25Mar2012
VW GTI Boost Issue
Had this GTI in this week to diagnose a weird boost leak that it was having. Got it up on the lift and checked for the obvious loose hose connections of which there were quite a few. Snugged things down, then finally found the culprit. From underneath, I noticed a hose missing from the inlet of the turbo pipe. Not good. After a bunch of searching, I found it tucked behind a few hoses, so I reattached it and put …
25Mar2012
944 Turbo No Start
Had this little 951 towed into the shop the other day for a no start. Owner was trying to diagnose a cranking, but not firing issue when everything locked up solid. First thing we had to do was the replace the locked up starter. Enough cranking must have overheated it and locked it solid. Since there was no tach bounce and the owner had installed new reference sensors and DME relay, the first thing to try was the DME. Popped …
19Mar2012
911SC Shock Replacement
Went after the leaking rear shocks on this 911SC today. The left rear was completely blown out and puking oil everywhere, so it needed to be replaced. I also found the air intake boot torn, so we will be replacing that while we are in there. Top nut of the shock is accessed behind the engine. The lower shock bolts on this car were incredibly seized up, but a big enough breaker bar and some heat took care of that. …
23Jan2012
530i 60k Service
Had this 530i come in for it’s 60k service today. Being an 04, it was time to get the fluids flushed and the filters changed. Step 1: Drain the oil. Step 2: Make big oil mess. Step 3: Drain the coolant and get fresh coolant in. Lifetime coolant? LOL But, we do replace with the proper BMW blue coolant. Then it was time for filters. The air filter here. And two pollen/cabin filters here. Notice the new and the old. …
04Dec2011
Boxster 105k Service
Knocked out the 105k service on this boxster earlier this week. Filters, oil change, inspection, brake flush, the usual. On the inspection, I found a torn CV boot on the driver side, so we decided to pull all the axles and replace all 4 boots and re-grease the joints. It is a pretty big job on a boxster since the subframe shield and exhaust need to come apart in order to drop the axles out. Since the car has a …
10Dec2010
996 Maintenance
Had a freind bring by his 996 for some winter maintenance. This was actually the Evolution motorsports prototype car for their supercharger kit they developed with VF Engineering. First thing to do was to replace the ignition switch. The 996 and boxster are notorious for having bad ignition switches. It can rear it’s head in many different ways. 1. Key switch that is difficult to turn or seems to hang up 2. Key that rotates way more than it should …
07Dec2010
996TT X50 running issues
Had a freind bring by his 996TT that was having some odd boost and running issues. Erratic boost now and again, and then the CEL came on. CEL was due to the MAF sensor, which I replaced and took out for a test run. A lot of times erratic boost levels are due to bad MAF sensors. Unfortunately, we had two issues here. The other major cause of boost issues are spark plugs. On my test run, the CEL started …
03Dec2010
It’s Alive :)
Decided with the weather getting cold that I had better get the dragon back together after the headgasket blew. Drove out to the storage unit and picked it up (ran into a customer from IA that I had not seen in a long time, so I stopped to help him on the side of the road as well, lol) Got it home and up on the lift. Turns out one of the fans had died in the 100 degree heat …
28Nov2010
Battery Time
Started getting some slow cranking in the mornings from Mini Moo my 2500HD, so it was time for a new battery. Battery was the original Delco battery, which was over 8 years old, so it was time for replacement. Typically batteries will last 7-9 years if you are driving your car daily. Batteries do not like to sit idle, which is usually the cause of death. If you are driving your car 1-2 times a week, expect maximum battery life …
21Oct2010
2004 BMW 530i Oil Change
Did an oil change and inspection on this beautiful 530i today. Oil change went as planned, though the oil had 10k miles on it and was extremely black. I am personally not a fan of these 10-15k mile oil change intervals that most companies have gone to. The oil is coming out darker and thicker than it should, and I think there will be a lot of higher mileage issues in the future with these cars that stick to every …