Thanks for all the responses. I wieghed the options, and decided to do the
core myself on Saturday morning (it was nice out up here in RI). I like
working on the car, and the idea of spending time making a lot of phone
calls to VWoA as well as to the dealer, and then being without the car for
a day (at least) while it's at the dealer didn't appeal to me. Plus, I want
to know whoever did the fix was careful and did it correctly. It's kind of
a cost-benefit ratio type of thing- the cost of me doing the core ($50 for
part + time) outwieghs the hassle of dealing with the dealer and the time
the car would there.
Start to finish, it took me about 3 1/2 hours, including lunch and using
the trusty shopvac to really clean out the carpets and get as much of the
spilled coolant out as possible. Also replaced a lot of the coolant-sodden
foam. I used the VWoA instructions in the PDF that I've sent some of you,
it made things really easy. Taking it out was a snap- it took me about an
hour. Getting it back in was a little harder, I had a hard time lining up
the heater box with the fan venting, and getting those damn clips back on.
I put on the three front clips, didn't bother with the back ones. I found
that tightening the 10mm bolts on the firewall LAST helped me to get the
heater box lined up better. Fired it up, and I don't feel any air leaks, so
I think it's OK. Wasn't as hard of a job as everyone says, especially on
VWVortex. Of course, the amount of misinformation on the Vortex is huge
anyways. It's really just a matter of maneuvering everything around and
getting the clips off. Got the new core at Autozone, they had an OEM one in
stock for some reason.
So yeah. I would have gone to the dealer, but my weeks tend to be really
busy, and any less activities I need to do during the week, the better. I'm
trying to get my dissertation proposal out the door this week, so I needed
the extra time. Besides, I really like getting the time to work on the car,
it's relaxation. Listened to NPR for a few hours, had some coffee, it was
nice. Also took the time to make some small repairs while I had the lower
part of the dash apart (replaced a busted power window switch, a broken
heater vent, and put on a nice MK4 GTI rubber shift knob). Next thing is to
replace the headliner, I took it out a month or two ago, and never got
around the fixing and replacing it..
On another topic, I relayed my headlights a few weeks ago, man- it's huge
difference. I have some pre/post pictures around, I'll try to send 'em
around eventually..
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PGP public key available from:
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x82D3E4A0
26 + 6 = 1
