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Sedans Volkswagen Jetta Volkswagen Jetta Maintenance and Repair
6288 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 8:17 PM
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My son's Jetta with 93K miles was acting up by temp gage going up and over heating. The fans were running, the coolant tank was at full level. I decided to change the thermostat and the coolant at the same time. It is amazing the VW dealer wanted $30 for a gallon of coolant. I bought Mercedes coolant from MB dealer for $18/gal for my E430. I don't know how VW justifies charging $30 for coolant. I ended up buying $9/gal Prestone that you can mix and use for all car brands. I question these car manufacturers coming up with their own coolant and ripping off their customers. Removing the thermostat housing was a nightmare. The lower bolt has the alternator right in front of it with no room to reach it, it took me hours with tools I had to rig somehthing up to get to it . I think VW's 4 cylinders are much more complicated to ge to simple maintenance items than some V-6 or V-8 engines. I have never seen intake manifold blocking spark plug access on a four cylider engine before. Joe
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 22, 2008 1:57 pm) Actually 30 for a gal is not bad given most of the other than dealer vendors sell a gal  25 per. This might not apply to the 2.0 engine, but the oem owners manual on the TDI engine specifies and requires G12. It is truly a lifetime coolant; unless of course, you have (a source of) contamination issues( head gasket leak etc) . I only replaced a portion of of my G12 (way less than a bottle of 1.5L, as you dilute 70% G12 + 30 % distilled water) when I had the 100k miles interval- TB/WP changed; as the container used for the G12 anti freeze catch proceedure was used for other peoples G12. (didn't want to contaminate mine with others and vice versa) If I had brought my own catch container, I would have reused MY old G12. So basically I made the decision to top it ( the proper dilution rate). So if the 2.0 engine oem owners manual specifies G12 it is indeed a HUGE mistake to NOT use it. So if you did use other than the recommended anti freeze you probably have contaminated the existing recommended antifreeze. As an after thought, the time to question these things is when you do NOT own it. |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 22, 2008 1:57 pm) I don't understand why you would want to risk using the wrong coolant in order to save a lousy $21. I'd don't think I would trust Prestone to know what is safe and best for a VW engine or what is safe to mix with G12. In addition, if there was no actual need to change the coolant in the first place, how is VW ripping you off? Instead by installing G12 in their new cars, they eliminate the need to pay for routine coolant changes.
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Replying to: jeffyscott (Nov 23, 2008 8:06 am) I have had ZERO issues with coolant or engines. Are you still insisting on VW coolant? I have issue with them charging $30. What is in it that costs $30/gallon? VW's plastic water pump impeller breaks whether you have $30 or $9 coolant. I am not cheap but I do have problem with rip off prices. Joe |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 23, 2008 8:58 am) Mixing ANYTHING else with HOAT has been known to cause a gell to form and may clog the small passagaways of the cooling system. You are gambling with making the engine into a boat-anchor by saving a few bucks. BTW: You can get G12 antifreeze from any diecent autoparts store. Do you really think that VW *makes* antifreeze..... I hope not. I use Pentosin which is the same company that makes the VW-labelled stuff.
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 23, 2008 8:58 am) You could have installed the BRASS IMPELLER waterpump like I did. I hope you also replaced the TIMINGBELT, TENSIONOR, and verious pullies on that engine while you had it torn apart.... Otherwise you will be in there again real soon because the TimingBelt is PAST due for a change at that milage. HERE IS MY ISSUE WITH YOUR COMMENTS If you had simply followed the VW recommendations and REPLACED the TimingBelt, waterpump, tensioner and pullies at the recommended 80K miles, you would have NEVER EVER had this problem to begin with. It is your own fault that you arrived at this point. Also - The intake manifold is NOT blocking your access to the sparkplugs. The inner 2 plugs are angled in such a way that you can easilly replace them with a wobbleHead socket extension. I could go on and discuss why the intake runners on the VW 2.0L engine are the way they are... but you do not seem to be willing to LEARN about VWs and instead want to complain. HINT: Long intake runners create a wider torque-range by creating a ram-effect into the cylinders. This is one reason that VW engines are sooo easy to drive with a clutch because there is torque available right from idle. I owned a Honda Civic once... even after 120,000 miles I was still stalling it becasue it had no torque at all unless I spun the engine over 2000 RPM. It was NOT very driver-friendly in that reguard. Also, the oil-filter was IMPOSSIBLE to access unless the car was on a hydrolic lift. Conversly, VWs have always put the oil-filter right in the front where they are easy to access. I can change the oil in about 15 minutes by just opening the hood and sucking out the oil with oil-sucker.
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 23, 2008 8:58 am) That is fine, but in the case of the VW oem badged oil filter/coolant why would you rather NOT use it or Mann or Mahle? We have already mentioned the LIFETIME G12 made by Pentosin, etc, vs change every (whatever) mileage) for the Prestone. OEM Bosch, Mann or Mahle made oil filters are actually specified for 30,000 miles oil change intervals. In my case I run 20,000 mile OCI's and with the advent of ULSD actually do 25,000 miles OCI's. . |
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Replying to: pruzink (Mar 21, 2006 1:19 pm) |
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Back again, this time with a new problem! My '02 Jetta GLS recently has been stalling. This has been intermittent as it would only happen once every couple of months, up until now. Here are the symptoms: as I'm driving my car, it feels as if it's not shifting into gear properly (I have automatic transmission), then finally after some time of driving my steering wheel feels as if it's locked up and my car eventually stalls on me (thankfully I've been able to pull over both times), once it stalls and turns off, the red battery light comes on. After several attempts of turning it on, pressing the gas, keeping it at high RPMs for sometime, etc. it still turns off if I let it get to low RPMs. A variation of this has also happened to me when I've driven through puddles or in the rain - my car doesn't shift propertly and eventually feels as if it's going to stall. Any ideas as to what's going on? My CEL has also been on for some time and I was told I needed to replace the O2 sensor, is this related? Thanks!
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Replying to: xlaurax362 (Nov 24, 2008 8:33 am) When you feel that the steering-wheel is locked up and the battery light comes on... this means that the engine has stopped running and is not spinning the power-steering pump and alternator. In other words, this is just a symptom of a stalled engine and may not be related to the root problem in any way. The problem you describe after going thru a puddle is most likely your ignition system. (sparkplug wires getting wet and shorting out the spark to the cylinders for a few moments) After the above - What we have left is still your stalling problem which is not easy to diagnose. At this point I cannot even narrow it down to Fuel, Ignition or electrical. Can you perhaps describe the CONDITIONS under which your car stalls. (Wet, Cold, turning right, turning left, Below 1/2 tank fuel, Accellerating, Highway....etc) Basicly anything that can help us narrow in on what is happening? |
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