What jobs that seem so simple turn out so miserable.

[Theiceman]

I think this has the potential to be a good thread. As people provide feedback to short cuts and easier ways it could make the community better DIY ers.

I will kick things off...

1. Fog lights on the car ...

found it a pain for what it was , the hardest part peeling and putting back the fender liner so I could get to those two speed nuts holding back the front of the car. seems simple enough ..

2. the new style HPFP with the rubber line as opposed to the banjo.

the banjo on the early car was easy .. correct angle and done .. that F'ing rubbr hose on the new cars that seems like its glued on and those stupid clamps you just cant get an angle on as it seems they are always pointed the wrong way. Total frustration and a lot of swearing .... how can it take longer to get this line off than a vacuum pump and timing housing ... grr...

[L'Audi]

How about a 0awg power wire run through the firewall... How hard could that be? Right?

[onedumslack]

How about a 0awg power wire run through the firewall... How hard could that be? Right?

Holy crap that took so long.

[Theiceman]

That was done on my car when I got it .. he pushed it through a cut he made in the a/c firewall diaphragm and ran it behind the glove box. ( one of the first things I ripped out )

[miA4]

Cleaning the interior of my car when I bought it. The previous owner was a female and she was hot but my god was she a pig. the cup holder had a weird mixture of coke and pennies that had turned into a hockey puck. also her makeup was all over the steering wheel, dash, and other places.... took me a good 6 hours to clean her mess. I thought it would be quick and easy... Like an onion, you peel back layers to find the nastiness. on a good note, I found a broken ipad she had in the trunk of the car. lots of nudes!!!!!

[p0isin]

Test Pipe install went from easy to pain in the ass when I dropped a bolt down the jhm downpipe. Rather than disassemble the downpipe to mid-section I used a coat hanger with neodymium magnets taped on the end to fish it out of the bifurcation. That was fun lol...

[adam044]

I think this has the potential to be a good thread. As people provide feedback to short cuts and easier ways it could make the community better DIY ers.

I will kick things off...

1. Fog lights on the car ...

found it a pain for what it was , the hardest part peeling and putting back the fender liner so I could get to those two speed nuts holding back the front of the car. seems simple enough ..

2. the new style HPFP with the rubber line as opposed to the banjo.

the banjo on the early car was easy .. correct angle and done .. that F'ing rubbr hose on the new cars that seems like its glued on and those stupid clamps you just cant get an angle on as it seems they are always pointed the wrong way. Total frustration and a lot of swearing .... how can it take longer to get this line off than a vacuum pump and timing housing ... grr...

Must not have an s line. For lights are the easiest thing I've even done on this car. Pull grill off, unscrew, done.

I'll go with the thermostat. Coming from a B5 when I figured my thermostats was bad I thought okay that's easy. WRONG! Way more complex on the B7.

[Danaldson]

2. the new style HPFP with the rubber line as opposed to the banjo.

the banjo on the early car was easy .. correct angle and done .. that F'ing rubbr hose on the new cars that seems like its glued on and those stupid clamps you just cant get an angle on as it seems they are always pointed the wrong way. Total frustration and a lot of swearing .... how can it take longer to get this line off than a vacuum pump and timing housing ... grr...

If its the line I'm thinking of, i didn't even need to remove it to get to the cam follower. Was able to pull it out with it still on.

[Audibot]

EVERYTHING. I feel that anything you think is easy on the car turns out to be deceptive. Not to say it's not doable, but there's always that catch. Like reinserting the sunroof accordion...

[Danaldson]

When you snap the upper control arm pinch bolt lol .

[Audibot]

When you snap the upper control arm pinch bolt lol .

I've been lucky that's never happened. I did, however, have the upright disintegrate around where the upper control arms bolt in. On both sides. Guessing galvanic corrosion or something like that.

[Danaldson]

I've been lucky that's never happened. I did, however, have the upright disintegrate around where the upper control arms bolt in. On both sides. Guessing galvanic corrosion or something like that.

oh wow! never heard of that happening. Im lucky that i was able to get it to a shop and they punched it out in 20 mins.

[Theiceman]

If its the line I'm thinking of, i didn't even need to remove it to get to the cam follower. Was able to pull it out with it still on.

.. now that's what im talking about ..

[Theiceman]

When you snap the upper control arm pinch bolt lol .

I even look at that bolt and it scares me . I would never think going in " this should be easy !! .. but I have already wrestled with it on my C-5

[supple]

I'm surprised people have trouble with the newer non-banjo bolted HPFP. It's a breeze but I don't disconnect the soft lines, just the hard line's bolt.

Installing my DV+ was ridiculous for 3 bolts. My hands felt like it went through a 1000 cuts because of a fraying steel line for the intercooler? And all the awkward angles to get in there from the bottom blind for greasy bolts.
What I thought would be a 15 minute job turned to hours...

[trj]

Timing belt/thermostat.
Everything went smooth until I reached the triple star bolt on the thermostat hard line. Didn't know it was triple star and had me stumped for 2 hours, trying various allen and torx bits.

Its the damn M5 triple square bolt. @mec came to rescue.

[Mlambrecht17]

My headlights have been a major pain in the ass, from taking everything apart and painting it, to restoring the lenses. I have a lot of work ahead of me


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[Theiceman]

Timing belt/thermostat.
Everything went smooth until I reached the triple star bolt on the thermostat hard line. Didn't know it was triple star and had me stumped for 2 hours, trying various allen and torx bits.

Its the damn M5 triple square bolt. @mec came to rescue.

when I watched a mechanic on you tube do it he replaced them with hex screws to save the next guy .. great idea.

[L'Audi]

First time changing my cam follower (on my MK5)... Fuck a banjo bolt. What sick, twisted monster thought that was a good idea? At THAT angle too! [/End Rant]

[trj]

when I watched a mechanic on you tube do it he replaced them with hex screws to save the next guy .. great idea.

Yah, but you still need M5 to remove it the first time. I thought to replace it too, but with the right tool, its 30 seconds job. So, I just let it be.

[Copen-cisco]

I'm surprised people have trouble with the newer non-banjo bolted HPFP. It's a breeze but I don't disconnect the soft lines, just the hard line's bolt.

Installing my DV+ was ridiculous for 3 bolts. My hands felt like it went through a 1000 cuts because of a fraying steel line for the intercooler? And all the awkward angles to get in there from the bottom blind for greasy bolts.
What I thought would be a 15 minute job turned to hours...

Yes on the rubber hose for the HPHP. Dont worry about.. you dont have to take it all off. Just slide it to the side with the rubber hose still attached.

lol and yes on the DV. It took me HOURS with my big hands and someone else just did it in 15mins and said it was a breeze

[Theiceman]

Yes on the rubber hose for the HPHP. Dont worry about.. you dont have to take it all off. Just slide it to the side with the rubber hose still attached.

lol and yes on the DV. It took me HOURS with my big hands and someone else just did it in 15mins and said it was a breeze

yeah I figured out pretty quick who provides solid advice on jobs and who just wants to sound like the big shot and say everything is easy. I think my first job is to look on the side of my DV to see if I can make out whether its been upgraded to the latest style.

[Theiceman]

First time changing my cam follower (on my MK5)... Fuck a banjo bolt. What sick, twisted monster thought that was a good idea? At THAT angle too! [/End Rant]

yup this is true , nothing like getting half way through a job and have to borrow a car to go to the store for the right tools ..

[Denio24]

I think this has the potential to be a good thread. As people provide feedback to short cuts and easier ways it could make the community better DIY ers.

I will kick things off...

1. Fog lights on the car ...

found it a pain for what it was , the hardest part peeling and putting back the fender liner so I could get to those two speed nuts holding back the front of the car. seems simple enough ..

2. the new style HPFP with the rubber line as opposed to the banjo.

the banjo on the early car was easy .. correct angle and done .. that F'ing rubbr hose on the new cars that seems like its glued on and those stupid clamps you just cant get an angle on as it seems they are always pointed the wrong way. Total frustration and a lot of swearing .... how can it take longer to get this line off than a vacuum pump and timing housing ... grr...

Tools for everything. I replaced the spring style hose clamps with fuel injection clamps. Remote hose clamp pliers help and so do hose grip pliers.

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[Low and Behold]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the rear coolant flange. For me it wasn't even the flange itself, its the damn coolant pipes/hose clamps around it. Ive done two of these and found that the hose had bonded/melted to the hard line. Had to cut both of them off and replace them

[Audibot]

Thank heavens I do not have that banjo bolt!

- - - Updated - - -

Surprised nobody has mentioned the rear coolant flange. For me it wasn't even the flange itself, its the damn coolant pipes/hose clamps around it. Ive done two of these and found that the hose had bonded/melted to the hard line. Had to cut both of them off and replace them

I read the thread, and decided "nope" and took it to a shop. Book labor was 2.5 hours, but wound up taking them about 4 1/2 or so. Easily counted. But like I said, most things on this car are deceptive.

[Theiceman]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the rear coolant flange. For me it wasn't even the flange itself, its the damn coolant pipes/hose clamps around it. Ive done two of these and found that the hose had bonded/melted to the hard line. Had to cut both of them off and replace them

I have the rear timing cover off as we speak .. and im staring down at that flange thinking " that STILL looks like a PITA and I can see it now" . it was done previously by the dealer but im thinking it may be due again soon ...

[Low and Behold]

The flange is easy. Its the plumbing coming out of it thats a PITA if I'm honest.

I made good use of the camera on my iPhone by slipping it back there to see what i was up against. Good thing too, because the screws for the flange weren't what I thought they were. I think they were torx instead of triple square, or vice versa.

You'll be thinking the whole time - "if only"... your hands were smaller, you had another inch of room, etc.

[Theiceman]

The flange is easy. Its the plumbing coming out of it thats a PITA if I'm honest.

I made good use of the camera on my iPhone by slipping it back there to see what i was up against. Good thing too, because the screws for the flange weren't what I thought they were. I think they were torx instead of triple square, or vice versa.

You'll be thinking the whole time - "if only"... your hands were smaller, you had another inch of room, etc.

yeah they are triple square .. now I just need to borrow a Chinese child worker from Steve Jobs I phone factory and ill be fine...

[konarider94]

on a good note, I found a broken ipad she had in the trunk of the car. lots of nudes!!!!!

How has this thread gone on this long without someone calling this guy out on Rule #22?

[Hugh@EuropaParts]

How has this thread gone on this long without someone calling this guy out on Rule #22?

this...

[miA4]

How has this thread gone on this long without someone calling this guy out on Rule #22?

Isn't rule 22 only allowed when I reference my own GF?

[ZERO FRAME GRAB]

Post the nudes, you know for research purposes

[miA4]

Post the nudes, you know for research purposes

If I still had them, I still wouldn't. goes against my moral code my good man. Although, they were used for science purposes.....

[ZERO FRAME GRAB]

Headliner removal from B6 Avant, seemed like a cool project pull headliner and trim wrap in black suede. Reinstall.............still reinstalling by the way

[ZERO FRAME GRAB]

Hey everybody look at this guy here with his fancy "morals"!!!!

[miA4]

Hey everybody look at this guy here with his fancy "morals"!!!!

Hey! I fapped to them so these "morals" of mine aren't that great...

[konarider94]

Isn't rule 22 only allowed when I reference my own GF?

Negative, it applies to any specific female you mention.

[aluthman]

I've done pretty much everything there is to do to my car at this point, up to and including building the engine and swapping it into the car without a second set of hands. The one thing that consistently frustrates me is trying to bolt the fucking oil return line onto the turbo. Every time, it takes way longer than it should and results in lots of swearing.

[DoThisMyWay]

Headliner removal from B6 Avant, seemed like a cool project pull headliner and trim wrap in black suede. Reinstall.............still reinstalling by the way

I just went through this ordeal with my avant because the headliner started to sag. Remove, reupholster and reinstall was truly a miserable job from beginning to end.