Ready for summer? (no comment needed from the deep southerners, lol)

[julie at menloparkrandd.com (julie@menloparkrandd.com)]

Jeeze George..... With a post like that, you must be a member of the list! :)
At least we understand your frustration.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Scourge [mailto:scourge@cogeco.ca]
>Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 11:00 PM
>To: 'Scirocco List'
>Subject: Ready for summer? (no comment needed from the deep southerners, lol)
>
> So today was my first wrenching day of the season with Blacky. All started out pretty well, I picked up the required supplies. The list today included swapping on the summer rubber, oil change, and replacing the water pump. Everyone at my local VW watering hole said not to bother with a used water pump(of which I had two spares) just get a new one, they're cheap enough. Fair enough, I got a new "half" water pump(just the half with the actual pump in it, I was going to use the old housing).
>
> I should've known it was going to be a "Cathy" day with the way it started, lol( that is to say, I'd have some good stories). First off, the oilspray I got in the fall has left my rear axle quit slick. .... yup, dropped the car off the jack. But it's ok, the fuel line softened the fall. lol Managed to pinch the fuel line between the jack and the floor when to car decided it didn't want to be jacked up. After much swearing I checked and the fuel line was, thankfully, ok. Two more attempts at jacking from the same point yeilded no satisfactory results. Each time the car would try to slide. So I used the notches in the jack to lift the car by the vertical part of the beam ..... all went well, until I looked away. CLUNK, halfway up the car the car slides and drops down to where I was jacking it from in the first place, lol. At this point I could lift it up enough to get the jack stand under it. One wheel down! 
> Nothing else eventfull until I got to the front of the car, lifting up the second side to throw a jack stand under it. I just couldn't get the jack to a point where I could lift the car and have the jack stand fit under the control arm, the jack was in the way every f'ing time. Out of desperation I lifted it by the "seam" that the factory jacks lift at(I hate lifting it there, I'm afraid it'll just fold over).
> Fast forward .... oil change. Drain plug comes out .... oil comes out ...... drain plug goes in .... filter goes nowhere. For the life of me I could not crack the filter loose. Alright, no biggie, a freind is on his way over, he's huge, he can do it when he gets here, lol. On to the water pump. Get all the way to pulling the hoses without any disruptions. First hose, drains nicely into the perfectly placed bucket(this is actually my first time just draining the coolant). Second hose, adjust bucket ..... wiggle wiggle BLAH!!!! Coolant proceeds to nearly knock my bucket over and completely soak my driveway, previously dry driveway. I swear, all the coolant in the block was gone in three seconds, I didn't have time to even think about moving the bucket, lol. I run, get the hose to dilute that stuff before some haphazard cat comes walking along and starts drinking. Ended up leaving the hose running in the driveway for a good 45 minutes. 
> Getting back to the car, on to the third hose. Couldn't get it loose, so I figure if I get the pump off, I can twist it to pull off the last hose. Pull all the bolts and try to remove ... no go. It's caught on the "T" bolt that bolts to the Lower timing belt cover. At the time I didn't think to just hammer the bolt out of the pump, so I mangled the lower T-belt cover a bit more, lol. Finally get to the point where I can wiggle the pump around and still no go. At this point I was ready to have a "Blacky" fire and roast some marshmellows, lol. BBQ was the answer, I just walked away, lol.
> 
> After a hamburger or two I was ready to give it a go. At that point the friend I had been waiting for showed up ... Awesome! He looks at the hose ... yup, here. Holds up the water pump. ....I start swearing, lol. Just like that, it's off. Now on to the fun part, seperating the pump from the housing. I break out every listers best friend and marinate the bolt in Kroil for a half hour or so. First bolt, snap. Ok, next pump, kroil, wait, snap. ....... take a look at the last pump I have and realize it was the one that came in the box of parts with the 2L when I bought it. Pull out the thermostat and look at the impeller blades, it looks damn near brand new. Shaft is tight, screw it, this ones going in. I'll return the new "half" tomorrow.
>
> Installation is reverse of removal, thankfully there were no real hang ups putting that back together. Got the help with the oil filter, thankfully he struggled with it a bit too. Had to make a run to craptire for some more coolant since I spewed half of mine all over the neighbourhood(yeah, Canadian spelling, lol). Picked up a fresh bottle of water wetter. All is well with the world.
>
> Next up, Blacky gets shorter. :D Couple weeks till that happens though. Still waiting for some red "accessories" Muahahaha. 
>
>-George -longest message I've sent to the list, thanks for reading!!
>
>Small Print: I didn't spell check or proof read this message, I'm going to bed. Deal with it!!!
> 
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