I bought a brand new 2003 Jetta 1.8T. I have maintained the car at the dealership in a timely fashion. About 4 months ago, I had a timing belt and tensioner pulley put on the car at a privately ? owned shop close to my home and was charged about $650.00 for the job. Then about 3 weeks ago (on Super Bowl Sunday), I was driving to York, PA and the oil light came on and I pulled in to a convenience store and got 3 quarts to add. I then drove another 2 miles and the light was still on. The engine then began making a very loud noise, and I pulled over again and turned the car off. I talked with my dad, and he was able to come and look things over. My oil reservoir was full, and he recommended that I have the car towed to the dealership. They said that the car engine did not look like the proper one that should be in the car. As far as I knew, I had the original engine ? but the dealership in York feels that it was a replacement engine. I have no knowledge of the engine ever being replaced. The dealership went on to tell me that the hoses that were on the car are not the ones that belong on the car, and that there was no code on the cylinder head cover. We were also told at the dealership that there is to be a code that?s supposed to be on the tab protruding from the cylinder head used to pull the engine out ? but that code has been milled off.
My questions are: Could it be possible for the shop that put the timing belt on, to screw up putting the belt on the engine and possibly blowing up the engine ? then putting a remanufactured engine in without my knowledge? Is there any way I could find out with the VIN number if the engine was switched without me knowing about it? Are there any parts in an engine (other than the cam and crank shafts) that are to have a VIN number or code stamped on them? Would the VW factory still have any record of any serial numbers or the such that would be ?engraved? or stamped anywhere on my vehicle? Has anyone else ever had this happen to them?
Try VWVortex forum for specifics on what you should likely have.
There are barcode labels all over the car and engine. Call the VW of America representative with your concerns.
The hoses being changed does not sound unusual. When you got the timing belt changed, what the water pump also changed? Most of the time these are done together and changing the hoses are not unusual when changing the water pump.
The rest just stumps me, I have never heard of a shop swapping out the engine like that without at least warning the customer. Was the shop reputable? Have you talked to them yet? If they did do that then there are no bones about it, it is wrong and illegal, and you should contact a lawyer ASAP.