Do we have a resident "car guy" on the forums?

[Pengwin7]

Unfortunately, I can not say I have a "car guy" friend.
So - when I have needed repairs to make to my vehicle... I have nobody to consult.
This bugs me because (as a guy/engineer/frugal bastard) I really like to fix things myself - but everybody needs an expert from which to learn.

Since 2009, I've been driving my wife's 2001 jetta as my vehicle.
It's got about 4-5 things wrong with it and I really need to reserve a chunk of time to learn about them & fix them myself.

On my list:

1. Need to fix overheating problem (car thermostat goes up past 260° after 4-5 miles of driving). Something is broken:
-New Water Pump (along w/New Timing Belt... apparently)
-New Cooling Fans (or could I just have a blown fuse?)
[Dealership told me they could not get the fans running and suggested the "wiring" is at fault... pssh... I don't know... I don't buy that.]
I've been quoted over $1000 for these items.

2. Need to replace catalytic converter:
Here in Atlanta, we have emissions inspections and I have a P0420 error that suggests there is an old, stinky cat under my car.
I've been quoted up around $1000+ for this repair.

3. Need new brakes:
At last oil change, they said I need new pads. I have the pads, just have to install them.


The car is only worth a few thousand... but we don't currently have money to get anything new (or even used)... so I need to try to fix these things myself.

I did buy a vehicle manual from a site called "Haynes", for $20. I'm hoping it arrives by the weekend.
I used to have my parents' Dodge Grand Caravan after college and learned a lot about that engine by reading that book.

So... anybody good with vehicles & engines?

Thanks.
(and sorry to use this website so generically... but maybe it will be helpful in the future to others. I've always been a big fan of "small communities sharing their knowledge to become stronger/smarter/better".)

[kevinsrangers]

i was a mecahnic for about ten years. its very hard to fix/ suggest something online, without seeing the car.
faulty wiring- could be anything from blow fuse to bad ground to broken wire.
the brakes however you should be able to takle by yourself if you are even remotely mechanically inclined.
haynes manuals are great and you should definantly refer to it.
my tip-- when doing your brakes just take apart one side and then work on that side only. this will give you the other side to refer to when you r deciding where things go. also use brake cleen to clean any excess oils from your dirt hands off the rotors.

not much help i know but good luck.

[beyondthewall19]

That blows, but you can still take care of it. Don't trust people at the dealer or shops you don't know.

Had overheating troubles with my Cadillac all the time, try thermostat and leaks in coolant/pump pressure, I suppose could be something electrical, as always, I'm sure you could find certain ways to narrow it down. But don't just buy that crap. Turns out with my 94 DeVille Concours the Northstar engine with aluminum heads overwhelmed, and cracked the headgasket. Hopefully not your case! Coolant issues are just a matter of narrowing it down to the root of the problem, easier said than done. Not impossible!

Haynes manuals are junk to use, but hey, it's a starting point, heh. Obviously don't pay so much when the car isn't worth so, I have faith you can do it! Catalytic converters (and I have no idea for the Jetta) are generally quite simple to get to, often from the rear of the car, and the Haynes will run you through that. Just accompany it with youtubes and great webpages, v-dub forums et al.

Brakes are piece a cake, just sit down andd figure it out and have your wife sit there and help with when it comes up. Where are Haynes manuals 20 bucks?! Jesus. I prefer the Chilton-made series, but if you invest enough time I am confident that you will gain confidence enough to pry around in there and get acclimated. Best of luck!

[TheZamboniGuy]

I had a 2003 wolkswagen golf and i got the same overheating problem, I fixed it by replace the thermostat in a car dealer. hope helps you.

[Loch]

my tip-- when doing your brakes just take apart one side and then work on that side only. this will give you the other side to refer to when you r deciding where things go.

This.

Also check and see if there is a VW forum online. When I have to do stuff to my Maxima I just hop on maxima.org and the help/guidance is un-freakin-believable. I replaced the window motor and there was a step by step guide with photos someone had posted... same with radiator replacement.

The 0420 code could just be a bad 02 sensor... if you're lucky. Buggering around with the exhaust system can suck balls. The land of seized and rusted bolts awaits.

[notcraig]

Check out the vwvortex forums. Tons of info, how-to guides with pictures and videos, and helpful people

[Pengwin7]

Thanks guys.
Fortunately my years on DobberHockey have trained me well for how to "search" a forum. I've been on vwvortex several times in the past - tons of info there.

I actually narrowed my overheating down (hopefully yesterday).
I learned about the two (small & large) cooling fans near the radiator at the front of the car. They seem to be working intermittently. Only the small one came on when I turned on the A/C (both should, from what I read).

Last night, after my 7 mile drive home, the car was fully overheated, 260°, I popped the hood and NEITHER fan was working.

This morning, after my 7 mile drive to work, the car had overheated (260°), but temperature was decreasing and about 220° when I got to work. I popped the hood and both cooling fans were working.

More research today... (huff)...

[mister_mcgoo]

I'm not a car guy by any stretch but I know a guy in Atlanta who is (he actually races so he works on his car constantly). He's also big into VWs so I emailed him to see if he could recommend an honest, knowledgeable and affordable mechanic that could help you out. I'll let you know if I hear back from him.

I used to have a Jetta VR6 that I loved but once they get to be about the age that yours is you start to see everything going at once and it can be a real challenge to keep them running because often the parts and repairs are more than the car is worth The good news is that the engines themselves are virutally indestructible, with basic maintenance you can put 500k on them with no trouble. Unfortunately it is all the secondary pieces that fail (alternator, starter, water pump, etc)

In terms of your specific problems, here's my 2 cents (take with a healthy grain of salt, i'm no mechanic, I've just owned lots of Jettas and had similar problems):

-learn to do your own brakes, that's an easy way to save money, just make sure you watch some tutorials that show you exactly how to do it properly because that's the last thing you wanna **** up! It's not difficult per se but you need to make sure you have a good place to work and the correct tools, preparation for this is key
-the cat looks like an easy fix but that can actually be a huge pain in the ass and it's tough to tell which part(s) in the exhaust chain are really at fault. Plus you mention the timing belt thing, if your timing is off and it is misfiring you can destroy the cat so even if you successfully replace it you could wind up burning it out and defeating all your hard work. You might hafta just bite the bullet and pay for this, sorry
-overheating can be tough to diagnose, could be a faulty thermostat or the water pump or faulty wiring and/or sensors for the fans. A trick I was told to try before with this is to take off the hose into your coolant resevoir and rig it so that it will empty into some container (so you don't get coolant all over your engine). Then rev the engine for a couple minutes and see if you are getting coolant flowing out of it (good if you have someone to watch it with you). If you aren't getting coolant coming out then it's your water pump.

Good luck dude, you need to get this fixed before it gets hot in ATL!

[Pengwin7]

A trick I was told to try before with this is to take off the hose into your coolant resevoir and rig it so that it will empty into some container (so you don't get coolant all over your engine). Then rev the engine for a couple minutes and see if you are getting coolant flowing out of it (good if you have someone to watch it with you). If you aren't getting coolant coming out then it's your water pump.

Good luck dude, you need to get this fixed before it gets hot in ATL!

Thanks mcgoo.

Yesterday, while at work, I actually ended up being one of those guys that "pays for an internet answer". I went on JustAnswer.com and posted my concern and some guy answered it. ($19! fugg... but I'm close to my wits end with this stuff and not having any contacts).

Anyways - with the overheating, he mentioned the same thing.
He said "if you have the car running and if you pop the cap of the coolant reservoir and have some one else rev the car at 2000 rpms is there any flow of coolant in the bottle from the little hose ? you may have to disconnect the hose at the bottle and let it flow in the opening where the cap goes."

So - I need to get somebody to help with that.
My current situations suggests my fans are only coming on intermittently.
The fact that my engine did cool down from 260° to 190° today using BOTH fans suggest that they are coming on sometimes... but maybe not at the right time.

It would be nice if it was my fans... because then I wouldn't have to deal with the water pump/timing belt... yet.

Anyways - thanks, I'll have to try that water pump test today.

[mister_mcgoo]

Thanks mcgoo.

Yesterday, while at work, I actually ended up being one of those guys that "pays for an internet answer". I went on JustAnswer.com and posted my concern and some guy answered it. ($19! fugg... but I'm close to my wits end with this stuff and not having any contacts).

Anyways - with the overheating, he mentioned the same thing.
He said "if you have the car running and if you pop the cap of the coolant reservoir and have some one else rev the car at 2000 rpms is there any flow of coolant in the bottle from the little hose ? you may have to disconnect the hose at the bottle and let it flow in the opening where the cap goes."

So - I need to get somebody to help with that.
My current situations suggests my fans are only coming on intermittently.
The fact that my engine did cool down from 260° to 190° today using BOTH fans suggest that they are coming on sometimes... but maybe not at the right time.

It would be nice if it was my fans... because then I wouldn't have to deal with the water pump/timing belt... yet.

Anyways - thanks, I'll have to try that water pump test today.

cool, good to know I was giving valid advice, I got that tidbit secondhand but it seemed to work for me. That's good news if it's not the water pump because that's gonna be expensive to replace, much better if it's something simpler. If I recall correctly in my case it was some kind of sensor (not the O2 sensor, something else) that was failing and not turning on the fans when the engine got hot. It sounds like you might have the same problem, albeit an intermittent one. See if you can identify anything that is a 'sensor' from diagrams and check that it's not something stupid like a loose wire.

Another trick I was taught is really easy to test. Just remove the thermostat, put it in a pot of water on your stove and heat it up, if it doesn't open up then bingo you've got a bad one and its only $30 to replace...if you have a thermometer that would be helpful too as you can see at what temp (if any) it opens up. If it's not opening then no coolant is getting into the system.

[Old_Smokie]

I'm not a huge car guy but given the nature of the beast, when my VW 2009 has an issue I take it to the dealer and get them to hook it up and do the diagnostics. If I don't feel the price they are asking is good (which is usually the case) I would seek out an independant grease monkey to make the fixes. But I would feel more comfortable with the dealer inspection.

[Pengwin7]

I'm not a huge car guy but given the nature of the beast, when my VW 2009 has an issue I take it to the dealer and get them to hook it up and do the diagnostics. If I don't feel the price they are asking is good (which is usually the case) I would seek out an independant grease monkey to make the fixes. But I would feel more comfortable with the dealer inspection.

Dealers are the worst. THE worst.
People call them the "stealership" for a reason.


I can tell you two stories in the past four years where the stealership tried to take me for a ride.

In 2010, I had two faults that I needed to clear to pass emissions here in Atlanta: P1296, P0420.

The dealership quoted me $1400+.
EVERY ISSUE that could possibly cause those faults... they list.
EVERY ONE.

For example, the P1296 could have been the thermostat, bad wiring, a sensor, etc. The P0420 could be a catalytic converter, the on-board control module, oxygen sensors, etc.

They quoted $1000 for the catalytic converter and stuff (P0420).
They quoted $400 for the engine coolant error (P1296).

The engine coolant turned out to be a sensor.
(One of my rules about engine repair: When in doubt, start with the cheapest solution and work towards the most expensive!)

The P1296 was just a $13 part (ECT sensor) that somebody could install in anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes after watching a few YouTube videos.

I fudged my way through a not-exactly-street-legal modification on the catalytic converter for $5 and three hours of labour.

So.. instead of $1400... I paid about $20 and a few hours of time.
That got me through 3 years of driving & emissions inspections.


This year I had more problems... I decided... what the heck... I'll give the stealership another shot.
Two months ago I took my car into the dealership.
I had overheating (P0117) and an air:fuel mixture problem (P0171).

With the overheating, the dealer listed EVERY SINGLE THING that could contribute to it:
*Two new coolant fans (which both work, though intermittently)
*Water pump
*Thermostat

With the air:fuel mixture problem, I had asked him if I had a bad Mass Air Flow sensor. He said he "couldn't tell until I fix the wiring. It's not the gold-tipped connectors". I'm thinking... WHAT?!... I've read over 100 articles about my problem and never once read anything about gold-tipped connectors.

He quoted $280 to redo the wiring + $240 for new MAF.
I bought a new MAF online for $105... installed it myself in 30min.
BOOM... P0171 gone.

GREAT SIDE STORY: I solved the MAF problem with help from LOCH in a Derek's Corner thread.
How great is this website??? Seriously. Thumbs friggin UP.

$520 stealership price vs. $105 Pengwin fix.


Effin stealership.
This is why people need little communities of knowledge... so that they don't get ripped off at the dealership.

[Loch]

GREAT SIDE STORY: I solved the MAF problem with help from LOCH in a Derek's Corner thread.

That may be the first time either Derek's Corner or myself have appeared in the same sentence as 'help' without sarcasm being attached...

[Pengwin7]

That may be the first time either Derek's Corner or myself have appeared in the same sentence as 'help' without sarcasm being attached...

It was also probably be the only time this month somebody on this forum says they "solved the MAF problem".

BTW - thanks for the help!!!