Temecula Auto Repair

I answered the phone at the shop a few days ago and concerned voice came over the phone asking "how much is a alternator on a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. As I always do, I asked "why do you think you need an alternator?". The caller explained that the vehilce had been to the dealership for a 80,000 mile service and a few days later the battery light came on and the car died. He towed it back to the dealership and they "tested" it for $149 and said it needed an alternator. They quoted him over $1200 for the repair. I thought this was strange for a Volkswagen with 80,000 miles on it, but quoted him a price. It was less than half of the dealership. I told him to have it towed in, but we need to test it ourselves before we condem the alternator. We performed our Charging System Test and found that the power distribution bar (see picture) had burnt and by jumping it we got the al ... read more

We recently got a 2011 VW GTI 2.0T in the shop. It was diagnosed to have a leaking head gasket at another shop. We would not condemn the head gasket until we could see exactly where the coolant was leaking from. We recommended to the client that the intake manifold be removed (as it would have to be removed anyway to replace the head gasket) and a pressure test be performed with the intake manifold out of the way. As you can see from the video, it was not a leaking head gasket, but a leaking water pump. *** I did incorrectly state in the video that this Volkswagen had an electric water pump. It does not, this VW GTI has a belt driven water pump as you can see in the picture. *** When the intake manifold was removed it was clear that the plastic housing of the water pump was leaking, not the head gasket. As you can imagine, our client was very relieved that it was a water pump repair rather than a head gasket replacement... If you are looking for a VW | Volkswagen Service and Rep ... read more

We received a 2000 Audi A6 V8 with a Check Engine Light on. The vehicle did have a rough idle. We downloaded the codes and found codes: P0300, P0301,P0302, P0303, P0304, P1114, P1340. We noticed that all the miss fires where on the passengers' side of the vehicle. We recommended removal of the valve covers and inspection of the camshaft chain adjusters. We found that the passengers' camshaft chain adjuster had completely failed. And that the drives' side adjuster was weak and about to fail. The customer was extremely luck that the the drivers' side camshaft timing chain had only jumped one tooth. If it had come off, major valve and possibly engine damage would have occurred. We replaced both camshaft timing chain adjuster and since the timing belt has to be removed to remove the cam shafts and the cam shafts have to be removed to remove the cam shaft adjusters. We recommended replacement of the timing, belt, water pump, idlers and tensioner while the vehicle was apart ... read more

If you have a late model Volvo and the Air Conditioning goes from ice cold to hot after driving for about 15 minutes. Then if the vehicle is allowed to cool off, the A/C goes back to cold again, we have your solution. On many late model Volvo's the Air Conditioning Compressor Clutch starts to fail after getting hot. To remedy this problem you have to replace the A/C Compressor with an updated unit, which include an update clutch assembly. We also recommend replacing the Air Conditioning Compressor Clutch Relay at the same time, because it may have been taxed during the clutch failure and is no longer reliable. This is not a "do-it-yourself" type job, unless you have an Air Conditioning Machine that can evacuate the Freon from the ... read more

Here is a short video of a 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman. When it came to the shop it has no coolant in the reservoir. Coolant flowed out on top of the transmission as fast as we poured it in, but it did still run. The customer stated that it heated up very quickly and he shut it off immediately. We were able to perform a cooling system test (see video) and you can see the coolant spraying out of a cracked thermostat housing. After replacing the thermostat housing and stabilizing the cooling system, we were able to get the vehicle running long enough to properly perform a head gasket/block test. Unfortunately this Mini Cooper failed the head gasket test and we had to recommend removal of the cylinder head for testing and inspection. The machine shop found that the cylinder head was badly warped and had to be straightened or replaced. The only thing that could have prevented this is cooling system service. As you can see in the third picture, there is a lot of build up in the cooling s ... read more

The video below shows a 2005 Volvo S60R that we are working on. It had a larg oil leak and a lack of power. We found that the oil trap hose had been blown open (see pictures) and the oil trap had been damaged. After replacing the oil trap and hoses to eliminate the large vacuum leaks, it was discovered that the engine still had a miss fire. We determined that #3 cylinder was miss firing and used a borascope to inspect the inside of the cylinder. We saw that a large portion of the cylinder wall had been damaged, most likely from the lean condition. Unfortunately in this case the engine has to either removed, disassembled and resleeved or the entire engine must be replaced. If you are looking for a shop that really knows your Volvo give us a call at (951) 225-1131 or click here to make your Online Appointment. If you are looking for the Volvo Service and Repair Specialists in Temecula, Murrieta, Winchester, Falbrook, Menif ... read more

Here is my favorite trick, it always get me a cookie. It only took my Mommy a few hours to teach me this trick, but I sure got a lot of treats in the process. The hardest part for me it to make sure my tail stops wagging, I know I am going to get a cookie so I almost can't help myself... I hope you enjoyed my trick and I will be posting more soon

In the past we have seen a few VW |Volkswagen VR6 motors come in not running and after testing the vehicle and removing the engine and timing cover (rear of the engine). We found that the oil pump bolt had come loose and allowed the oil pump drive gear to walk out. It this case we had a Volkswagen Passat come in not running. We tested it and determined that crankshaft was turning and the camshaft was not. The VR6 is an interference motor so we recommended removal of the engine, removal of the cylinder head, inspection of the timing chains and replace the valves that are bent. After removing the engine and timing covers, we were surprised to find it was not the oil pump bolt that had come loose, but the lower timing chain had actually broken in half (chain fom the crankshaft gear to the oil pump gear). Here are some pictures of the repair including arrows pointing the eight bent valves. If you are in need of service or repair on your VW | Volkswagen whether it has a VR6 in it or not ... read more

Here is a picture of a transfer case off of an all wheel drive Jaguar. The customer was told that it had "Life Time Fluid" in the transfer case and transmission. Well the vehicle has 92,065 miles on it, so I guess the "Life Time" of the fluid and in this case the transfer case itself has been determined. Please do not believe the sales person at the dealership when they say the vehicle has "Life Time Fluid" in it. They are just trying to sell you the vehicle. If the fluid in the transfer case, transmission or differentials on VWs, Jaguars, BMWs, Mercedes Benzs, Land Rovers, Audis or any other vehicle would really last the life of the vehicle, the manufacturer would stand behind it and give a life time warranty on those components. If you have any questions feel free to call us at (951) 225-1131, click here to make an appointment. While you here ... read more

My Mom and Dad got tired of getting up and going downstairs to let me out to go pee-pee. So my Mom taught me to go pee-pee in the potty upstairs. It was a little dicey the first couple of times but I got the hang of it... Take a look at my video, it was a little embarrassing for me but that is all right.. What do you think? I did fall in once so I don't jump up by myself anymore, but it sure is a hit at family parties. Once you get past 10 people standing in the bathroom with you... I'll blog again soon, when my Daddy has time to help me. We are taking videos of some of my other tricks.. More to come