timing belt disaster?
 

Hey folks,
I’m like Princess Leia, and you guys are like Obi Won Kenobi… “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi… you’re my only hope.”

My wife has a 2002 VW Jetta TDI, and we had had the timing belt replaced in June of 2007 at 100k miles. Everything was great until April of this year (roughly 10 months) when we broke down. We took it back to the shop that did the repair and they told us that the tensioner arm was faulty and that had caused the belt to jump. They fixed it free of charge and the car appeared to be running fine.

Here we are 3 months later and we are broke down again. All the signs pointed to a timing problem so we took it back to the same shop. They are telling us that they did a leak down test, one of the cylinders is losing compression, and the motor is shot. The car has 117,000 miles and has been maintained immaculately (obviously… we replaced the timing belt at 100k).

I am guessing an intake valve was bent when the belt jumped back in April. My questions for you fine folks are:

1. Am I correct in assuming that my current problem (bad cylinder/bent intake valve) was caused by or is related to the timing belt jumping off track back in April?
2. If so, is it possible that I was able to drive it for 3 months with a bent intake valve before the cylinder actually started losing compression?
3. Is probably that my engine shot and needs replace at 117k miles, or might I have options to repair the cylinder?
4. Should I expect the shop to pay for all or part of this repair? If we can’t get the shop to pay for everything, my wife and I are thinking of offering to pay for parts if the shop will pay for the labor. We're not trying to rip anyone off here. Does that sound equitable?

Thanks for all your help.

RE: timing belt disaster?
 

if your losing compression in one of the cylinders than you blew a head gasket. a good way to tell is if your oil is milky white or bubbly, thats anit-freeze in the oil and you def shot a head gasket. whether these problems are related I dunno. if you had a bent valve than your heads are def shot!

RE: timing belt disaster?
 

Yeah these guys are right about the engine. That said, making your case to the shop would be an up hill battle that you probably won't win. A lot of mechanics are better at making excuses and and using jargon than they are at repairs.

RE: timing belt disaster?
 

ifa valve is bent its bent it dosnt get worse over time
on the tdi the lifters take more damage than the valves do
they are at a 90 deg angel to the piston so it pushes the back of the lifters out

RE: timing belt disaster?
 

Yeah definatly And if your motor really is blown, try and track down a tdi smashed in the rear end at a junk yard, buy the motor and pay a differant shop to put it in for you. and if this shop is screwing you definatly report them to the BBB so other people don't get screwed.

RE: timing belt disaster?
 

Wow. Thanks to everyone for your great comments. You guys rock!

I've got another update that is equates to worse case scenario. SwedishGP may be right. After more tests the shop is telling us that the cylinder is losing compression through the bottom instead of the heads. They think it is ring wear, and while I recognize that anything is possible,it seems to me like that really shouldn't be happening at 117k miles on a diesel motor. We've gotten oil changes religiously.

Anyway, we decided to get a second opinion.

Thanks again for your thoughts. I'll let you know how it pans out.