Update on my headache (likely to be longish)

[wprice@neo.rr.com (Warren R. Price)]

Yes, we love them, but they are ungrateful.  I recently had the car in twice
for exhaust problems.  These were taken care of with relative ease and very
little money.  While feeling great about the exhaust victory, the car died
on me for the first time in the middle of a busy intersection where it
somehow managed to block at least one lane of Northbound, Southbound,
Eastbound and Westbound traffic respectively.  Cursing loudly, I pushed the
car off to the one corner of the intersection.  To make a long, boring story
a little shorter, the distributor had to be replaced.  I decided not to do
this on my own because I was afraid of timing issues.  I took it to a shop
that would "get it right".  Of course, the car came back with the timing all
screwed up.  I called the shop and explained that they messed my timing up.
They told me to bring the car back in and they would take care of it.  This
made me happy.  On the way to take the car back in, the car died again.
This did not make me happy.  I sat there trying to start it and it just
cranked and cranked.  I called a tow truck.  Upon hanging up the phone, for
the hell of it, I decided to try to start the car and sure enough, it fired
right up.  After calling the tow company back and telling them to forget
about the tow, I was on my way to the garage.  About 1000 feet before I
reached Maximo Import motors however the car made a very sudden and loud,
"BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!" sound  and blew out a dark black smoke cloud.  It also
immediately quit running.  I feared the worst, like new engine kind of
worst.  Well, it ended up just needing a new coil and the timing problem was
resulting in backfiring.  This made me happy.  With the timing fixed and the
new coil, I was very anxious to engage in the very same time of activities
Cathy describes...curvy road testing, rapid acceleration and the general
Scirocco freedom of flight feeling, the "driver's wanted" shit, ya know...
The mechanic made an odd remark on my way out the door though...I didn't
think much of it.  He said, "Hey, you really ought to fix that exhaust
before the cops pull you over!"  I said, "Ok, thanks a lot, have a good
one.", thinking the whole time, "What the hell is wrong with this goof, I
just got the exhaust fixed.  He must be thinking of another car."  He
wasn't.  Seems the muffler I just had put on exploded, we're talking a
nuclear explosion here, when the car backfired just before it died.  All
that cranking the engine must have built up some fumes I guess...  So here
is the moral to the story:

New Distributor + Labor... $271.00
Original Exhaust Work + Exploded Muffler... $129.00
New Coil... $49.00
Drama of waiting for the next malfunction...priceless.

Getting from point A to point B is boring.  What about all those interesting
and unknown points in between that you never would have seen had it not been
for driving a Scirocco?  (With the disclaimer that Sciroccos are still
cheaper, more fun to drive, and more reliable than just about any new car
out there.)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cathy Boyko" <losinit@usa.net>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 4:23 PM
Subject: Update on my headache (likely to be longish)


Well, the long awaited moment had arrived, my tranny guy phoned and told me
the car was good to go. Thanks to Peter and Gary for the technical
assistance
and rapidly shipped parts, it now has the "monster hybrid tranny from hell"
(well, at least it isn't stock anymore, and hopefully not leaking)
The details? Quaife, in an AGB with the 3.94 R&P, .80 fifth, and a hybrid
8V/16V fourth gear. And some delicious Redline, I think I've put a case in
to
date. So I show up to get the beast, and what has the good Lord provided for
the trip home? An hour's worth of wet, cold asphalt, the second half very
curvy, and I am also blessed with tires that are getting retired (read as
hard
rubber slicks to be burned off). Add a few snow flakes for good measure. So
yes, the LSD works, sort of like ABS in forward without the foot vibrator,
lots of two wheel spinning, heading dead ahead, very nice!!! but you know my
little story won't end there, oh no, this is MY UNGRATEFUL LITTLE CAR!!!
So I get to the second half of my journey, past the "test it out at every
stoplight" part, and I'm just minutes away from the "see how handling is on
the curvy road" part. And the car falters, rather a sudden "negative
acceleration" or two, (on and off, stop/go, very harsh) and it becomes
obvious
that I'd better find a landing spot, which, true to form, is nearby. (this
car
always did die in good places, that's one thing it does well)
Well I hop out and immediately crawl under the front, expecting the Redline
to
be in a pool/ big hole in the tranny case. Nope, all good under there
(unlike
our previous experiences with the PT Cruiser) so then what is the problem? I
try to start it, no good. Then the battery gets so low there's no point, and
I
do my best damsel in distress/hood up in the rain act, and a nice guy stops
to
help, in a beater old Chev compact of some sort. The first words out of his
mouth? "Want to sell it?" To which I reply, "Here's the keys, you can have
it"
(just kidding, I think it was more like "absolutely NOT")
Anyways, he boosts it, still won't fire, but instead of the usual fuel pump
buzz, I hear a hiss, and realize the puddle I thought was due to the light
rain was in fact Magnum 93 (fuel pump appears to be in good working order,
I'm
an optimist eh?). So we sit in my car, talking about VWs and waiting for the
tow truck. Busted fuel line, again. So back to the dealer, who obviously
didn't fix it last time, and I was less than gracious with the service
manager. But it made me laugh , so typical for this car, and why is it I
enjoy
the stupid thing? And I'm driving it to Cincy? Heck, I'd be lucky to make
the
border at this rate.
Anyway, that's the state of the headache, it WAS fun while it lasted, I keep
telling myself this will be the last of it, but it never is.

Typical-for-me diesel content - the bug is running better than ever,
injection
pump timing adjusted, new tires and wheels, really wonderful.

Also typical-for-me way off topic stuff - my hubby's in the Red Green movie!
They filmed it near here, sticksville for sure.

So one more thing, anyone in Southern Ontario got an older VW they want to
sell to the nice guy who helped me out? He had a 2 dr Jetta and an 85 GTI
before the Chev, and is looking for a nice older VW. He can't have mine.

So I go on burning oil, and working two jobs to support the addiction.
Should
have the headache back soon though. Can't wait to burn gas again!

Julie, my fuel economy is even worse than yours was on two cylinders! (0
miles
per gallon, LOL)

Cathy
1987 16V 2L Scirocco that spews fuel
"the silver headache"




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