How big of a b**ch was your ventectomy?

[Mike_M]

Just got done doing my '03 Golf.

I almost cut a circle, the shape of the vent button, in my index finger trying to push the damn thing out. I finally had to resort to calling a friend to hold the screwdriver on that stupid white tab while I used a BROOMHANDLE to push the stupid thing out.

Then, it naturally only went partway and we had to push the rest of the way with a small Phillips screwdriver.

The overall toll: one hour, three barked knuckles, two circular would-be welts on fingers, and a throbbing foot from having the flashlight dropped on it. But I have my 17-gallon capacity.

How bad was yours? (Murphy's Law states that everybody will have a story about how easy it was.)

-Mike

 

[TurbineWhine]

J
How bad was yours? (Murphy's Law states that everybody will have a story about how easy it was.)

-Mike

92 seconds start to finish, except for the NB's which you have to take the rear tailight out. 2 screwdrivers and 1 Torx driver, no busted knuckles.

TW

 

[BrianCT]

Worse then you'd image. I had the assembly here, in front of my lap top and was reading the "How To" section while prying out the plastic piece. Poof, diesel all over my computer screen, me and the walls. It was removed.

Ugly.

 

[jettafock]

did you push up on the back tab (the white part that the lever is connected to has a tab keeping it in on the bottom of the back end). You push up on that when you use a flat head and push the lever/white thing out. Really easy, can be done in like 3 mins.

 

[gern_blanston]

My '03 Golf was a piece of cake. Took about the 92 seconds mentioned earlier in the thread. I did have to, uh, apply quite a bit of force though.

 

[mrGutWrench]

My '03 Golf was a piece of cake. Took about the 92 seconds mentioned earlier in the thread. I did have to, uh, apply quite a bit of force though.

__. I posted a sketch a while ago of the little tabs that hold it in place. It's often stuck so you don't know when you're getting the tab disengaged. Like Gern, I had to push hard (I've done my '02 sedan, MzLauraLee's '03 waggin, and my '03 wagon).

 

[lovemybug]

Quick and simple on my Beetle. Take out passenger side tail light, then go up in with needle nose pliers and carefully pull out vent assembly, take out vent valve part, put assembly back into place, put back tail light, badda bing badda boom. Less than 5 minutes tops for the whole procedure.

 

[Mike_M]

did you push up on the back tab (the white part that the lever is connected to has a tab keeping it in on the bottom of the back end). You push up on that when you use a flat head and push the lever/white thing out. Really easy, can be done in like 3 mins.

Yes. The white tab was being pushed up the whole time. Mine wasn't easy or fast. I had to call in a friend to help, and had to lean all of my weight on a broom handle and then a long screwdriver against the vent button to get it out. The whole assembly was stuck in that little tube but good.

 

[Mike_M]

My '03 Golf was a piece of cake. Took about the 92 seconds mentioned earlier in the thread. I did have to, uh, apply quite a bit of force though.

Like Gern, I had to push hard (I've done my '02 sedan, MzLauraLee's '03 waggin, and my '03 wagon).

Yeah, we definitely had the tab pushed far enough the whole time (pushed it up so far I had to bend it back a little before I put that part back in), but the sucker just wouldn't move. "Apply force" and "push hard" are euphemisms.

I really wish I would have had the foresight to record mine and post it. It would have been worth it for the comedy value.

 

[Mike_M]

92 seconds start to finish, except for the NB's which you have to take the rear tailight out. 2 screwdrivers and 1 Torx driver, no busted knuckles.

Quick and simple on my Beetle. Take out passenger side tail light, then go up in with needle nose pliers and carefully pull out vent assembly, take out vent valve part, put assembly back into place, put back tail light, badda bing badda boom. Less than 5 minutes tops for the whole procedure.

Bastidges.

 

[jettafock]

sux to be you then. was fast and easy for me.

 

[McBrew]

Your troubles might have to do with the age of the car. I performed a ventectomy on my 2003 Golf back in 2002. You're performing it on a car that is 8 years old. Pretty much everything on a car gets harder to remove and easier to break as it ages.

 

[jettafock]

Thats what she said.

 

[bayshorecs]

First time is always a little rough

A little diesel squirted around the vent hole, tab, etc helps lube things up too I have found.

Using your thumb sucks. Use something else to push with.

 

[jettafock]

First time is always a little rough

A little diesel squirted around the vent hole, tab, etc helps lube things up too I have found.

Using your thumb sucks. Use something else to push with.

Now, that's what she said.

 

[Variant TDI]

I turned a big set of channel locks around, and used the handle end to get the right position and required pressure to pop mine out.

One handle was wedged on the opposite side of the filler for leverage, and the other handle was on the vent. Then, just push the business end of the channellock towards the front of the car, and presto.

 

[Honeydew]

Mine was very tight like yours, the other two I've done were not nearly as tight.

 

[xDieselxTunerx]

I wasnt able to finish mine. I could not get the vent assembly out at all, I tried pushing up on that white tab like its says in the pics but it would not budge so I got pissed and gave up. Anyone have any ideas for me

 

[bayshorecs]

You push the white tab in and hold it. Then push the vent module out away from the filler neck.

Brute force is needed sometimes.

 

[shizzler]

Mine was a bit*h too, but still only took 3 minutes. Jammed a very small flathead to pry the white tab up and then pushed with all my might on the vent nozzle. Expected it to break, but finally it just popped loose. ta da.

 

[MarsBar]

The shop was really slow one day last week, so I showed the guys the downloaded procedure and turned 'em loose. The circ clip wasn't easy, until we saw where it *really* was. Then it was bing bang boom, clean out a lot of dried mud from the area, and everything was done. Total time was probably 5 minutes without hurrying.

 

[CNDTDI]

with my 98 Jetta it took me 15 minutes because of all the dirt!!! i think it had at least 3 pounds of dirt in such a small place afterwards i didn't have diesel to lube it up a bit so i used WD-40, and was still a ***** to get out, i had to remove my door to actully get it out, and once i finally got it out, it took less than a minute to put everything together

 

[jettafock]

it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to stuff a clean rag in the filler hole while doing this on older cars so no dirt gets in the tank.

 

[Croberts]

0 seconds. I just use the fuel nozzle to depress the vent button while I fill up. Never had any issues in almost 4 years and I didn't have to destroy anything to do it.

 

[mrGutWrench]

0 seconds. I just use the fuel nozzle to depress the vent button while I fill up. Never had any issues in almost 4 years and I didn't have to destroy anything to do it.

__. Yeah, I did that on my '02 sedan for thousands of miles. Then I did the ventectomy on that car. After I got my '03, doing the ventectomy was about the first thing that I did. Do you think I like the ventectomy???

 

[shagin'wagen]

The Jetta took maybe 5 minutes. I also did the one in my friend's gaser '95 Golf. That one took maybe 10 minutes.

 

[jettafock]

well i say we have a ventectomy off at tdifest to prove who is the better man and can do it the fastest.

 

[LiLredTDI]

Some of us can slip it in and out of the hole on command, and some cannot.

I read the how to on here, walked out to the driveway, pulled my 2 inch swiss army knife from my pocket and had it out in 1 minute flat.

 

[lovemybug]

I wasnt able to finish mine. I could not get the vent assembly out at all, I tried pushing up on that white tab like its says in the pics but it would not budge so I got pissed and gave up. Anyone have any ideas for me

If you're talking about the '06 Jetta that's in your profile, you wouldn't have a vent to remove in the first place. The vent is only on the A4 style cars, not the A5 like yours. I could be wrong, but I remember seeing that somewhere, that the A5 cars don't have a removeable vent.

 

[daniel_mad]

took me about 15 minutes when i did mine in the winter, cause my hands were freezing. I did my friends in about 2 minutes in the spring.. lol. the biggest pain is just that little tab you have to press in, but if you spash some diesel on it, it helps.