Jetta Back on the Road

For those of you who didn't know, our VW Jetta has been out of commission for some time now. It originally had some over heating problem which I diagnosed as the water pump. The water pump, which runs on the timing belt on this car, was the problem and it was replaced with a better replacement pump. (The old one had a plastic impeller and the new one has a cast brass one). In the process of reassembling the car I installed the timing belt incorrectly by having it off by one tooth. Since this is an interference engine (this means that when the valves are all the way down and the piston all they way up, they can collide) being off by one tooth caused the valves to crash into the pistons and bent some valves. Not knowing this initially I realized that the engine was not timed properly, and thus began a quest to determine the correct way of timing the engine. After speaking to several mechanics, all of which gave me a different answer, I ordered a Haynes manual for the car. This, along with some papers a neighbor copied off for me from another manual, finally gave me the proper procedure for timing the engine.

But by this time it was too late, the damage was already done, the valves were bent. The next question was, how many of the valves were bent? Would I need to replace the whole head, or just a few valves. I spoke to an automotive machinist who told me I would, at best, have 4 valves survive and that I should order a whole new head. Assuming this guy knew what he was talking about, I ordered an $855 head from a place called Alamaba Cylinder Head.

In the mean time, I still had to tear apart the engine so I could replace/repair the head. Volkswagen, in their endeavor to get you to take your car to the dealership for EVERYTHING did a not-so-nice thing. They made all their head bolts so they have to be removed with a special tool! So, refusing to be defeated by them, I scoured the internet until I could find the tool. As it turned out there was a small home-based business selling just the tool I needed only a half hour away from us. Fianlly, I was able to remove the head and see what damage was done. Immediately it was obvious that 4 valves were bent. (By the way there are 5 valves per cylinder = 20 in the engine). Dad came for a visit shortly thereafter and we examined the cylinder head more closely to see if any other valves had been injured. Again, Volkswagen made their head so that another special tool had to be used for removing of the valves. This tool we made from a piece of pipe I had laying in my basement. We finally came to the conculusion that only 4 valves were bent and I could purchase them online for only $5 a piece. This meat that I could send back the other head and get my money back (minus a 10% resocking fee - $85). This was very good news to me. At this point we towed the car to Dad's house so we could work on it using his lift and so I could get it out of my neighbors garage which it had been in for almost a month.

This weekend I went to Mom and Dad's house and spent all day Friday reassembling the car, and at the end of the day... it purred like a kitten! I towed it home last night and all it needs is some power steering fluid and it will be as good as new.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures along the way, they had nothing to do with the story, but I know that the kids are what most people tune in for, so I have to satisfy my readers :-)

This last picture was taken at a restaurant that our neighbors took Shawna and the kids to while I was off fixing the car.