Great Success!

After many hours of wrestling with the stubborn heater box, I was able to extract it and get to the actual repairs. Popping in a new blower motor and heater core only ended up taking about 15 minutes, and most of that time spent on realigning the flaps to close the heater box.

Everything tested out fine. The blower motor kicked on nice and strong right away. Heat started pumping out as soon as the engine started warming up. Nice! However, before I can truly say I'm done I should really flush the coolant and refill the whole system for the new winter season.

Putting everything back together should go fast, and usually does. I think it took me about 1/3 the time to put things back together compared to the amount of time it took me to take it all apart.

One advantage to performing your own repairs is finding out what other people screwed up in the past. It's also really frustrating. I found electrical connectors that had been left disconnected, lights left out of their sockets, vents not properly connected, etc. Just by taking the time to work on this particular problem I was also able to:

• reconnect the controls for the passenger seat heater
• reinstall the ashtray light
• reinstall the lighter light
• optimize the routing of electrical cabling - it was a rats nest
• properly install the trim paneling
• properly connect two air vents
• properly install the boot for the gear shifter

I'm also better set up to tackle some other nagging issues. Now I know how to remove the trim to gain access to a defective switch which tells me my parking brake is permanently engaged, how to access the wiring for the stereo, how to replace my windshield wipers, etc.

The biggest downside to performing your own repairs is knowing when you cut corners. I didn't have enough rubber foam for the heater core installation, so it's not tightly fit. I should have sealed some components with silicon sealant, but I didn't have any on hand. I should have flushed the system right away, but I just wanted to call it quits for the night.

The most important lesson I've learned this time is to pay close attention to whether or not electrical components should be reconnected prior to reinstalling them. I failed to hook the windshield wipers up, thinking I would still have enough space afterwards. I ended up having to pull them back off. Thankfully, I was only set back 5-10 minutes.

With all the work completed, it's worthy to note that the cold outside is so much better when it's warm inside.

Blower Motor and Heater Core

Winter is setting in, and I'd like to meet the cold with a little heat. Problem is, Casper's blower motor went out last spring.

I put off buying new parts until the weather began to turn. Once it was cold enough for my windows to be frosting over in the morning, it was evident enough that the $140 for a new blower motor and heater core would have to be forked. Over.

So why a new heater core? Well, getting to the blower motor inside the heater box on Casper is pain enough that the heater core may as well be replaced at the same time. It's going to burst eventually, so why not take care of it early on? That's better than having coolant seep into the foot wells. Thankfully, a heater core for Casper was only ~$35.

Today I spent several hours in pre-repair dismantling. The water box cover (don't ask me why they gave it such a nonsensical name), the windshield wiper assembly, the center console, and a few other pieces needed to be removed. For those, I was very glad to have the Bentley repair manual for my car. For the next steps, however... Let's just say that the four-inch thick manual was worthless.

In my past reading regarding this procedure, I had run across the SJM Autotechnik website, run by a helpful man named Scott who also posts on the Audi World forums. He lays out the information in a manner vastly superior to the Bentley repair manual on a page devoted to the disassembly of the heater box.

I ran out of time to finish on Sunday, but thankfully I have all day Monday. I have no choice but to be finished before Tuesday, as I need my car to get to work! I'll keep you posted!

Warranties and Helping Friends

Whew, close call.

The passenger side window regulator just busted in the Beetle. Thankfully, the window regulators are still warrantied until January 4th, 2009. Now I need to call up VW and arrange warranty services. Methinks I will need to set aside a day to drive the car to the authorized dealership in Fargo.

In other news, I (somewhat) helped a friend troubleshoot his car problem today. His 1999 Chevy Blazer started once and quickly died. He wasn't quite sure where to start, which surprised me since he's an authentic North Dakota farm boy. I took charge and asked him to pop the hood.

Oh. My. God. There is no space under the hood of a Blazer! There's more room under the hood of my Audi!

That said, I could access the fuse relay box and one spark plug wire, which was all I figured was necessary for diagnosis. We swapped around the fuel pump relay with a matching relay for the horn, and the relay itself checked out fine. A socket set was handy so I attempted to pull a spark plug out to test for spark. A note for anyone unfortunate enough to own one of these disasters: forget about it. You cannot remove your spark plugs unless you possess gear you simply have no way of possessing as a mere mortal home auto mechanic.

Plan B was to remove a spark plug from a different car. Three cars later (Outback, Cutlass Sierra, and a Tempo, I think...) I was finally able to (barely) remove a spark plug for testing. We got everything set up, and sure enough there was spark. That pretty well narrows the problem down.

Before jumping into all this testing the first thing I had noticed was the lack of a hum indicating the fuel pump was doing pumping of any kind. I noted this at the start, but my observation was treated with about as much respect as dirt. Now we'd officially narrowed the problem down to one of two things: the wiring to the pump or the pump itself.

I was happy. I was right.

That Durned Under Body Cover

The under body cover on the Meanie dropped again. This time one of the screw holes stretched and snapped. I've e-mailed the seller with pictures, and hopefully will be sending it back for a refund.

I had considered requesting a replacement, but Gary had a better idea: make one out of aluminum. The cost for the sheet aluminum will be less than the cost for the after-market cover. As an added bonus, it should be much lighter. Oh yeah, it will also hold its form much better, unlike the old one which sagged.

One More Time

I called up a local VW dealership late in the winter and purchased a TDI badge for a Jetta to apply to the Blue Meanie. The vanity plate "MEANIE" was not available, nor was "TDI". I was shocked when the DMV informed me "DIESEL" was not yet taken.

Blue Meanie, World; Plus More!

Finally, pictures of the Blue Meanie!

The underbody cover had come loose again, so I brought it over to Dusty and Gary's to resolve the problem. I put the car on ramps and added some oversize washers so the plastic would have a more difficult time stretching around the retaining screws. While I was at it I snapped some pictures to send off to Terry Frost, the man who sold me the cover and the TDIheater (a ZeroStart with custom bracket and pre-bent hoses).

The cars have been running like champs lately. The Blue Meanie is due for an oil change, and while I'm at it I'll check the manual's service schedule and see what else there is for me to do.

Lately, I have been going over the interior electrical system in Casper (the Audi 200TQ). So far I've fixed one of the rear speakers (loose solder joint on the cone) and a rear seat bench heating element (contact pulled loose on the embedded switch).

Since I've been pulling out much of the interior for the headliner replacement, I have an opportunity to thoroughly clean every piece of trim. It is time-consuming, but rewarding!

While in the car, you never really get a clear picture of how filthy things become over time. Once you get a piece of the car in the same lighting under which you live, it is very difficult to ignore its filth. I sure hope things don't gradually end up this way in the Blue Meanie!

Battles Won and Battles Pending

Today I was able to remove the "C" pillar coverings, the rear seatbelt fixture coverings, and the "shelf" where the speakers are mounted. I went ahead and removed the speakers for testing, as some of them do not presently work. I began ripping out the headliner, and am about 50% done with that particular task, if I exclude the work involved in cleaning up all the sticky orange foam.

Now I'm held up. It is not inherently obvious how to remove the "A", "B", and "D" pillar coverings. I can get by with just the "A" and "B" coverings removed, but there are some electronics behind the "D" coverings that I would like to test. I would also like to be able to thoroughly clean all of them.

Additionally, I have not yet been able to figure out how to remove the sun visors. The Bentley has been completely useless in this matter. I may be looking in the wrong section, though... It's so much information, I'm never sure if I'm in the right spot.

I decided to quit removing things for the day and then retired to the apartment. Once inside, I began cleaning some items I had removed, namely the rear headrests and the "C" pillar coverings. Afterwards, I began testing the rear speakers.

One of the speakers worked great, but the other had not been putting out sound at all. I put a AA battery to the non-working speaker, and was still getting nothing. I made contact closer and closer to where the speaker wires disappeared into a pile of hot glue-ish goo, but with no success. I was beginning to think it may be the time to post on the Audi World forums to request a replacement speaker, but then I got to thinking...

What if I just melt this stuff off? I can't ruin the speaker any more than it's ruined already, right? I took my soldering iron to the wires running into the glob, gently pulling on them while heating until they slid out. I took a hair dryer to the globs and slowly worked them off with my Leatherman. The soldering joints which lead to the speakers internal wiring were fully exposed. I took my battery to them and hooray! Sound! It took some "precision" work, or at least "precision" for me to get things resoldered, but now that everything is put back together the speaker is working great.

Victory!