If it's not one thing, it's another

1249 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Touring Dude, Jan 30, 2014

nessiedoll

Discussion Starter · Jan 29, 2014

So on Friday, I took daisy to the mechanic who claimed he worked on plenty of beetles and my small coolant leak should be no issue. Well the job that they said should be done on Friday was still not done yesterday. They kept saying the thermostat housing needed replacing and they were having a difficult time getting said part. So I drove my happy behind to the auto parts store and bought the thermostat housing. Well when I arrived at the shop with said part, they said "oh, that's not it. This is what it is." So I see the part and decide I'm going to call the vw dealership and see if they have this part. They talk to the mechanic for about 5 minutes, figure out the part and then tell me it's at their dealership and they will hold it for me. So I then drive my brother's gas guzzler into lexington to the dealership and pick up my part, which happened to be a coolant flange and not a thermostat housing. I drive back to the mechanic and then wait for what feels like forever to get my car fixed. The mechanic then pulls my car out and tells me my oil light is on but my car is full of oil so he doesn't know why it is. He thinks it's because he had to make the car hot to be able to fix it. So, me being the car incompetent person that I am, say I will call in the morning if the light is still on when I head to school. I head home then and realize my radio no longer works and my clocks are all messed up. Anyway, at this point it was late and I decided to just worry about it in the morning. Enter cussing and irritation. :cuss:

So this morning, my mom starts my car and asked me if the temperature light always turned on. I asked her if it was blue, yellow, or red. She wasn't sure so but thought it was red and said she'd go check, the light was off when she went to check. So I drove it to school and it was all fine and dandy through my tiny town and then suddenly it beeps and the red oil comes on and the blue temperature gauge starts flashing. It suddenly turned off so I figured it must be a fluke. Well then my heat, which worked fine up until today, stopped working and just blew cold air. So now I'm thoroughly frustrated and have no idea what's going on with my car. Does anyone have any clue as to why all of this is wrong?

Sorry for the whole book I wrote, I'm just ready for daisy to be herself again! :banghead:

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MichelleRoze

· #2 · Jan 29, 2014

Sorry for your troubles! First off...never EVER go back to that mechanic. Secondly, the temp light may have been flashing because he may not have flushed the coolant lines properly and there may be a bubble in the coolant system. Meaning that once that bubble surfaces, it'll flush the coolant through the system and you may actually be low on coolant. Also, if they replaced the coolant flange it is HIGHLY recommended to replace the sensor as well. And it's possible that if the sensor is bad it could be causing a whole mess of lights and issues as well. And his excuse to "make the car hot to fix it" is complete BS! Yes the car needs to get to operating temperature to make sure you get all the bubbles out of the coolant system but to be 'hot' is not a good thing. Blowing cold air usually means the heater core...considering your coolant system recently went through a "fix" could have something to do with it. Especially if they did it wrong. Please check and make sure you're coolant is PINK. Not green, purple, blue whatever...but PINK. After working at the dealership, I found out the reason why VW's use the specific PINK coolant is because their engines run hotter than most. And in doing so, the coolant that works for most cars cannot withstand the heat that the VW engines make. So they designed a specific fluid that would work well with the heat. Is this true? I don't really know, that's just what they tell me at work.

If you can, call your local dealer and ask what they charge to do an inspection on the car. Explain your situation. Then you can get the REAL info as to what happened and maybe demand your money back from the so called "mechanic" who "fixed" your car.

Let us know what the dealer says and we may be able to help you as to what to actually fix and what to skip. The dealer will of course tell you EVERYTHING that's wrong, but it doesn't mean you have to do it all.

Hope that helps and hope you can get Daisy back to her old self again. I know what it's like to have a sick bug. I just recently had a sick one myself.

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Oh Randi

· #3 · Jan 29, 2014

I hope this goes without saying, get a new mechanic.

Get it scanned and properly diagnosed before throwing more parts at it. Cooling system problems usually aren't too hard to figure out. Be careful with the oil light being on, you don't want to drive it with low oil pressure. Unless you want a new motor lol

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Oh Randi

· #4 · Jan 29, 2014

And as far as the radio goes, do you have a stock or aftermarket? Some aftermarket head units need to be reset when the battery is disconnected (if the clocks are messed up, that could be why). They have a reset button on the back usually. Some kind of surge protection to keep you from frying it. Stock radios I have zero experience with sorry lol.

I'd be pissed if a mechanic gave me my car back and said oh I don't know why the oil light is on but here you go! Sorry you have to deal with that.

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nessiedoll

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 29, 2014

Thanks all! I have no intentions of ever going back. She'll be going to the dealer from now on. I just thought I'd have a quick fix and could get to school and work like I had been.

With that said, I will call the dealership and ask about it so I can take her in and get her looked at.

I'm super pissed at the mechanic and he knows it.

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jfoj

· #6 · Jan 29, 2014 (Edited)

You probably have 2 different issues.

There have been some wiring reported issues that can seem to cause an intermittent oil light issue, BUT these cars are also known for clogged/restricted oil pick ups as well.

The oil light issue is most likely a clogged oil pick up. This is a BIG issue with the 1.8t engine. If the oil light comes with a beep when you start to drive off, then stop the car and let it idle again and the light goes out, this is most likely a clogged/restricted oil pick up.

The oil pick up problem is due to soft failed thermostats causing the engine to run too cool.

A blinking Blue coolant light usually means the coolant sensor is BAD.

The car also needs a new thermostat, they ALL fail soft and the engine runs too cold. See the 2nd link below in my signature for thermostat info.

Unless the shop damaged or caused the wiring to become intermittent when they were working on the car, I would replace the coolant sensor, make sure it is a green top unit, probably only about $20 and consider having the oil pan removed and the oil pick up replaced. It should be about a 2.5 hour job, so less than $300 in most areas.

Also read this post - http://newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-liter-turbo/60604-intermittent-oil-pressure-light.html

If the engine is running below 205F at idle, the the thermostat is bad. The only way you can confirm this is with a OBDII tool that can read and display Live/Real Time data. Read the first link below in my signature.

If you are located anywhere in the upper half of the US or Canada, I would say a clogged/restricted oil pick up is highly likely and it is not a bad idea just to pull the oil pan and inspect and replace the oil pick up. This way you will not have any long term damage to the engine. If you neglect doing this and the oil pick up is clogged/restricted, write the car off as you will have major engine damage.

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Smileybug

· #7 · Jan 29, 2014

I have seen several cases of a blinking temp light and an oil light coming on together be a result of a failed coolant temp sensor. I would go ahead and replace it, especially if its not green (but even if it is, it doesn't matter. They fail too...mine lasted less time than the original one and the green is supposed to be improved!). Its very cheap too.

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nessiedoll

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 29, 2014

Smileybug said:
I have seen several cases of a blinking temp light and an oil light coming on together be a result of a failed coolant temp sensor. I would go ahead and replace it, especially if its not green (but even if it is, it doesn't matter. They fail too...mine lasted less time than the original one and the green is supposed to be improved!). Its very cheap too.

Duralast/Coolant Temperature Sensor (SU5404) | 2000 Volkswagen Beetle 4 Cylinders 1.8L Turbo | AutoZone.com

Would this be the right thing?

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Oh Randi

· #9 · Jan 29, 2014

nessiedoll said:
Duralast/Coolant Temperature Sensor (SU5404) | 2000 Volkswagen Beetle 4 Cylinders 1.8L Turbo | AutoZone.com

Would this be the right thing?

Don't get one from an auto parts store. Sure, a few dollars cheaper but trust me, they do not last.

Mine was $12 from the dealership. After the one I bought from the parts store failed in 2 months..

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nessiedoll

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 29, 2014

Oh Randi said:
Don't get one from an auto parts store. Sure, a few dollars cheaper but trust me, they do not last.

Mine was $12 from the dealership. After the one I bought from the parts store failed in 2 months..

Gotcha. Will do!

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Touring Dude

· #11 · Jan 30, 2014

Make sure you buy a new clip (the piece that holds the sensor in place). Oh and a new o-ring also, like this kit - Volkswagen New Beetle 1.8T Engine Cooling Temperature Sensor ES#1484 Coolant Temperature Sensor With O-Ring & Clip - 4 Pin - 059919501AKT

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