2000 TDI Jetta Timing Belt Replacement in Ann Arbor, MI

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googlespam 21 years ago

After my 2000 TDI Jetta died and would not restart the other day, my faithful mechanics at Howard Cooper informed me that my timing is all out of whack and that the timing belt and tensioner need to be replaced. Realistically, it's beyond time for them to be replaced just in the standard maintenance schedule, so I'm not too upset with that. What I'm upset with is the amount and cost of the labor. They say it will take 6.5 hours and they charge $77/hour for labor.

Can anyone suggest a competent mechanic in Ann Arbor, MI that could possibly do this repair for less?

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Jo Bo 21 years ago

You should join

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and ask there. There are independent garages that are good and also some tdi club members who do them. I did mine and it was no picnic!

JoBo

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Woodchuck 21 years ago

Be prepared, if your t-belt broke or jumped time(camshaft) then there's a

99.99999% chance the valves are bent

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Joseph Meehan 21 years ago

Hopefully your delay in replacing that thing did not cost you a lot more than you are now looking at. If it breaks, it can cost you some really big expense as it eats valves and engine innards.

I agree with the suggestion about checking at the TDI club. BTW as I recall the new belt and tensioner will give you a longer lasting belt.

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ksternberg1 21 years ago

Beyond time, huh? I guess you're either very wealthy or feel very lucky. Why did you delay so long?

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Rob Guenther 21 years ago

Timing belts are probably one of the more crucial maintenance items on a TDI, your engine could now be completely messed up, bent valves etc.

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kaboom 21 years ago

**Go to the forums at michiganvw.org and use the search function. Search Ann Arbor. You'll find everyone overwhelmingly recommends Steve's European Auto in Waterford. That said, I believe there's a place called Eurotech Motors on Trade Center Dr. and Professional Automotive Technicians on Jewett (both in A2). I've heard that they have good techs at Eurotech. I have no personal experience with any of the places I've mentioned. My Jetta is still young so I've only been to Howard Coopers.

kaboomie

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googlespam 21 years ago

Since you can't search the forums without registering, I tred to register. However, after filling out the information, I was supposed to receive an email with my password, but it never showed up. Maybe I'll try again later.

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googlespam 21 years ago

I guess I just didn't realize that it needed to be replaced. It currently has just over 100k miles on it and according to the maintenance schedule I have from the dealer it should be replaced every

80k on a 2002 model, but every 40k on a 2000 like mine. I don't have my manual on me (it's at the dealer with the car) so I can't confirm. Is it really necessary to replace this twice as often in a 2000? That's pretty frequent for such an expensive job. I guess I should just be glad it didn't break and cause engine damage.

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googlespam 21 years ago

Fortunately, the belt never broke (it's just too loose), so there's no reason to believe there was any engine damage.

My VW dealer (Howard Cooper) quoted me 6.5 hours of labor to replace the timing belt, tensioner and serpentine belt (no extra labor for the last). Does that seem excessive?

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Joseph Meehan 21 years ago

Check when it is replaced. I believe they are replacing one or two parts and belts with new designs that are designed for longer life.

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Rob Guenther 21 years ago

Well my dealer did the timing belt, tensioner in 4 hours... I have done a serpentine on a Volvo and it took about 10 minutes, can't imagine a VW would be all much longer. Are they doing the water pump as well? If they are I would imagine 5 hours labour with all the belts etc MAX... 6.5 is too much. Maybe Canadian VW mechanics work faster?

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Woodchuck 21 years ago

That's about right, we happen to charge slightly less, but they may be doing some additional checks/work.

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Erik Dillenkofer 21 years ago

Yes, you're extremely lucky it didn't break. When it does ... the damage is severe. At the very least a new cylinder head and one or more pistons, broken connecting rods, broken crankshaft ... and many times it's a whole new engine at $5,000.00 +

When you can get your owner's manual ... you may want to take some time and read it cover to cover. Fuel filters get changed every

20,000 miles to protect the $2,500 injection pump, oil MUST be synthetic and diesel rated (Mobil Delvac 1, etc.) to protect the turbo. It's also wise to let the engine idle down and cool off before shutting down after a high speed run so the oil doesn't coke in the turbo bearings.

Head over here ....

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... more TDI info than you can stand and a really great bunch of TDI folks.

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googlespam 21 years ago

After looking at the procedure, I can believe it would take 6.5 hours:

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This brings up another question though. I can't find anything in the maintenance schedule the dealer produces regarding the water pump, and as I mentioned before, I don't have access to my manual. The above guide says to consider replacing it if you have 120k mi or more. I currently have just over 100k miles. Do people have any opinions on whether I should get the water pump replaced while they're in there?

One possible consideration is that if they'll do it, I'm planning to have the dealer put on the new (2002+) style of belt/tensioner that needs replacement every 80k mi rather than every 40k mi. Is my original water pump likely to make it to 180k miles?

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Frank 21 years ago

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2000 TDI Jetta Timing Belt Replacement in Ann Arbor, MI

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