[pawlakan]

Hello all,

I have a 2004 BEW Jetta Manual with 92K miles and I'm at the pointwhere I'm planning my Timing Belt change. I got sent to this sight from TDIclub.com due to the great write ups. I'm up against the decision of whether to do it myself or to have someone do it. What I've seen so far is pretty straight forward but am warry due to the interference design of the engine and the potential to self distruct should any errors be made. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions regarding DIY or resources that I can trust to do the job in the area I live in . Thanks for your help.

Drew

 

[chittychittybangbang]

What is your mechanical experience? Do you have the tools or would you have to buy them all?

 

[pawlakan]

With respect to mechanical experience, I have yet to run into something that's broke that I can't fix. Last week fixed my Tube TV by cutting out two chips and soldering in new ones. Also do all my own work on all my cars. The biggest job I ever did was replace the supercharger on my old Bonneville when it was going bad. I don't have any of the tools I would need to do the job right and often look to buy the tools with the savings of DIY. I have a VCDS though.

I find great satisfaction in not having to trust a dealer to fix my cars and, to date, other than the EGR cooler recall (which I still regret having the dealer do becasue they botched it bad) I have done all work on my Jetta up to 91K miles.

Honestly my biggest concern is with the catastrophic failure mode of not doing this job right. One mistake and I could destroy the head and/or engine. Other jobs if you mess up or something isn't right you get a do over...not with this job. For that reason I'm leaning towards having an expert do this. SOmething about a person who's done it a few hundred times - watching them work is magic to me.

Oh one last thing - it's not about saving money for me - I truely enjoy working on my own cars. But in this case I might feel better having someone do the job and potentially show me the way so I can learn to do it again at 200K miles. Any suggestions on reputable people to work with in the PA/NY/NJ/DE/CT areas?

Much appreciated!
Drew

 

[Keithuk]

Welcome to the forum Drew. welcometomyturbodies

The biggest job I ever did was replace the supercharger on my old Bonneville when it was going bad.

Now I was thinking I don't recall the Triumph Bonneville having a supercharger then I google it it and your talking about the Pontiac Bonneville SSEi I presume.

Enjoy your stay here.

 

[pawlakan]

You got it...Bonneville SSEi. Fantastic car - great engine. Drove it for 247K miles before it finally spun a bearing and wasn't worth repairing. Great engine that 3800 pushrod v6. The Supercharger swap was pretty intense and required a whole lot of dis and re assembly. Took me about 8 hours as I was meticulous to ensure all went perfectly. It did and was very satisfying.

Now I'm 6 years into my Jetta and love it. So far beyond normal Maintenance I've only had to replace the lift pump in the fuel tank, EGR Cooler recall, new tires and battery. Coming up on 100K and hoping to only need a TB job. I will check the camshaft though as I get an occasional valve tap - not always so I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal - maybe a lifter is just not pumping up properly. I'll see when I have the TB job done/do myself. Slowly building up the courage and learning from the experts here and elsewhere.