Vince Waldon]

 

[TDI smile]

Vince, nice pix... Thanks

 

[Vince Waldon]

Yeah, the one good thing I got out of *those* particular VW shenanigans was some decent pictures.

 

[otty]

Thanks for the education on those engines. Much appreciated!

I don't know exactly what that shop did but they claim to have rebuilt the head. I had to source them an AAZ gasket (I did find several available in the US but it was confusing because of updated part numbers). The car was put back together and my brother made it the 1500 or so mountain KM to his destination in balmy Sayulita, Mexico! I guess whatever they did worked! I wish I had been there to try and see exactly what was done....

Now for the front spring that shot up through the rusted frame on a bad pothole... Mexico may be just the place for some cheap and dirty welding with no liability issues! lol.