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I'd bet money it's the heater core if it has never been changed. The one in my 2000 Beetle failed in 2020. A telltale sign besides the odor is if you turn on the defroster and it starts accumulating a greasy film residue on the screen. It's a very expensive repair on these cars, and not worth...

Thanks everyone for the tips. We got 2 out of 3 complete. Starter was almost 2.5 hrs, bleeding 2. Since I won't need a lift to extract oil from the top, no sense paying for a bay. The hardest part was just getting to the starter with everything in the way. The difference in cranking time...

You've sold me, I was dreading having to possibly replace the pan due to stripped threads. It's not even due for oil for another kilomile so I'll scratch that off tomorrow's list and do it in the springtime on my lawn. I always used a mityvac to clear the filter housing but it would take...

Ah, you know, not a bad idea. I've never considered this. I could return the valve I bought. So you just insert a hose through the filler, and use a manual pump to suck it out? I wonder how complete the oil purge is this way? My old mechanic used to rattle the pump for good measure but it...

Thanks for the tips. I had no idea the clutch slave was on top. I'd have been looking for it a long time. It was my first thought too, 50 bucks at ID Parts, but it's aftermarket and I worried it might fit right and leak. I don't want to have it it languishing at a pay shop. I'm hoping...

It sure sounds like the immo to me. Mine had the same symptoms 7 years ago, so it was 18 years old then. I don't know the error code as I didn't yet have a VCDS. My mechanic gave me two options, buy a brand new, very expensive gauge head which is where the immo lives, or literally disable the...

I went through this 4 years ago. It was suggested that the easiest solution is installing a bypass hose in the engine bay. I'm not sure how to affect that as the connections to the core itself are funky snap on things, but I'm sure where there's a will there a way. Likely just yanking off the...

Hiya, This Saturday I'm scheduled to go to a DIY garage with a friend to attend to 3 issues and I have several urgent questions. You regulars will recall a couple recent questions from me. 1. I have never jacked up beetle on a lift. I'm sure the shop owner will have an inkling of the correct...

Okay, I received my new starter from @Mozambiquer and I have a friend who will help me at the DIY shop Saturday. I'm going to do an oil change and hydraulic flush while it's up in the air. A couple questions. I have never personally lifted this car. The place I'm going apparently has all...

I had a red top Optima 35. Although it lasted quite long, and fit easily, it felt under powered unless at peak charge. I switched to the Die Hard Gold AGM H6 Group Size, 730 CCA, 910 CA. I had grave doubts it would go in Beetle, but with a friend's help it nestled in. It cranks a lot harder...

Weird business that. The engine wasn't cranking, so was it just lazily turning over so that the gear doesn't extend and mesh with the flywheel ring gear?

I doubt they would without an issue. I've heard they can be spotty but I got 7-8 years out of the Optima that was in there. This one has more CCA than that one.

IMO, maybe, but probably not. My experience from 8 years ago leads me to believe there is some state of decrepitude that can cause these starters to become parasitic. I have no idea why, but in 2016 my battery drain issues disappeared after the current starter was installed. Current battery...

So I'm starting to warm to the idea of a starter replacement. I took it for a drive yesterday and it barely cranked. I threw a charger on it and it was measuring only 30%. It took hours to charge fully. It's a near new high capacity battery so that shouldn't be possible. The last time it...

Thanks for checking that, so very weird.

Oh that's interesting and surprising. I wonder why some pumps need a relay and others not? The link Fahrvegnugen shared above for replacing a mk4 GTI pump shows a relay labelled 428. I assumed that is a pump relay. I haven't cleared codes yet but will. I expect they won't come back...

Battery is a month old, terminals are perfectly clean. I also removed the battery tray and cleaned up the main ground point 2 years ago. This is what makes me wonder about other connections though. I've had numerous failures in the past couple years because of a film of corrosion over fuses...

Any clues to look for? I honestly have no idea what either of these look like. Is it nearby the master? Will I need to extract the air filter box to reach it? I have the rain guard off pretty often because it has to live under a juniper tree that sheds like crazy. Are the grounds over in...

Here are the ABS errors. Could this just be dirty contacts or a failed relay? vcds errors

Could this be the ABS pump? It would correlate nicely with the ABS light. A help page for another car model suggests that the first line of defense is replacing the ABS relay. Anyone know where that might be found? I have no idea how, or if, this could prevent the starter from cranking though.