First major problem in 54k miles (overheating)

Nefarious · Aug 29, 2007

Well, I picked up the Treg today. Final bill: $64 to replace serpintine belt which was showing signs of cracking on the ribs. No charge for the waterpump/thermostat replacement.

BUT, as soon as I hopped in I noticed the nav was wigging out and the nav display on the MFI was missing. Pulled it around to the tech and confirmed that the nav unit was not being seen on the bus. The thought is that the abnormal voltage condition (low due to rad fan blazing away trying to cool the coolant) caused the nav failure. I know it's a stretch but thats what we (tech, service writer & myself) are all tell VWofA to get them to cover the cost since I'm 4k out of BtoB warranty. I also had it noted on my claim with VWofA that I'm a loyal VW owner (this is my 9th VW)

aircooled · Aug 29, 2007

Man, when it rains it pours. Have they pulled the radio and confirmed the connections? Did they do any work to mess with the hood switch?

Nefarious · Aug 30, 2007

Yeah, we pulled the radio and checked the connection. But I didn't think about the hood switch. What does that do?

Nefarious · Sep 4, 2007

Nefarious said:
Yeah, we pulled the radio and checked the connection. But I didn't think about the hood switch. What does that do?

Well, I'm a dumbass!!! On my way to the dealership this morning I remembered that the video in motion device runs inline with the can bus which is where my problem was. So I had the tech removed that device as his first step to check and see if it died and took the canbus with it... Well, that was the problem; So I just paid an hour of labor for a stupid problem that I could have fixed at home myself.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

volkster · Sep 5, 2007

Hey Nefarious, did your water temp gauge pick up the high temp? Or did only the idiot light sense it? Or both? Just curious as to could it have been somewhat a gradual (intermittent) problem or was the problem instantaneous and constant.

Nefarious · Sep 5, 2007

volkster said:
Hey Nefarious, did your water temp gauge pick up the high temp? Or did only the idiot light sense it? Or both? Just curious as to could it have been somewhat a gradual (intermittent) problem or was the problem instantaneous and constant.

Yes, the water temp gauge displayed the high temp and no it wasn't a gradual failure. It was fine during the 50minute drive to Valley Center and 5 minutes into the drive home from Valley Center this happened.

volkster · Sep 5, 2007

Nefarious said:
Yes, the water temp gauge displayed the high temp and no it wasn't a gradual failure. It was fine during the 50minute drive to Valley Center and 5 minutes into the drive home from Valley Center this happened.

Thanks. It is good to know that the gauges do work and give an early warning.

torookie · Sep 13, 2007

Yeti said:
Now that is being a slacker!! ; ) I had people looking at my big stickers as well untill I took them off and replaced them with the smaller ones.

someone say stickers? i want stickers! where do i get stickers? can't find cool touareg stickers anywhere.

Rickanns · Sep 14, 2007

Glad to see your interested....The stickers mentioned here can only be obtained by coming to the Colorado Touareg Rally which was at the end of July. If you search for "Colorado Touareg Rally" you should be able to see some pix of the logo.

There should be another Rally next about the same time frame. We will probably have new sitckers, T-shirts, golf shirts, and probably hats for the event.

Hang in there

Rick

TREGinginCO · Sep 14, 2007

I still have my large stickers on the Poser-T and get questions from people all the time who are not aware that the TOUAREG is an off-roader (Yeti --- don't make me come over there!!!

)

Yeti · Sep 14, 2007

TREGinginCO said:
I still have my large stickers on the Poser-T and get questions from people all the time who are not aware that the TOUAREG is an off-roader (Yeti --- don't make me come over there!!! )

Well it is an offroader, just not yours!!

Getting hung up on a snow mound in front of your house does not constitute offroading either. :twisted: :drunk:

TREGinginCO · Sep 14, 2007

Wow... rough crowd. I'm going to play in the "hills" next weekend --- finally getting my '06 in the dirt the way it should be driven. I'll take pictures.

aircooled · Sep 14, 2007

Ahem, mods and others, I think that we have strayed off topic far enough. Do I need to make a sticker wannabe thread?

torookie · Sep 17, 2007

CO is a loooong way from Chicago, but from the rally forum/pics, I'm sure it's worth every mile. For now, I'll keep praying for a blizzard here, so I don't have to drive to WI for cheap thrills... I meant trails

nltomba · Jan 7, 2008

After 2 weeks of vacation, I started up the treg and everything was fine. Drove it for 25 min, turned of engine and heard something running.It was the colling fan.
Turned engine on and temp on coolant and oil was higher than normal.
Shut it off and after 3 minutes turned it on again. Temps were normal, but as soon as I started driving again temp went up and warning sign came on.
However engine did not feel abnormally hot so I had it towed in to my regular garage and have it checked. We will se what they come up with today.
Anyone else have an idea?

Vegas Matt · Jan 7, 2008

Coolant temp sensor maybe? I recall a bad sensor leading to the cooling fan staying on with Jimbuffalo a while ago. I don't recall if we talked about what the gauges were showing though.

If I'm not mistaken, there are at least two coolant temp sensors on the V8.

However, if it is a sensor, I don't know why this would cause the oil to run (read) warmer as well.

Good luck,
Matt

nltomba · Jan 8, 2008

My garage told me that if it idles it does not overheat but when you drive it it does. There will be no coolant flow. However they could not fix it and would outsource it to an import specialist who has the right tools. The price I was quoted was $2300 2400
This would be every thing though incl timing belt, thermostat, pulleys etc.
1st vw parts.com quoted me $746 for parts and surprise surprise, my dealer quoted $1100 for the job. It means a new waterpump, timing belt and labor.
They told me that they check the pulleys and tensioners and only replace those if necessary, but even if I need some of those it is still cheaper then I thought.

Any comments? It is at the dealership right now

Vegas Matt · Jan 9, 2008

About the only thing I can think of is what you already said above: Do the timing belt while they're in there to save on labor down the road. Do the t-stat, as it's prudent to do it while everything's apart and drained.

If I am understanding things correctly, your dealer would be installing your parts from 1stVW for $1100, totaling $1846, or (doubtfully) $1100 for parts and labor at the dealer? If I had the choice between an indie shop and a cheaper dealer, I'd pick the dealer, just because it's guaranteed that they have access to the manuals and tools to do this job right.

Sorry to hear the bad news, but sounds like it's time for some work. Good luck!
Matt

nltomba · Jan 9, 2008

No that is a misunderstanding.
My regular garage could not do the job since it requires special tools. He would have outsourced it to an import specialist, costing me 2300 2400 dollars
1stvwparts quoted me $746 for parts only so I thought this import specialist was a rip off.
I called the dealer and they would do the job for 1100 parts and labor.
As far as parts this would include timing belt, new waterpump. Iam at 71k miles
Pulleys etc are inspected and are replaced at an additional charge.

Truck ended up needing waterpump, timingbelt replaced, 1 tensioner, new thermostat, new serpentine belt and front door adjusted. Total amount 1560 dollars incl labor.
All other parts were in good condition to last another 80k.

I look at it that maintenance was done a little early with the inconvenience of a stalled car due to overheating. All in all not to bad I think.

Reason for the high amount is that the whole front end of the car has to be removed which is very labor intensive. Time for VW to redesign the thing I think.
It is also the reason why I would not buy a passat W8. That one is designed to have the engine removed for just about anything!

Pull

Vegas Matt · Jan 11, 2008

Very surprising that the dealer was the cheap option, and it's how I would have gone too. I do recall someone mentioning the V8 timing belt being $1500 or so alone at their dealer, but I'm not sure if that includes the water pump and such that were in your deal. In any regard, glad they got it working for you, even if the preventative maintenance on the belt is early. It's better to do it while it's all apart to save on labor later.

Matt

First major problem in 54k miles (overheating)

Nefarious

aircooled

Nefarious

Nefarious

volkster

Nefarious

volkster

torookie

Rickanns

TREGinginCO

Yeti

TREGinginCO

aircooled

torookie

nltomba

Vegas Matt

nltomba

Vegas Matt

nltomba

Vegas Matt

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities