Breaking over spring break

[Smileybug]

So last week was my Spring Break. My fiance is out of town for work so I spent the week at my parents house to take care of some wedding planning. Well, we went to a mall to meet up with a woman who is making jewelry for me, my mom, and my girls. My dad was driving and we pull into the parking lot and into a space. He cut the turn a little tight and so he wanted to straighten out the car a bit. Put it in reverse. Car moved forward. Tried again. Did the same thing. I watched him put it in reverse and felt the car move forward. Then I asked him to put on the e-brake and hold in the clutch so I could feel the shifter...exactly what I thought happened did. My shift linkage broke! Of couse, my parents house is 120 miles from my house and the shop I use and we're about 30 miles from their house at the time so I freak out. I call my fiance and he talks to my dad. After talking to the guy that owns the shop I go to and talking to my fiance and fiddling with the car, we found that there is a plastic piece holding the 2 parts of the shift linkage together (VW once again in their infinite wisdome of making important things plastic...) was broken. We also found that I had 3rd, 4th, and neutral! Whew! Those were enough for my dad to get the car home.

My parents luckily have a van with a tow-hitch. My dad rented a U-haul trailer and towed my darling Darla to Raleigh today. Dropped her off at the shop to be fixed. So I had a crazy week worrying about my baby. I do have some other things that need to be done and checked so I'm going to just do a bunch of stuff on it while its in the shop. And at least I wasn't alone and we could it to drive. And with my fiance out of town, I have his car to drive all week until he gets home.

Just felt like sharing my frustration and worry about this week with my car. She will hopefully be all back to normal in a few days. My driveway is looking very empty without her!

[70autostick]

I'm glad she's getting fixed,sorry you had to endure such a frustration,us beetle owners are far more attached to our sleds than most other folk,so I feel your pain

Last night in town,the "plastic" vacuum line under the upper intake manifold snapped,my bug was dead in the water,5 o'clock traffic.

Called a buddy to pick me up,drove me to autozone for parts,windows down,sharp turn,parts fly of the dash of his cammed & slammed tuner into the middle of the road!!!!

BACK to autozone,more parts,got back,fixed 'er up,runs great,looks factory.

[Smileybug]

Well I went to the shop yesterday to check in and drop off some oil and a filter for a change. Luckily the part that broke is only a $30 part from the dealer so I he ordered the part and should get it replaced today! Then he's going to look at my wheel bearing (which is making noise) to see if he thinks that needs to be done, figure out what my rattle is (heat shield or cat), put in a new fuel filter, and maybe do brakes. She should be much happier afterwards. I figured since she's there and I wanted to get a lot of this stuff done anyway, might as well do it! This way too she's in good shape so she can be driven a lot in the next 2 months getting ready for my wedding. Hopefully she'll shift smoother too with a new part and adjustment!

She should be coming home this weekend

[katiex10204]

aw i'm glad she's getting fixed and i hope you get her back ASAP!

[Smileybug]

Update: Picked her up on Saturday. She drives like a dream! She is so much happier. I think her fuel filter has been clogged a bit for some time though...she is much more responsive when I hit the gas. It had 92k on the original filter! She will be getting 40k fuel filter changes from now on!

Next on tap is brakes and a wheel bearing, new tires, and new headliner. But those will be waiting until after my wedding since that is less than 2 months away!

[Smileybug]

I lied...she is unhappy again CEL came on last night. My fiance is going to see his dad tonight anyway so we'll be grabbing the VAG-COM from him to scan her tomorrow. I have a feeling its going to be the catalytic convertor and I'm of course out of of the extended warranty period...

[TurboLemon]

Hey Smileybug don't stress. It's most likely going to be a Catalytic Efficiency code or O2 Bank 1/2 Below/Above Threshold. It's probably minor so don't stress. Think of it like this- how bad can it be if EPC didn't kick in?

But if it's the Cat, then that is going to suck. Hopefully (and my bets are) its the O2.

I have the 2002 Yellow Color Concepts Buggie, and I just bought it used. I ordered a timing belt ultimate kit from ECS, and the night I ordered it, the belt in the car lost all it's teeth and took out 12 valves out of 20. I'm doing the work myself but I can tell you from first hand experience, don't stress. I did and now I need a new Turbo Manifold because my superhuman powers snapped one of the studs