Sunday, July 17, 2011

Trick Question: What Is This Man Doing?


He's changing the battery, of course.

I had a VW that had the battery under the rear seat. It made sense, because the engine was in the back. All you had to do was lift out the straw stuffed seat and there it was. You did not have to REMOVE THE TIRE. I also had to buy a package of those push-in plastic screws because you know half broke while removing the liner. It was actually a pretty easy battery to replace once the tire was off; there was even a helpful "Battery Here" message on the liner.

I wasn't the only one taking photos either. The staff of the parts store had to come out and gawk at the operation, and a few customers had to come by and tell their horror stories as well. It didn't make any sense. I couldn't see any reason why the battery couldn't be under the hood.

This is the second surprise I've had from this car. I'd bought a small freezer and since it wouldn't fit in the trunk, (it's like a Chris cubit tall and deep) the salesman was helping me strap it in. The car manufacturer was helpful enough to foresee my predicament and provide some small recessed loops for you to hook you straps into. Start tightening the strap and the whole thing pops out. Look, glue! The hole left behind was the perfect size to hook a strap to, though.

*I loved the simplicity of the Beetle. To change the motor you needed a wrench, a jack, a pile of railroad ties, and a couple of friends to pick up the rear of the Beetle and throw it over the engine.


4 comments:

  1. I had a couple of Dodges that had that too. That whole "let's cram everything into the engine compartment sideways" engineering didn't exactly make me happy when I had to change it out.

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  2. I remember a couple of cars (I forget the models) back in the sixties that required you to pull the engine in order to change the spark plugs.

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  3. Gotta love it when the factory has NO mechanics to check whether or not the car can actually be worked on... And Bob, the 67 Vette with the 427 was one of those... had to disconnect the motor mounts jack the engine up to get to #7 and #8 plugs...

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  4. Glued. Not welded, not bolted. GLUED! And Obama bails idiots like these out? Of course, the more you complicate common, everyday things, the more money for your mechanics. Method in their madeness. I've stuck and stuck with American products for decades. After a Chevy Blazer and a Dodge Stratus, next time I'm going Japanese.

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