[Tracy823]

Hello, I'm new here so I hope I have posted in the right forum/thread. Just bought this car for my daughter around 2 months ago. We were out in the car yesterday and all was fine as far as we knew. We went through a drive thru which took a while and I noticed the a/c wasn't blowing cold air. When we pulled out of restaurant parking lot on to the road, a/c still plowing hot air and the engine wouldn't shift out of first gear (automatic transmission). I had my daughter pull over. That's when the warning light came on that looks like a thermometer in water. it flashed a few times with a warning bell and went off, saw some steam coming from hood. We turned off the car immediately. All the antifreeze had gushed out of the car. It seems to be coming from the back of the motor and ran out the right side at back of tire. There was a slight decline in the shoulder of the road so that may be why it ran in that direction but we aren't sure. After filling the car up with water to try and drive it to a safe spot to load it on a trailer, it ran just fine (gear wise) that short distance of course until the water ran out again immediately. We have some experience with the 68' and 78' bugs but not these new ones and REALLY can't afford a trip to a VW dealer. Gonna get up under it today but if anyone has any ideas, tips or hopefully you know what this is, please help. Thank you! What's sad is that we just put the permanent tags on it before we took it out yesterday.

 

[esse10]

heating up

Sorry to hear that. Depandint on how many miles the car has, but I am going to guess that your water pump went bad on it and heated up and also blew the flange gasket. VW got cheap on us and put plastic impellers on these water pumps so you need to replace the water pump with a metal impeller. The coolant frange might also be ruined. good luck man hope this helps out and welcome to the newbeetle org group. Don't put regular tap water in the system, only distilled water and the special coolant from VW-fyi

 

[IndyTom]

X2 with what Esse10 said. I bet your car hasn't had the needed timing belt/water pump service done yet.
How many miles on the car? I would contact a reputable VW shop in your area to address this situation ASAP because once the water pump went out then the bearing can lock up and snap the timing belt which will effectively destroy your engine. Well, best case scenario only your head but it will still cost you about 3000+ dollars to get it fixed. The timing belt service consists of the timing belt, the accessory belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner and tensioner roller/pulley. Total with parts and labor for a Turbo 1.8 should be around $750-800 Dollars. The VW dealer typically charges you between $1100 - $1700 for the same service. The parts are only about $250 bucks so if you are mechanically inclined then you can probably save a few hundred.

Now to the other and probably worse problem. Your transmission. Your 2000 VW New Beetle 1.8 with Automatic is equipped with the single worst transmission ever built by VW the notorious O1M transmission. If your car has close to or over 100k miles on it then it is almost certain that your valve body is shot and needs to be replaced along with the internal wiring harness. If not fixed in time it will destroy the entire transmission along with it. You can try to flush and change the fluid in the transmission and replace the filter but in most cases this will just be a band aid which doesn't last very long. VW deemed the transmission fluid to be "Lifetime" which is a bunch of BULL. That transmission fluid will be as dark as night and there will be lots and lots of metal shavings in your transmission pan. I can guarantee that. Again if you are handy the valve body costs about $400 bucks plus another $99 bucks for a new transmission harness plus new VW only!!! transmission fluid. That costs around $15-20dollars a liter and you will need at least 4 to 5 liters if you do the valve body. You can get it online a bit cheaper than at the dealer. Don't put in GM or some other generic transmission fluid. That transmission won't like it.

The Beetle is a fun vehicle but it is also a very High Maintenance vehicle and unless you like to tinker around yourself this car can really be a money pit especially if you have an Automatic transmission. If the transmission goes out completely it will cost you 5000-6000 to replace.

Good Luck and I hope you will get it running again soon!

 

[IndyTom]

Where are you located? Perhaps a nearby member can suggest a reputable VW shop.

 

[Tracy823]

oh no!

Thanks for the replies but I'm not liking what I'm hearing. I'm located on the boarder of east Tennessee/southwest Virginia. Near Bristol Motor Speedway if that helps. It has 150k on it and we have NO idea what work has been done on it before. I wrote the original owner and asked but have no reply. We would love to do the work ourselves but from what I'm hearing on the timing belt, it takes a experienced VW mechanic to get the timing correct. So you are saying if we have to replace the water pump that the timing belt will probably be snapped? Do you not think the transmission problem was due to the coolant issue going on at that moment?

 

[IndyTom]

Thanks for the replies but I'm not liking what I'm hearing. I'm located on the boarder of east Tennessee/southwest Virginia. Near Bristol Motor Speedway if that helps. It has 150k on it and we have NO idea what work has been done on it before. I wrote the original owner and asked but have no reply. We would love to do the work ourselves but from what I'm hearing on the timing belt, it takes a experienced VW mechanic to get the timing correct. So you are saying if we have to replace the water pump that the timing belt will probably be snapped? Do you not think the transmission problem was due to the coolant issue going on at that moment?

No, I don't think your transmission problem is related to the coolant issue. If you do have contact to the original owner please ask him if he ever had any transmission work done or at least the fluid changed. Either way the fluid needs to be changed every 30k miles on a high mileage beetle like this one.

If the water pump is bad it can lead to the timing belt breaking and you don't want that to happen since the VW engine is an interference engine which means when the timing belt goes the valves (20 in all) will violently collide with the Pistons. Best case scenario is that only the valves will be bent. But in some instances the pistons and even the cylinder walls can be damaged as well. When that happens you might as well get another engine which will be well over what the Beetle is worth.

It really doesn't require a qualified VW mechanic to do the timing belt. Many of us have done it and yes it is a pain but it can be done if you take your time and follow some of the excellent DIY's on this forum.

At 150k miles even if the timing belt service was performed at around 75k miles (which it should have been) it is once again due for the second time. However, if it never has been done then you are sitting on a time bomb and the water pump is the least of your worries.

I would try and find a local VW repair shop. Or Some Euro type repair place that does specialize in VW/Audi type cars and have them check it over. They won't be cheap but they will be less than a dealer will charge you.

 

[IndyTom]

Here are some listings I found for VW Repair shops in or near Bristol, TN.

Roys Volkswagon & Subaru Repair in Bristol, TN : RepairPal

VW Repair Shops

 

[The NEW Ringo]

Dido that

I would advise you to heed Indy Toms advice.

"since the VW engine is an interference engine which means when the timing belt goes the valves (20 in all) will violently collide with the Pistons. Best case scenario is that only the valves will be bent. But in some instances the pistons and even the cylinder walls can be damaged as well. When that happens you might as well get another engine which will be well over what the Beetle is worth."

It may be temping to drive it now but if you don't address these issues you WILL make it worse. You have gotten a great head start by posting here. Indy Tom is well respected and usually has well informed advice. You have made the right post in the right thread. I can tell you if you have a little knowledge and determination you can do most of the work on your beetle with the help of the Do It Yourself threads here know as DIY. The beetles have many issues. When my beetle spewed coolant all over the ground it was the thermostat housing tube which is made out of plastic. It broke and had a crack on the underside. It was hard to trace down. I had the dealer do the work at this time. It was around $ 1300.00 for timing belt service. I am sure they replaced the impeller with another plastic one? I would prefer metal as Tom stated. How ever I did do my own belt service on a 1998 beetle 2.0 motor I had before this one. It was new to me but doable with the help of the ORG and the people on it. I took the car to TOD in 2009 and it made it. So I did a great job for the first time. Good luck with your adventure. In the end when the beetle is running it is a great pleasure to drive.

 

[Tracy823]

I do appreciate all the help. Am I understanding correctly that you are saying that the timing belt has most likely broke because of this coolant problem? I do understand that we need to change that belt and we're planning on that asap. We know the implications of timing belt breaking and the destruction of the engine. I'm just making sure I understand what you are saying. We are hoping it's just a hose and easily fixed. Water pump wouldn't even be too bad. Are you suggesting that it has happened?

 

[Smileybug]

No one is saying that it has, as far as I can tell, just that if a water pump fails too badly it can. Completely possible for a water pump and have no issues with the timing belt. But just be aware its a possibility. You would know if the belt went...the car would have shut off and you would have heard a lot of noise.

 

[Tracy823]

oh ok. No it was still running. We won't be running it any until this problem is fixed. Thank you guys and please post anything else any of you can think of. I will let you know what it was for future posters.

 

[Zann]

oh ok. No it was still running. We won't be running it any until this problem is fixed. Thank you guys and please post anything else any of you can think of. I will let you know what it was for future posters.

Basically what everyone is telling you, to prevent the car from destroying itself, fix whatever is causing the the leak and then also order a timing belt replacement kit which includes belts, bolts, new water pump, and the special coolant. Do it all now before the car sees a city street again.

If the pump failed, it might have leaked from there or the build up caused because of a defective pump and the timing belt would appear to be fine but of course replacing the pump you might as well do the belt too. The factory water pump is a cheap device with plastic blades that is designed only to live long enough for the scheduled timing belt replacement.

Aftermarket water pumps in those kits tend to have metal blades instead of the cheap plastic ones.

 

[Smileybug]

I will say not true on the pumps anymore. We got a kit for our TDI and it was a plastic impeller pump. Though it feels much more heavy duty. And we asked the 2 mechanics we know (both VW specialists) about it and one actually said he preferred the newly re-done plastic pumps. Its more of a composite apparently and much sturdier. He's had problems with the metal impellers breaking and that actually results in more damage than the plastic. Just my .02.

 

[Johnny Ohio]

This subject has always been confusing to me.

I did my TB/WP at 80,400. The vanes on the WP looked good. I installed a TB/WP kit with a metal impeller. I lucked out on the TB disaster.

I have heard that the design of the plastic impeller was to relieve stress on the pump.

Of course I have also heard of lots of metal imp's destroying themselves because of bearing failure due to the drag on the belt.

I think I'll hope for the best.

 

[Tracy823]

Update

Ok. We found a radiator hose with a leak. Replaced it and filled system up with fluid etc. Also found another hose busted at back of engine and replaced it. Started car for testing of overheating. Turned on A/C full blast. Worked great. Car sputtered a few seconds but ran smoothly after that. Thermostat never opened up. Then after about 10 minutes of car idling, the coupling at the same hose I replaced, came apart from hose. Turned off the car. After inspecting the part that failed, it was really deteriorated. Trying to figure out if we had air in the system which cause this coupling to come apart or if there are just a lot of bad hoses and parts that are failing at same time from the pressure. Also, would air in the system cause thermostat not open? Any suggestions? Please help.

 

[Tracy823]

one more thing. The fan on the drivers side is not working. We have never seen it work that is. Could this be causing more pressure or overheating?

 

[IndyTom]

Ok. We found a radiator hose with a leak. Replaced it and filled system up with fluid etc. Also found another hose busted at back of engine and replaced it. Started car for testing of overheating. Turned on A/C full blast. Worked great. Car sputtered a few seconds but ran smoothly after that. Thermostat never opened up. Then after about 10 minutes of car idling, the coupling at the same hose I replaced, came apart from hose. Turned off the car. After inspecting the part that failed, it was really deteriorated. Trying to figure out if we had air in the system which cause this coupling to come apart or if there are just a lot of bad hoses and parts that are failing at same time from the pressure. Also, would air in the system cause thermostat not open? Any suggestions? Please help.

By coupling that broke are you talking about the heart valve? It has been known to fail after so many years. You have to remember that the car isn't new anymore and after 10+ years things will start to fail. Some of them at the same time as luck will have it.

Good Luck and I hope you get it running right again soon!

 

[Tracy823]

yes! The heart valve intersection of hoses. I do understand that it's old but what I'm wondering is if there could be an underlying problem that's causing more pressure than usual and it's find the week spots. Any ideas? Could it be the fan?
thermostat etc?

 

[IndyTom]

yes! The heart valve intersection of hoses. I do understand that it's old but what I'm wondering is if there could be an underlying problem that's causing more pressure than usual and it's find the week spots. Any ideas? Could it be the fan?
thermostat etc?

I don't think excess pressure would be the problem if the fan or fan's aren't working and if the thermostat doesn't open then the car may overheat but it wouldn't cause excess pressure. Heat yes, pressure no. If you think the thermostat is partially to blame just change it. It's 28 bucks or perhaps a bit more at the dealer. I wouldn't buy a cheap one at your local auto parts place. I am all for saving money but with a VW or Audi Thermostat it is best to get the "Real" Deal!

http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-New_Beetle--1.8T/Search/Thermostat/ES261231/

On a 2.0 it is pretty easy to swap out. On a 1.8 not so much.

You may just to be save swap out the Thermostat housing/neck and definitely the O-Ring just to be sure.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-New_Beetle--1.8T/Search/Thermostat/


I forgot you do have a 1.8 in which case it is not so easy to swap a Thermostat out. Actually it is a major pain. It can be done but you have to disconnect and in some cases
remove the alternator to get to the Thermostat neck/housing. And you need a swivel socket and some long finger. Most Shops charge you 150-200 Dollars extra to change out a
Thermostat in a 1.8

 

[Tracy823]

ok well we decided to go ahead and replace thermostat also. I hope it's not a huge pain as you say. It's aggravating as it is that another part blew apart. I wondering if it's where we didn't bleed the system before starting and cause the pressure I was mentioning. so now we will replace "heart" valve at radiator and thermostat and see if anything else blows apart. lol. Oh and we have to figure out why one of the engine cooling fans isn't working. Thanks for the help. I'll post again with update.