2004 Beetle Cooling fan replacement

4 bolts and 2 wiring plugs 4 hours later success
removed ail filter housing
removed battery and tray
looked down thought this is going to be simple
Beetle doesn't know simple
unplugged wiring
removed 4 housing bolts
OK looks like should fall to ground
Oh no AC compressor is 1/2 in to wide for small fan to slide by
AC drier bracket in way
ok wedged small fan down past drier and compressor
still wouldn't fall down
large fan now wedged
ok removed 3 screws holding large fan to housing
whew finally housing and fans hit ground
looked at new housing and fan "Dorman 620-773" beside old housing and was a direct replacement
Been in 100 degree temp in Texas for 3 hours getting this thing out
decided to remove large fan from housing and install after housing in installed
went from bottom still had to wedge small fan around compressor thought i was going to brake one of the small fans housing arms after a few choice words and long screw driver success
installed housing and plugs
now for large fan tried bottom no go
said to myself maybe i made a mistake
well sucess lifted radiator hose on top and rotated housing until it fell in place installed 3 mounting screws finally sucess
replaced battery and air filter housings
turned key and 2 fans running
something that looks easy can be a pain in the arse
Hopefully this description will help someone who has to replace cooling fans

Some DIY.....Lol

anybody have suggestions to what I could have done easier
also my ramps for my Ford 7.3 were way to tall to drive beetle on went to Harbor Freight and found ramps that were perfect size item #67722

Unfortunately, not really. The New Beetle is an interesting design challenge since they had to figure out how to make a rear engine, RWD, air cooled vehicle into an FF, liquid cooled vehicle while keeping a similar shape and style. So they had to put the radiator and such in a vehicle that doesn't even have a front grill. All of this makes it a huge pain to get at most of the components.

Pulls the fans with brackets off the shroud. Takes all of 20min to remove and replace this way.


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LOL, they are not that hard to do. Of course, since you put a Chinacool setup in there, you'll get to do it again soon. I hope you did not throw your shroud away either.

All you need to do is remove the three screws on each fan mount and weasel them down and out the bottom. You do not even need to remove the shroud.

FWIW, the NB's entire front end comes off pretty easy, should you ever need more room. Hardest part of that is getting the headlamps out and back in, as they can be fiddly. But if you can replace a headlamp bulb, you can take the front end off. Just a bunch of little screws and a few nuts and bolts.

There is nothing strange or mystical about the NB's design. It is just a 4th generation Golf with a different skin, essentially. They did have to make a few minor changes to make everything fit, but underneath it is the same car for the most part.