Metal chucks in a vw transmission problems

So I really wanted to write a nice blog about cars tonight. My head, however is just not into it. Its been a really challenging week.  Here is what went down.

The very first car of the week belongs to a good customer that has since become a great friend.  He called me and told me that he thought his clutch had went out in his 2003 Jetta.  I test drive the car and its making a crazy noise from the transmission.  I check it on the lift and confirm something in the transmission is not happy.  I drain the fluid and find chunks of metal. I quote up the rebuild parts, only to find its way cheaper to replace the whole thing.  I totally feel for the guy.  I think that started me bumming this week.

2 cars later, one of my sweetest customers came in with with her ABS (antilock brake system)  light on.  She drives a 99 Beetle.  This lady reminds me of my grandmother.  I pull her car in the shop, scan the codes, and find some bad news.  After some checking and testing some wires, it find that she needs a new ABS module to the tune of $2300.  I cant even explain how it makes me feel telling anyone that, but especially her..

Yesterday I spent about 4 hours dealing with a radio that would not work correctly.  A VERY long story short is that VW had updated the radio to one that looked like a radio from 2006, but the internal parts were new.  I found this out after 5 calls to VW, and of course the complete run around.   I am currently waiting to see if the 4th radio I get will work correctly.  This guy has a 2009 Jetta and cant use his Ipod.

Then today, I am pulling a car out of the shop right after lunch.  In the lot, a customer comes up to me and says

“Hi, are you the diesel guy?”.

I say “we don’t really have a diesel guy, we all kinda work on everything”.

“Oh, we talked a while back about me buying a TDI Touareg.”

I of course don’t remember right a way, but after chatting with him, we get on the same page.  He tells me whats going on with his 05 Beetle.  Based on what he tells me, I was pretty sure it needed a cam shaft.  I spend some time checking his car out, test driving it, running some computer diagnostics, and looking at scan tool data.  While I was still not 100% sure, I was about 85% sure that the car had some internal engine damage.  I bring him out to the shop and have another talk.  We decide that pulling the valve cover and looking inside the engine would be the next step.  I take the valve cover off, and find that the cam shaft has flat spots in it.  That’s a VERY bad thing.  He asks me what I think it will cost.  I tell him that I would bet its about $2200.  He tells me I am crazy, and that it couldn’t be more than $1200.  He was totally nice to me, I think he was floored that I thought it would be that much.  As luck would have it, I was off by $1200.  The estimate came to $3400 for a cam shaft and related parts and labor.  He is currently calling Volkswagen to see if they can offer him any help.

Oh, I also forgot that another really good customer turned friend was coming in.  I was paged up front, and there she was.  We chatted for a minute, and she could tell I had no idea why she was there.  I thought she just came by to hang out or something. (that does happen from time to time.  It usually makes my day so feel free).  It finally dawned on me that we had talked about her getting a state inspection done.

I know this post is full of bad news and me complaining, so for that I am sorry.  It just really bothers me when I tell people their car needs so much work.  It REALLY hits home when they come in and ask for me to be their guy.  It feels like I let them down somehow.

Thanks for reading, and I guess before you bring your car to me, see how the first car of the week went.  It could be a sign!








Gravity Flush





Manual Flush







So something happened in the shop this week that is, short of hurting someone, every mechanics biggest fear.

A customer brought their 2010 Passat in for its first service.  With only 10,000 miles the car got an oil change, tire rotation and some other minor checks.  The mechanic that performed the service is one of the top guys in the shop.  He was my mentor when I first started, and is one of the smartest people I have met in my life.  He is not a “do it quick” type of guy.  I just want you to understand that something like this can happen to any of us, it just so happen that this was his time.

After performing the very basic service, the car ran in the shop of about 5 minutes.  Then, he pulled the car around, customer got in and left.  About an hour later the car got towed back in with the customer saying that it died.

Before the car got pushed into the shop, we got the full story from the customer.  They said that they were driving on the highway, and the oil light came on and was beeping and flashing.  The customer continued to drive the car another 7 miles and then the engine shut off.

We check and find that there is NO oil in the car.  The mechanic added oil and tried to start the car, but no luck, engine would not even turn.  The car gets pushed in the shop, which is not fun by the way.  The mechanic checks and finds that the oil filter was loose.  He pulls the filter off to find that the filter as 2 gaskets. It turns out that when he removed the original filter, the gasket stuck to the car, not the filter.  When he put the new filter on, it crushed the gasket enough to properly seal.  The customer driving the car on the highway caused the oil pressure to push the gasket off and pump ALL of the oil out of the car.

In the end, the Passat will need a new engine and a new turbo charger.  The cost of all of the parts will come in around $5000.  The mechanic that made the mistake will have to do about 2.5 days worth of work to replace the engine.  He will be working with out pay to get the job complete.  Also, that engine is on back order for about 3 weeks.

Here are the lessons that we can all learn from what happened

  1. Even the best can make mistakes.  This mechanic takes a ton of pride in his work.  He will be beating himself up about this for a long time.  Good mechanics hate making mistakes, and noting anyone can say will make him feel any better.  I completely understand how he feels.  I don’t wish that feeling on anyone!
  2. The customer will be taken care of.  I am not sure to what extent, but the dealership will make it as right as they can.  I personally feel really bad for the customer, and what happened to their brand new ca
  3. If you have a light flashing, or a warning beeping at you, please stop driving the car.  This is NOT the customers fault, but the damage may not have been catastrophic if they had pulled over right away.

I will try to get some pictures of the internal engine damage when he takes it out.

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Hi everyone,

I wanted to talk about checking brakes.  This is something everyone can do, with almost no tools.  The only thing you might need is a flashlight.

Before you get started I need to tell you a few things.  This is a basic visual inspection,  just a check.  If you have an issue with braking, then further inspection will be needed.   DO NOT DO THIS AFTER YOU JUST DROVE THE CAR.  The brakes get really hot and it burns like hell if you touch hot brakes(trust me).  If you have any question about what you are looking at, post it in the comments and I will help you out.

I also want you to know what you are looking at.  I am going to have you check 4 main parts. Brake discs(or rotors), Brake pads, Brake lines, and Brake fluid.

Lets start with fluid.

Open the hood.  Ususally the brake fluid resivoius is at the back of the engine bay, inline with where the brake pedal is.  If you don’t see it, check the owners book, it will tell you what the cap looks like.  Open the cap and shine you flashlight in.  You want to check the level.  Be sure its at the full mark.  Look at the color.  When new the fluid is yellow.  It turns greenish after time.  If its Black, get the fluid flushed .  Be sure to use the correct fluid. VW uses DOT 4+ fluid.

Ok, the fluid is good. Lets move to the wheels.

Start in the front, you’ll see why soon.   Look through the rim.  You will see a silver disc, that is the brake rotor.  It should be a nice silver color.  Look for any rust build up on the outer edge, some is normal, but  you don’t want your pads trying to clamp down on rust.  If you see a blueish tint, your brakes are getting too hot and need further inspection.  I like to run my fingernail up and down the rotor, like the hands of a clock @ 12:00, to check for any scoring or grooves that are forming.

If your rotor is good, now lets move to the pads.

Pads are the friction matieral that clamp down on the rotor to stop the car.  The brake pads are the part that will wear the quickest.  The pads are housed in the brake caliper and might be tricky to see.  The caliper is usually at the 9 o’clock or 3 o’clock positions.  This part is kinda tricky.  Follow the rotor around until you come to the pad.  The pad will look like its sitting on the rotor. Its actually barely riding the rotor to keep water off of it.  If the part that rides on the rotor is narrower than a quarter, replace them, NOW!

If you can see any of the lines, just check and make sure they are not wet with fluid.

Most cars will have a wear indicator of some kind for the front brakes.  Volkswagens have an electric sensor built into the pad.  Other cars like Honda have “squealers”. They will make a heck of a noise when its time to get replaced.  Please do not rely on these systems to keep you safe.

Well, time to move to the rear wheels.

One of 2 things will happen here.  If the rear brakes looks like the front, just use the same method as the front.  If you don’t see a rotor or brake pads, there is nothing to check.  Your brakes are drum style brakes, and the drum needs to be removed.

Well, you did it.  A quick and easy inspection.  How did it go?  How long did it take?  Please post in the comments how it went for you.


*Remember, If you are not 100% sure, get your brakes checked by a professional.  I am not responsible for any misdiagnosis, or errors that are made*