project ’90 jetta

i’ve started fixing up my ’90 vw jetta.  it started last may when i purchased the car from a so called vw tech.  it has taken until just recently to work out the runability glitches that have hound this car.  not sure there all exorcised yet, but close.  actually, i had given up on the car altogether, feeling that it was financially unfeasible and i was just not in love with the car anyway.  well that changed and i decided to look into upgrading the suspension.  so i ended up going with fk’s 60/40 cup kit.  inexpensive, but it had all the components i would need.  the 60/40 mm drop it was supposed to provide was clearly understated as the final ride height ended up nearer 80/60.  clearance for the tires became an issue an d so did tires.  inspecting the existing tires, i noted that they were 195/60-14′s.  well, should be rolling 185/60′s so next stop tire shop.  michelin’s pilot exalto a/s would fill the bill nicely and has worked well since they were installed and compliment he suspension well.  now we’re rolling tough and looking cool as part of the dub nation.  next step:  exhaust renevation

birthdays are for losers

yesterday was my birthday.  it did not start too well.  our kitty,( very close family member, marmalade) had had a stroke or something and it became evident that she would not recover sufficiently to take care of herself or walk or eat or drink for that matter.  we had to take her to the humane society to be euthanised.  this was pretty hard to take but in the end knew it was alright and what was best for marmalade and for jill and i.  birthdays are also a good barometer for your standing with friends and family.  let’s see, i received a card from my mom, another from my father inlaw, my brother came by work to see me, and my boss popped for a cake and ice cream.  couldn’t expect too much from jill as she was barely hanging on after marmalade’s demise.  kids?  zero.  i guess i should just face it.  they most likely think me a loser and probably rightfully so.  i haven’t figured out a way to integrate with them very well as there is still some unresolved animosity between their mother and i.  all that really means is we don’t see one another much and i can’t fix it by myself.  i wish it were different as i love them very much.

vw mechanic revisited

this will be a recurring theme i suspect because if i am able to write anything it will probably involve some aspect of automobilia.  i feel like the older i get the smaller my world becomes.  on to the autos before i turn fully morose.  so, todays victim is a 1997 jetta.  has a running problem in that the engine chugs along on two and a half of the four cylinders it was born with.  the trusty scan tool reveals a multitude of digital trouble codes stored in the engines electronics.  no surprise really.  i had seen the car not a week prior for a similar  issue.  last weeks “quick fix” had not been the solid, enduring repair i had hoped for, so the real hunt begins now.  after much poking, probing, scanning,  testing, etc., i was no nearer to a solution than at the outset.  then a collegue  randomly points out signs of a burnt looking wire.  yes, well, there it was. the beginning of the end.  that little burnt wire ended up taking out the whole stinking(literally)wire harness.  yeah lady, it can be repaired.  the main engine  compartment wireharness will need to be replaced.  that will run ya’ about $3000 to start.  and since we aren’t exactly equipped for forensics here, i can’t tell you what made it happen.  meaning that we replace the god awful thing to the tune of twenty hours of labor and hook up the battery, fire it up and pffffft, the things smoke just the same as before.  time for a new car.  it’s cool being unpopular.  i’m used to it.  yeah.  oh good,  more of the same coming up tomorrow.  stay tuned

vw mechanic

so this fits in with something about me i guess.  this is what i do for a living but not who i am. today i will be finishing up a timing belt and waterpump replacement on a ’92 jetta.  this is truly one of the simpler maintenence services.  however, the newer the vehicle, the more complex these sort of things become.  for instance, something as simple as an oil change has now become fraught with peril as the type of oil used must be of a specific type.  as with ’04 and later TDI’s, the wrong oil can bring about catastrophic engine failure as well as voidance of the manufacturer’s warranty.  not a pretty picture if you happen to be the tech performing the oil change.  so what’s the right oil you say?  any full synthetic that is vw rated 505-01.

something about me

i’m not sure i can actually start this right now.  head full of stuff but can’t quite muster the whatever it is that is required to start putting it down quite yet.  stand by-