99 Jetta 2.0 motor vibration
 

Had timing belt and water pump replaced on 99 Jetta 2.0 (not by dealer). Car ran perfectly before but now the motor vibrates noisily in between 3.3-4 rpm, not before and not after. Took it back and mechanics said to drive it and break the belt in - sounds like bs to me. Any ideas?

RE: 99 Jetta 2.0 motor vibration
 

Matt,

I don't think there should be a break-in period for the timing belt. There is something else wrong. I changed the timing belt on mine a year ago and recently noticed the same issue. About a month ago, I changed the filter and oil in the transmission. The vibration seemed to appear immediately after the oil change. I had a mechanic check out the transmission and could not find or reproduce the problem related to the transmission. When I test drove the car, it was still there. I thought itmay bedue to not changing the tensioner pulley and just went back two weeks ago and replaced the tensioner pulley and timing belt. (The fine print on the adjacent page in the service manual indicated that it is a "must replace" along with the timing belt.) When I was finished, I still have the same vibration between 3500 and 4000 RPM. I spoke to the dealer today and he indicated that it could be the vibration damper, motor mount, or something else. I had heard that the motor mounts can cause this from the Bentley Forum. I need to check the left side. I haven't had a need in the past to replace a vibration damper, perhaps this is one of those rare cases??? The car is coming home from college this weekend, I will have a look and get back to you.

John

RE: 99 Jetta 2.0 motor vibration
 

Hi,

I am having the EXACT same problem with my 2001 Jetta 2.0L. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? Thanks in advance!!

RE: 99 Jetta 2.0 motor vibration
 

Could be your engine wasn't at top dead center when it was replaced. That would throw the timing off or create some serious damage.

RE: 99 Jetta 2.0 motor vibration
 

Check the oil pan guard. I had that problem and ended replacing almost all my pulleys. (yeah it sucked). Turns out that the A4 era model Jettas had a bit of a problem with the engine vibration rattling the oil pan guard loose, guess there was some kinda rubber bushing between the oil pan and the oil pan guard that mechanics like to loose that cause the rattling