The timing belt broke on my '03 Golf TDI, and it trashed the engine. I had a mechanic put a replacement in and I just got it back today. He put in a 1.9TDI out of a German Passat, supposedly, just FYI.
So, within 40 miles of driving after picking it up, a bunch of stuff went wrong. I'm just going to paste the list I sent to him into the body of this thread. I thought I'd get you all to chime in on what you think some of the root causes may be so I can be better informed when he gets it back and starts trying to dance around the issues:
1. ABS and Airbag lights have come on.
2. Stereo cut off about halfway through the drive and no longer has any power going to it.
3. A/C feels way underpowered compared to what it used to be. The highest setting used to blow super hard, now it just kind of breezes in. I kept it off for most of the trip.
4. Overall, Golf feels sluggish in 3rd through 5th gear. I tried to test it out in all RPMs and Speed ranges. On my way up to 80mph, the gauge never got past 77-78mph and is now stuck there. The Tach is stuck at around 2700-2800rpm. They will not move up or down. I can't tell if I ever got above 80mph, but it sure didn't feel like it based on my butt dyno and it was challenging at times to keep up with the traffic in the fast lane. I used to be able to do 90-100mph easy all day long.
5. Turbo doesn't seem to be engaging properly. I'm not really feeling the boost like I used to and, even when I do, it comes on at unusual times.
6. Turn signals have uneven speed (click click.....click........click...click click.........click.....click.....I think you get the drift)
7. Engine seems to be running super cool (at least according to the gauge). It used to run steadily around 190 deg. in all conditions. On this trip, at highway speeds, it barely got past the first marking and was sometimes well below that (I think that would mean around 130-150 deg.). In stop and go it read between the first and second marker but just barley above the first (150 -170 deg., I guess).
8. Idle sounds a little rough at times. Engine is nice and smooth for the most part, but at low rpms (as when I'm just letting out the clutch in first or winding down in second right before I depress the clutch as I come to a light) it gets a little rattly/buzzy. It's not shaking, but it was not like that before.
9. When I finally stopped at my destination, coolant came streaming out from under the car. Don't know if it's a leaky hose or burst hose or what as I couldn't see through the mess of hoses or get under the car, but it's more than just a few drops. It was enough to make a sizeable puddle under the car. I'm hoping it's not a bad head, since the customer who had this before complained about overheating or leakages or something like that, if I recall.
Did you swap the whole engine or just the block/head?
the electrical.... check grounds, also check to make sure its actually charging, battery levels getting low will cause all sorts of issues, like the signals you described and warning lights. were you able to restart the car after?
the cooling.. check the thermostat, might not be opening or closing properly, and check the cooling levels.
id just take it back to the mechanic, make him fix it. sometimes with a engine swap a few air hoses or reconnect of wires get missed. Some mechanics are so lazy they don't even take it out for a test ride and check the fluids and to make sure it runs ok after such a big job, it takes time for air bubbles to come out etc.