scirocco 16v woes

[mk1mark at gmail.com (Mark F.)]

On 5/16/07, Andrew McCausland <ajmccaus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Wow, what a week it's been. I got the rear brake calipers, distributor,
> timing belt and tensioner, oil seals, v-belts, and cooling hoses replaced
> last week and the car ran amazingly! For about 15km that is. On Monday I
> took it out for a spin and ironically the very problem that I thought I was
> avoiding by replacing my timing belt annihilated my cylinder head. The
> timing belt tensioner stud somehow dethreaded itself out of the cylinder
> head, thus causing the timing belt to come loose and thus ending the 417,000
> km life of my intake valves. I called my mechanic and he confirmed this.
> Gratefully he offered to fix the problem without charging me labour,


Gratefully?!?  Fuck that shit - this guy owes you more than just
labour.  A tensioner stud doesn't just fall out.  The fact that it
failed within a handful of km's after the work was done points to
mechanic error, plain and simple.  The nut may have seized on the
stud, and he removed it as a "bolt" and reinstalled.  Torquing this
"bolt" down compared to torquing the nut on the stud are two different
things.


> was able to get a used head with 180,000km on it for $450. He gave me a $50
> credit for my old head, and told me it would have cost about $800 to rebuild
> it. This means I seem to be getting it fixed for about $600 including the
> head, the gaskets and misc parts. However questions still burn in my mind:
> Am I getting a good deal here? Why did he not see that the tensioner stud
> was loose when he replaced the belt? Is a $50 credit for a head with bent
> valves good or should I rebuild it or sell it elsewhere?


$450 is too much for a used head with that many km's on it.  Paying
this guy $600 to fix HIS mistake is ridiculous.  Where are you in
Canada?  If you're semi-local maybe I can provide some muscle to help
convince your mechanic that his mistake is his problem, not yours...

I had to chuckle yesterday as I drove by a rural mechanic's shop whose
entire building had been spray painted with "... Auto Service are
crooks".  Vigilante justice.  Fuckin' eh...

Good luck, and let us know what happens...

Later,

Mark.
75
82
82 Caddy
91 Jetta Coupe