2002 Passat V6 Overheating?

"dogwud" > wrote in
lkaboutautos.com:

> So the engine heats up to 200f+, the STOP warning comes on the dashboard,
> it says pull over and fill the coolant. So I check: the coolant if full,
> the fans are working, I wait 20 minutes and take off. Ten minutes later
> it happens again. What is up?
>

Just had this a few weeks ago on a 2000 Passat V6 wagon with 80,000 miles,
heading up the interstate, stopped at a rest stop, as I pulled away the
temp suddenly zoomed. I shut it down, wait, restart, the temp is at normal
level, but if i drive it zooms again within a mile. There was coolant in
the overflow, but AFAIK there's no way to actually look in the radiator,
it's a sealed system.

I nursed it to a dealer about 15 miles away and left it there (this was
Saturday) and my wife came and got me. Turned out it was the water pump, it
was covered under the 100K drivetrain warranty, and they swapped the timing
belt at the same time under the warranty. (I was expecting to pay for the
price of the part) But it was another full Saturday driving the 240 mile
roundtrip to retrieve the car.

No answer. The dealer suggested I have it towed in (15 miles, $90) They
looked closely, changed the timing belt, couldn't find anything wrong with
the water pump, tested system under pressure and could find no leak. "Maybe
there was air in the system that caused the problem!?!"
Changed the oil and charged me $600+
No warranty.
What the *&%&!?

In article
outautos.com>,
"dogwud" > wrote:

> No answer. The dealer suggested I have it towed in (15 miles, $90) They
> looked closely, changed the timing belt, couldn't find anything wrong with
> the water pump, tested system under pressure and could find no leak. "Maybe
> there was air in the system that caused the problem!?!"
> Changed the oil and charged me $600+
> No warranty.
> What the *&%&!?
>

Hmmm... first of all, if you live in the US, AAA Plus costs but $80 per
year and gives you 100 miles of free towing. Believe me, it's worth the
expense!
Second, you paid a danged dealer $600 to change the oil and the timing
belt? Brother, they saw you coming! Now, I understand. It's a
realatively new car but damn! You need to find a guy like I found. A VW
factory trained mechanic who now works for himself. He's good, he's fast
and he's reasonable in his prices. Check the Yellow Pages.

$600 sounds about correct considering it's about 5 hours job according to VW
suggested time. But, not to find why it over heated I'm puzzled. Cooling
systems just don't get "air" in them to cause the problem you have. Look at
you bill and post the part numbers charged out.

"dogwud" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> No answer. The dealer suggested I have it towed in (15 miles, $90) They
> looked closely, changed the timing belt, couldn't find anything wrong with
> the water pump, tested system under pressure and could find no leak.
> "Maybe
> there was air in the system that caused the problem!?!"
> Changed the oil and charged me $600+
> No warranty.
> What the *&%&!?
>

Did you just have a service that involved flushing the cooling system or
something? Cause like Woodchuck said, you don't just get air in the cooling
system unless someone emptied and replaced and caused an air bubble.

Also, I think you got ripped, cause until the dealer found out I was
original owner, he quoted me $700 for labor, water pump and timing belt.
(the belt's what, an $80 part?) So for you to pay $600 without the pump is
pretty high. Well, maybe it was $100 oil change.

"Woodchuck" > wrote in
:

> $600 sounds about correct considering it's about 5 hours job according
> to VW suggested time. But, not to find why it over heated I'm puzzled.
> Cooling systems just don't get "air" in them to cause the problem you
> have. Look at you bill and post the part numbers charged out.
>
> "dogwud" > wrote in message
> lkaboutautos.com...
>> No answer. The dealer suggested I have it towed in (15 miles, $90)
>> They looked closely, changed the timing belt, couldn't find anything
>> wrong with the water pump, tested system under pressure and could
>> find no leak. "Maybe
>> there was air in the system that caused the problem!?!"
>> Changed the oil and charged me $600+
>> No warranty.
>> What the *&%&!?
>>
>
>
>

Here is the invoice detail:
Check engine faults, for overheating, engine is not overheating, found no
problems, guage working properly
9561CPVWA $61.50

Replace timing belt on new body Passat 6 cylinder engine.
9561CPMVW $264.OO
1 078-109-244-H ROLLER - 81.83
1 078-109-243-R ROLLER - 99.90
1 078-109-119-J TOOTH BELT - 110.92

PERFORM OIL CHANGE, ETC.
9561CPMVW 10.83
1 178-115-561-J OIL FILTER - 13.62
1 N-013-849-3 WASHER - 0.50
(I don't see a charge for the oil)

Total Labor: 336.33
Total Parts: 306.62
Tax: 38

Pay: 683.53

But they washed it for free!