So I went back to this mechanic who fist diagnosed the car and said a good used engine replacement is the way to go (that’s where I bought the heat shields…$2.80 a piece)

He had more time to explain Since the cylinders 3 and 5 have good compression a time but bad compression most of the time he believes that the valve rods are not bent but worn/burnt out.

In addition to that while he was checking compression on the cylinders he could see that all injectors had a good spray pattern (by leaving the injectors connected to the IP and just letting the fuel spray off onto the floor).

However while checking the 3rd and 5th cylinder he said that the 3rd and 5fth injector would sometime spray out in a good patter and sometimes spray out in a strait stream. That’s why he thinks that the main cam rod in the IP might be worn out a the 3rd and 5th exit or the 3rd and 5th spring valve in the IP is worn-out whatever the situation he says their not worth the trouble of adjusting or repairing if I can find a good low mileage used one.

Mind you he explained all this buy running me threw the shop and showing me gutted engine heads, gutted IP and new and old valves side by side…. a really nice old man….but that doesn’t necessarily make him right.

Ok I’m off to by my Bio-diesel

I'm still suspicious of this mechanic. I've seen his kind before. They're all nice and look experienced, but that doesn't stop them from scamming their customers or being wrong about something. I'm not saying that's definitely the case with this guy, but I'm still suspicious. How do you run the injectors off the IP and have them spray on the ground? I think you'd have a tough time finding enough space on the other side of the IP to run your fuel lines that way, plus you'd need to use the starter and watch the injectors at the same time. Sounds fishy. He should have a real injector tester. Even I have one and I'm just an amateur. Anyhow, there's no need to confront him about any of this, just try our recommendations first and I'd say go back to this mechanic only as a last resort.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Maybe I missed something but I'd bet you have bad injectors, and maybe you need to redo the valve adjustment. Maybe you have them a little too tight and they are slightly hanging open while the compression test is being done.

If the injectors have over 150kmiles on them, they are probably about gone. Cleaning them rarely helps for very long. The nozzles wear.

I think this mechanic is full of sh@t.

And again, I am completely against this reliance on compression testing. It's a complete waste of time. Even if a few cylinders are a little low, that doesn't mean you should replace the engine. Adjust the valves and go with it.

If the engine or IP is bad, which I doubt, replacing the engine probably isn't the best option. Finding another car is.

Joe