Newbie

[avbove38]

Hey everyone,

Not my first time here but new member to be able to post. I have been doing a lot of research on beetles and each time this site comes up with great information. I am more informed on the old school bugs but am learning quite a bit about these new bugs.

I just recently purchased a 2000 1.8L turbo beetle for my gf. Its a fun car just needs some things taken care of as the previous owner seemed to have no idea of how to do things like taking dash apart and such so things are cracked and need some TLC.

Hope to help those as much as others on here have helped me so far.

[IndyTom]

Great to have you aboard!
Don't be shy, post pics of your GF's Beetle and tell us about your mods or fixes.
Us Orgers like to hear about other Orgers and their rides.

Newbie Welcome Kit!

[matt423]

Welcome Yes their are some great people here and great info to.Would love to see some pic's ,nice to have you

[dnyed]

Welcome to the Org, and thanks for caring for your girls New Beetle.

[avbove38]

Thanks for the welcome. I have been fixing little things here and there and learning a lot about this bug in particular.

So far I have had the air conditioner stop working this was due to a bad wiring job by the previous owner and I found what you see in the picture with the burnt fuse holder and the blue wire just sitting there live. Scary to thing the car could have burned up!

They seemed to have cut the fan control wire off the pigtail going to the battery and connect the wiring directly from the battery to the power on the back of the a/c fan control in the dash. Have no clue why yet, but im going to guess the fans arent turning off or for better cooling. Clueless here.

I also had to flush the coolant as they used green coolant instead of G12.

Obviously the previous owner has no clue of things. So I am doing my best to get it running correctly.

[dnyed]

Thank goodness you're on it!

[IndyTom]

YIKES, that doesn't look good.

When I first got my car I did have issues with the fans constantly on HIGH. This Thermal Switch was the culprit:
Home Page > Search > 357919369F > ES#248948 2-Pin Thermal Switch - 112C* - 357919369F

After replacement the fans went back to normal.

[scarabY2k]

Welcome to the org- glad you're out of lurker status and now a full-on member

Being that the previous owner wasn't beetle/VW savvy, do you know if they did the proper maintenance, namely the timing belt, water pump, tensioner and roller? Don't know the mileage, but by the years of your gf's beetle, a 2000 nB should have had the aforementioned done long time ago. If not done, gitter dun my good man. If that t-belt goes, so will about 1500-2000.00 of repair money from your wallet, for valve/head rebuild.

The 1.8 is a feisty little engine and will get up and go. Remember, it's your g/f's beetle..... don't let the power of that bug keep you from giving her keys back

Don't be a stranger- post often, and bring on the pics

[avbove38]

No maintenance on water belt, or timing belt im going to assume. I did plan on making those and other things a priority though being this is a car that needs to be reliable.

So far its been running great. No issues, just some minor things.

Yes this car sure has some get up and go, I enjoy driving it but its only fun until the cops pull you over so I am not hogging the car.

thanks from everyone for all the welcomes and advice. Looking forward to being part of all the convo.

[avbove38]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

YIKES, that doesn't look good.

When I first got my car I did have issues with the fans constantly on HIGH. This Thermal Switch was the culprit:
Home Page > Search > 357919369F > ES#248948 2-Pin Thermal Switch - 112C* - 357919369F

After replacement the fans went back to normal.

I think i actually read this post about this before I started figuring out the issue with the A/C. I am going to replace this even though it may be fine just as a precaution. for the price its worth it.

[billyVWmaxwell]

Hey welcome! Those wheels look great on there

[avbove38]

Originally Posted by billyVWmaxwell

Hey welcome! Those wheels look great on there

Thanks! I honestly knew nothing about the rims when I bought the car as I am not familiar with rims except old school VW Fuchs and such. They get a lot of attention and I also think they give the car a meaner look.