motogobi

Elves are apparently what you need in order to change the thermostat on a 2003 Jetta’s 1.8T engine. Double-jointed elves that are heavily into yoga. I’ve been getting a P2181 check engine light on the Jetta for a little while now and had already replaced the oft-failed temperature sensor – and had been enjoying less-than-stellar heat this past ski season. So a thermostat replacement seemed in order?

I just finished tackling this job, which should be simple in theory – until you realize that apparently the VW engineers back in the early 2000′s thought that it’d be perfectly acceptable to make you remove 50% of the accessories hanging off the front of your engine in order to replace a $15 part. Huge thanks to this post over at AudiWorld for the procedure…

As is often the case with older VW’s, my headlights had become fogged and scratched – no amount of polishing or cleaning with rectify the issue, so I decided to replace the entire assemblies this weekend. It’s a pretty simple process, really, with immediate, satisfying results. Using a minimum of tools (Torx wrenches and a couple of screwdrivers) and replacement headlight assemblies purchased from AutoLightsBulbs.com for under $180 with pre-installed bulbs, the whole process took me about an hour and a half when I wasn’t snapping photos. The end result was an end to that milky, crappy-looking haze and restored nighttime lighting performance.

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