Jetta problem starting
 

I have a 1998 Jetta TDI 1.9 Diesel 5spd. It has 97,000. orig miles. Up until 2007 I lived in NY, had regular maint. vehicle performed top-notch (45-52mpg) and I have never been more satisfied with a car more. In 2007 I moved to SC and sadly:mad: after doing much reference checking trusted a garage that I clearly should not have. At first I used them for reg. oil change, brake job, new belt, etc. and all seemed fine. 3 weeks after an oil change I drove car 1 1/2 mi. from home and on way back home oil light came on and I noticed oil spewed in a line behind me. I immediately shut off and coasted it in my driveway and called the mechanic. He came to look at it and said he couldn't visibly see anything wrong but would flatbed it to his garage. This was in June. In mid July, after making several visits and calls to him he told me my turbo was bad.
After listening to what seemed at the time as logic, I ok'd him to put on a new turbo. (1200. from VW). After installing the turbo I had it back 9 days and it would not start. It would crank and act like it wanted to but not fire. Again he came and looked at it and against my expressed request, he squirted it with starting fluid and started it. It smoked like crazy. He took it to his garage and awhile later informed me a glo-plug regulator located on firewall was defunct so another 150. to VW, I told him to replace it. He did and then advised me he didn't know what was wrong and he simply could not fix it. I then had it towed to another reputable mechanic who upon checking it out found numerous electrical problems which he described as looking as though it had been hit by a bolt of lightening. He felt it came from someone putting too much voltage to something they were checking and causing the damage. He went thru the car and replaced a cooling temp resistor, replaced the computer that was damaged, and some other small items and got it running in what seemed to be in top order again. I drove it about 500 miles in about a 1 1/2 mo span and resumed my great mpg.. In Feb 2008 (all the prev time for repairs I was 7 mos without a car!) I moved back to NY and the car was driven onto a flatbed and brought with me. When I reached NY it would not start to get it off the flatbed. Crank,crank, crank--no turnover. The only way it would start was to give it a shot of starting fluid which made me cringe! By process of elimination, even though all checked out ok, I replaced glo-plugs and injectors. Still no start. (It had a3/4 tank of conditioned diesel fuel in it.) If the cooling temp reg was unplugged, it would start--plugged in it wouldn't. After walking away from it for a couple of weeks, one day my son decided to check the timing. It read it was off 4 degrees. As soon as he reset the timing, it fired right up. Remebering the redneck (sorry) had changed a belt and thinking about how he might have done it, my son also decided to check the bearing (?) on the end of the crank. When he put the ratchet on it to remove, it fell straight to the ground as the nut was less than finger tight. Upon inspection it had rounded out the bearing but the crank checked out ok.
We put a new bearing (?) and a ticking sound we previously heard disappeared and the car started and ran fine. No noises. 3 mos later it started the same no start. Also, note: once it got started and warmed up it would start fine but it couldn't sit any longer than 15-20 minutes. With my son out of town I had it towed to a foreign auto repair shop that has been around with high recommendations for years. That was on the 29th June 2009. First I was told I needed a new engine as I had low compression (without an actual comp.test) which I didn't buy into. (My son had also pulled the heads and checked the valves and pistons and all was up to snuff. Then I was told I needed a new injector pump (2200.) without checking the old pump. Originally I was told it would take about a week to check out thoroughly and by the time I get these 2 diagnosis it is mid-Aug as the guy has been on vacation while I am walking and stranded with no car! After he gets thru vacationing I lost it and advised him I needed my car immediately. On Sept 3 I got the car back and he advised me my bill is $670.-labor only-and he needs the car back to check for an elec. problem or possible bad valve in inj. pump. I took the car and although I hold my breath when I start it, I am scared to return it to him. I can't afford to be another 9 weeks without it. However, I can tell it is low on power and the slightest touch of the pedal when starting and it won't start and smokes like crazy. I also noticed my exhaust, the pipe in front of the muffler, appears to be weak and noisy. I am still continuing to get about 50mpg, though. Aside from any other advise you may offer, could you tell me if the exhaust is bad, from the eng. to the muffler, would that have or cause any compression problem. At this time I am tired of chasing mechanics with guesses and depleting my funds (3500. to date) and feel like I am getting nothing. Any advise you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!