Temecula Auto Repair

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

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