What did you do to your car today?

[haro1225]

Changed the axle on the Passat. Was very easy and took less than an hour. I just had to borrow a 12 point triple square to get it out.

[haro1225]

Changed the axle on the Passat AGAIN because I got a bad one. The first one caused the steering wheel to shake violently when coasting or just after a bump, making the car pretty much undrivable. This one is better so far.

[ddalder]

I installed block heaters into my DTS. This wasn't a lot of fun! In addition to being nearly $500 CAN retail (fortunately I buy wholesale), access was really tight on the left side of the engine. The service manual makes replacing them sound pretty easy. Maybe if you're a contortionist with arms the diameter of a 3 year old. The right side and cord routing wasn't too bad. It's all done and having said that, we probably won't anymore really cold weather (just to really rub salt in the wound).

[redfury]

Is a block heater that much better than an inline lower coolant heater? I would think the install would be faster and the results about the same....I've never had a block heater work so well that when I started up the car I was getting warm air from the coolant, I think it's more just to keep some heat in the system to keep the rotating mass warm enough to keep starter strain to a minimum and keep the oil viscosity lower for better cold start lubrication...That being said, with no block heater, mine started up with no problems or audible whining @ -25F.

[ddalder]

I think an inline coolant heater would be better. I chose OE because I didn't want the hassle of draining coolant and the risk that the inline unit may crack or leak over time. Mine has always started well, but I'm at nearly 200,000 km and this is a gesture to be kind to the engine more than anything. Ideally, I'm looking for as much of a trouble free winter as possible.

[haro1225]

Today was productive. Changed the oil in the VW and then changed the ball joint on the Grand Prix, which still needs a tie rod end before it's usable again. Sucks because there's no salt right now and I wanted to drive it today.

[redfury]

I'm getting a bit of a shimmy at highway speed on road that isn't smooth and on sweeping turns, the car jerks a little, like it's trying to pull into the turn harder. Usually that would point to an idler arm, but since we're dealing with R&P steering, it can't be that....lower control arm bushings or ball joint? It's got north of 180k on it. On flat and smooth new pavement, it was solid and smooth up to 90mph, so I know it's not a tire balance issue, but I'd like to iron out any kinks in the armor before I buy new tires for it...I'm a little weak at pin pointing suspension problems...

[WhiteArrow3800]

I finally fixed it.

Crank position sensor and coil pack combo. I had a happy heavy foot not long after. The Torsen appears to be working, haha.

[haro1225]

I got my headlights all set on the Passat. These OEM projectors have a nicer cutoff than the retro on the Grand Prix.

[Benvw99]

Quick word of advice - do not take your heater core out if you arent 125% sure its leaking!! my whole saturday is gone :(

[redfury]

That much of a PITA to remove? I was worried I might have issues with mine, but after doing a factory bleed on the system and replacing the radiator cap, my heat is way better....I thought I had purged the air from the system, but it wasn't nearly enough.

[nos4blood70]

The heater core isn't a fun job, especially your first time around with no real instructions. If you're a larger or taller person, it only makes matters worse.

Ordered a new wheel bearing for the Bonne today. Lots of new parts in store for Penny this spring.. Ordering them in stages to ease the financial burden. I have a feeling there will be more than a few road trips this summer.

[redfury]

If it doesn't require pulling the entire dash to remove it, I'm good...though I've already removed the entire dash out of it once already, so I got that under my belt already...

What I'm trying to find is a decent set of tires to replace the Coopers on it now. They are fine on dry pavement and wet pavement, but atrocious on any kind of snow. At least I know my ABS and Trac work well. I'm trying to find something decent for under $100 a tire new if I can...problem in most of the ones I've physically touched is that the siping is pretty shallow, which was the case with the Coopers..get worn down a bit and it's just big fat pads of rubber to slide around on.

I'm either hoping to score a nice set of used Blizzaks on rims or just put on a decent pair of mud and snow tires new that will last me at least 3-5 years ( which would probably be about 40k in mileage or less ).

[CMNTMXR57]

The RGC turned 153,000 miles this past Thursday. So today, it got it's 60th oil change. Also, to celebrate it's 153k, it decided to throw a CEL.

While messing with it Friday night, I realized that once again, fans weren't coming on, which meant another fan relay bit the dust and was the probable cause of the CEL. Good thing I stocked up last time at the junk yard. Swapped it out while waiting for the oil to pour in, and by the time I got home tonight (3 consecutive successful operating cycles), the CEL was off. Also, about 3 weeks ago, the drivers side seat heater switch busted. So every time you pushed it, it pushed into the dash. Taking it apart today, I found that the plastic sleeve the screw goes into, completely busted. So I broke out the glue gun. Seems to hold now.

A few things it needs;
- new seats
- new DVD player
- Fix whatever is causing the rear park assist sensors to flake out in cold or damp temps.
- lots of interior lighting (including another HVAC unit, so this would be #3)
- Something in the front suspension creaks badly when cold

After this, I think it's time to let her go.

[PilotScott]

I mopped up a puddle of water in the spare trunk well, couldn't find the source, grrr. Another quick wash and order parts from Rock Auto and Andrew then she sits while I'm in the Caribbean for a week.

[nos4blood70]

Drove 74.3 miles and used 1.891 gallons of fuel... So 39.29 MPG? Or maybe gas stations in Indiana just don't fill the car up all the way... LOL

[redfury]

Gave mine an oil change and sampled it to send off to Blackstone Labs for analysis. Should be interesting to see what it comes back with. I looked at the wheel speed sensors since I had it on the lift at work to see why I would be getting abs/trac lights on when it gets wet and didn't see anything in specific as to why. I didn't have a lot of time to mess with it, so I just took some pictures. I'll have to put it up on stands this spring and hit each wheel with a spray bottle while looking at the dash to see when the light kicks on. I'll probably be due for brakes by then anyway, so I can flush the brake lines and put on the slotted rotors then.

[jradke61]

Cleared my headlights tonight when I got home. Little trickier and more time consuming than I thought getting them split open and then back together again. Of course first I had to remove my wheels and wheel well liners to spray the ball joint on the fenders with pb blaster to finally get the headlights pulled.
Mission accomplished.

[haro1225]

Yesterday I put a K&N filter on the Passat and also swapped to some 2.0 tsi ignition coils. Makes the car run smother and pull a little harder. Today I started the Grand Prix to make sure the battery isn't dead.

[nos4blood70]

Car wash and breached 145k the other day!