Morning Projects

The to-do list for today was more than enough, considering how long it's been since I worked on a VW. Here's a run-down of how the projects went:

1) Oil change. Status: 50% completion, waiting on parts.
Talk about a tough nut!


I had ratchets and wrenches, but this one did not want to budge. Since my oil pan was questionable too, I decided to run down to the shop to get some WD-40. I read somewhere that oil + heat + ultraviolence a few gentle taps = job done. I ran the engine for a while when I got back to heat up everything (but not for long enough to make the exhaust pipes flesh-searing hot), sprayed a bunch of oil onto the offending nut and viola! Three year-old oil tar comes gushing out of my car. I think there may have actually been whole chunks of dinosaur in this oil. An hour later, it was still dribbling out because the oil was so thick. Unfortunately, I was overly optimistic and thought that I could reuse the oil screen. While it might technically be possible, it seems much smarter to get a new one.

2) Spark plugs.
I didn't even bother to get started with this one. I could take them out, clean them, and check the gaps without having to run the engine. However, since project 3 took so long and I won't be able to get my new oil screen until Monday at the absolute earliest, I left this one for tomorrow. Or the next day. Or whenever I find out what's going on with the windshield wipers.

3)Windshield wipers.
Wiring diagrams are useful and they certainly made more sense when I could actually see the wires that they were describing! However, they did not help me very much today. I started looking for the windshield wiper motor. It's located behind the part which is euphemistically called the fresh air box. In my car it's more like the leftover dust from the Nuremberg trials box. This is the thing that was blowing crap in my face the other day when I took the car for a spin after sweeping it out. I have to take it out, and not just because I hate it for making me sneeze. It also obscures my view of the windshield wiper motor and all of the pretty wiring that connects to it.


A preview of what might be hiding behind Pandora's fresh air box...

Unfortunately, I couldn't get it out from the front side of the car and it looks like I'm going to have to remove at least part of the dashboard to get anywhere with this. I got as far as I could, but I need more information and probably a second set of hands so I'm going to wait until tomorrow.

Even though it wasn't a success, I figured something out and that really is the point of the project. If I wanted this to be done quickly, I'd just drop the car off at the VW restoration shop in Nuremberg. That would be very boring though and would not make for a good blog.