July 2011 – Atlantic Motorcar

BMW Z3 M Convert – Evaporative Emission System Fault

Most late model cars are equipped with a system to both capture and recover vapors from the fuel system. In the past these vapors were often vented to the atmosphere, not exactly an environmentally friendly approach. The evaporative emission recovery systems are usually reliable, but from time to time, as cars age, problems do occur. In our workshop we've chosen to efficiently diagnose these problems through the use of a machine that creates a low pressure smoke containing a UV dye. By the use of this system, even leaks as small as a pinhole can be located. We've all seen [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 31st, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Audi AllRoad – Camshaft Tensioner Seal Oil Leakage

We saved this customer from what could be a very expensive repair, a broken timing belt. Like most cars now on the road, the Audi 2.7 and 2.8 engines use a rubber timing belt. Located in a plastic housing on the front of the engine, the timing belt keeps the valve opening in sequence with the rotation of the engine pistons. A failure of the timing will allow the valves to contact the pistons, resulting in major engine damage. The Audi and VW 1.8, 2.7 and 2.8 liter engines also use a timing chain to drive the secondary camshafts. This [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 30th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

VW Passat TDI – Engine Damage From Incorrect Oil

But why do I need to use "expensive" Synthetic oil the customer may ask. To which just one of these photos should be worth a thousand words...or a couple of thousand in engine damage. The sad thing, is that this could have been avoided, with a little care, and the proper synthetic engine oil. This Passat has a very unique engine, one of the early VW ""Pumpe Düse" design. Developed by Volkswagen in conjunction with Bosch, Pumpe Düse means "pump injectors" (though "pump dooz" is more fun to say aloud). The electronically-controlled injectors are located at each cylinder where they [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 29th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Audi AllRoad and 2000 Volvo V40 – Rodent Damage

A mouse in the house, or in this case in the engine air box and under the intake manifold. A real problem in Maine, we've heard tales of using moth balls, dryer sheets, even pepper spray to repel the little critters. I'm not sure any of these really work, but I guess its better than traveling with some extra friends on board, worse yet, suffering wiring harness or engine damage from their "creations". Make certain your service facility checks for this when they are caring for your car, forewarned is indeed forearmed. Or to quote that tried but true old [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 28th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Volvo S70 – Defective O-Ring Seals on Oil Pump Pick Up

Car presented with engine making a moderately loud tapping noise, and via OBD-II a fault code was found to be stored for the variable engine valve timing solenoid. Upon inspection the technician noted that engine oil pressure warning light wire was disconnected. We connected wire and engine oil pressure warning light came on. A check of engine oil pressure with mechanical gauge showed pressure to be very low at idle, about 5 PSI, gauge is unsteady and flutters. During extended idle the reading will nearly drop to nearly zero at times. The low and unsteady gauge reading indicates possible cavitations [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 27th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

VW Diesel TDI – Clogged Intake Port

Low power, loss of acceleration on hills and under loads...all of these are symptoms of a clogged intake port on the VW 1.9 liter TDI engine. If you have 70K or more miles, and have not had a intake cleaning, chances are your intake port looks something like the one below. All the air for the engine must pass through this port, and as the port becomes clogged, airflow is reduced, the engine loses efficiency, and power output drops off. Imagine trying to breathe through a straw, and you have a good idea of how your engine feels. Since this [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 26th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Volvo V70 – Power Steering Rack Failure – Water Entry

A simple repair, costing less than $75, could have saved this owner from a nearly $1,900 repair bill, and potential accident. A protective rubber boot, one is located on each side of the steering rack, had split, and over several months, had allowed water to enter into the sealed and lubricated surfaces of the power steering assembly. The water quickly did its damaged on the polished and machined surfaces of the steering rack and pinion gears, as well as contaminating the power steering fluid system. The resulting damage caused in rapid wear to the steering rack assembly, excessive play in [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 25th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Audi A6 – Constant Velocity Joint (CV) Boot Cracking

I should first mention that this is not an Audi problem, but is a concern on any front wheel drive vehicle, as well as some cars, Mercedes and BMW, which use CV joints on the rear axles. Just in the nick of time, one of our techs noted the deep cracking on the constant velocity (CV) joint boots during a scheduled service of this car. The axleshaft is used to transmit force from the transmission to the wheel. The CV Joints allow the axle to pivot when the wheels are turned, and rotate at the speed of the front/rear wheels. [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 24th, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

VW Jetta Diesel TDI – Dual Mass Flywheel Failure

Great idea, poor implementation. Sometime back in the early 1990s Porsche tried this in the 911 series, it did not work out well then, and it seems not to have worked well now. The dual mass flywheel is composed of two parts, damaged with silicone to soften engine noise and impact shock during clutch engagement. Often, with older and high mileage cars, the silicone and damping material fail on the dual mass flywheel, resulting in engine noise, vibration, and excessive lash in the driveline when engaging the clutch. This vehicle experienced the failure at about 50K miles, really quite low [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 23rd, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

Audi AllRoad – Heated Steering Wheel Problem

After no less than 5 trips to a local Audi dealer, and over $1,100 in repair bills, this car landed on our doorstep. Now, as a former AllRoad owner, I have soft spot in my heart for these wonderful cars, complex as they may be, so I viewed this as an enjoyable challenge! The problem, the heated steering wheel did not work. Yes, you read that right, some of the Audis do have a heated steering wheel, and as a Audi owner I can testify that its might nice to have on those cold Maine winter mornings. On the Audi [...]

By Atlantic Motorcar Center| July 22nd, 2011|Case Studies|Comments Off

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