Shop Shots volume 2

So last weeks “Shop Shops” was a pretty big hit! Thanks Brett for the great name. I think this will be a Thursday post from now on.

This picture could fall under the “Tech Tip of the Day” post. This is a transmission seal on a 2002(or so) VW passat. One of the mechanics in the shop replaced this seal because it was leaking. This is actually a pretty common repair. Well, a couple of days later the customer comes back in saying his car is leaking worse than before.

The mechanic that had replaced it was off that day. One of the other guys had to remove the axle and the flange to gain access to the seal. He called me over to show me what he found. It turns out that this seal is installed BACKWARDS! We fixed the car no problem. The guy that installed the seal, got the time taken back for his mistake.

This is actually a mess that I made. I had to replace the engine on this 2004 VW Passat. The engine locked up and broke the timing belt. I think it was due to lack of oil changes, but could not prove that. The engine on the right is the new one. This type of job usually takes about 2 days to complete.

I think I took this mid day. No way I would have left this mess overnight. This is not really my favorite job. There is a lot of “How does this go together” on a job like this.

This is a picture of a buddy’s Passat. I have turned a few wrenches on this car. In fact, I think we rebuilt the entire front suspension, among other things. He bought this car with 187,xxx miles on it. He actually knew the original owner of this Passat. Not only that, but he worked on the car starting at 30,xxx miles.

With 284,xxx miles, he sold it to buy a newer Passat. It couldn’t have been 3 weeks after he sold it, it got totaled. It was really sad to see a car that was so well maintained, with such high miles go to the car grave yard. Don’t worry, everyone was ok. It just stinks.

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Thanks for reading
Charles

9 replies
  1. Jeremy
    Jeremy says:

    “There is a lot of “How does this go together” on a job like this.”
    I love this. I can imagine doing this. I get overwhelmed when I do something like that. I find it’s best to just take my time.

    My friend wants to buy a Nissan 300zx and pull/rebuild the engine. I’m trying to convince him not to because it seems like a hassle for no reason.

    As for the poor Passat.. I feel his pain. My first car had 87,000km on it and I was the 2nd owner. The car drove like a dream and it got totaled. Everything happens for a reason. I landed in a nice little MK4 Golf and maybe the owner of the Passat will land himself a new sweet ride also.

    As always Charles, another great read!

    Reply
  2. Kevin
    Kevin says:

    My new Passat is a awesome upgrade! Hopefully you’ll see it soon. It’s prob one of the cleanest 2001 Passats out there

    Reply

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