Re: deja vu - AOS #2

I guess it's been 8 years and 50k since my car looked like this: [sites.google.com]

I distinctly recall after replacing my AOS last time that I swore that I'd happily pay to have it done if there was a next time. well, i guess I'm cheap, and really do enjoy fixing the car myself, so plan to do it myself again. thanks to pedro for documenting the "from the top" technique - I'll give it a try.

Man, oh man, is the power of these forums wonderful. My car started squealing the other day. A quick google search came up with AOS, loose spark plug, or coolant leaking on the serp belt. I was testing the AOS with the oil cap test when - BA BOOOM - I filled the street with smoke. I had already determined that the AOS was bad, but now my neighbors knew it too.

Still love this car. Someone asked about it the other day and they were floored when I said that it was over 15 years old.

As my car nears 125k, I start thinking about those, "you'll only have to fix this once DIYs", AOS, Water Pump, coolant tank, etc., and wonder when they will come back for round two. That's the price we pay when drive the snot out of 'em. Good luck, Doug!

pump lasted 170K+ miles (by way of comparison the 03 Turbo is in the shop getting a new water pump with 111K miles), the 1st AOS 80K miles, the 2nd maybe 100K miles so this means the 3rd is nearing 100K miles. Hey maybe the newer AOS's are better?

Uh, no.

Anyhow, the coolant tank lasted 200K+ miles. The original fuel pump lasted 200K+ miles (I can't recall now but one of these items lasted 20K more miles than the other item.)

The passenger side VarioCam solenoid/actuator lasted not quite 240K miles. 'course the driver's side hardware is original.

Car is running. I just need to take it for a drive and burn off the residual oil. It took about 2 hours once I had the engine open and the top cover off. I was confused when I read Pedro's steps, as I thought I was going to do the repair all from above by removing a few extra parts, but I ended up doing the repair from the top and the wheel well like last time. I swore a few times, as I broke a couple of 16 year old plastic bits along the way, but all in all it went well.

The one remaining task is to get the nut started on the wiring harness clamp. I should have loosened it, but not removed it. I think I'm going to get my dainty-handed daughter to give it a try unless anyone has a cool tip I can try.