god damn car
Oh, the check engine light, leave me alone!
A quick trip to the mechanic suggests the Mass Air Flow Sensor is fucked – they claim it’s covered with Oil and crap[1], and should be replaced. A new Mass Air Flow Sensor runs me about $150, and I install it myself. I returned to the mechanic to have my Engine Control Module reset, according to specs (this was free).
Check engine light returns. Fuck! Returned to the mechanic, they think I fucked up the install process (I did not). They order a new part, redo the install, and realize, yea, the same code is coming back, and it wasn’t the installation.
Next thing they check – the Throttle Control Module – this is the butterfly valve on the intake. Looks like the valve is sluggish… A new TCM runs me $550 installed. Fucking hell.
Check engine light returns, yet again. They look for intake leaks – according to their manual, the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve (PCV for short) is not exactly behaving like a valve – you can freely blow through it in either direction… that is bad. Unfortunately, VW had the brilliant idea of molding it *right into* the intake boot. Fuckers. The new intake boot costs me $180 or so. If installation is anything more than a 5 minute job, I’ll kill them.
In the meantime, I’ve tried hacking the PCV – disconnecting the hose from the crankcase to the valve, and plugging the intake side. So far, this hasn’t fixed anything. But, I’m not sure I’m making a very good seal, so you never know. There’s also another hose coming off the PCV leading to the fuel injectors. I’m much more wary of fucking with this hose, so the system could still be leaking. I’m not sure what would be leaking though… oil into the injectors, or fuel into the intake, or what…
Basically, I’m really tempted, at this point, to take the car somewhere else. I’m spent over $1000 in parts and labor to solve nothing. On the brighter side, I do have basically a whole new throttle/intake system.
[1] If I’d have known anything about Positive Crankcase Ventilation Valves before, I’d have had this checked initially.
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