Most VW folk know who John Muir was. He has left us a legacy of knowledge, wisdom and several books that inspired this hobby. I think he called us all idiots. That’s ok – I’m a better man for reading that book cover to cover many times.
If you don’t know who John Muir was, he is the author of “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive; A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.” He and artist Peter Aschwanden teamed up to unknowingly create what would be the first of many “for Dummies” type books.
I can highly recommend purchasing a copy of this book as it speaks to all people, regardless of mechanical ability. It was one of the greatest introductory guides to working on VW’s, or even as an introduction to using basic hand tools and techniques.
Here are some audio samples from Mr. Muir. They may help you diagnose any expensive noises your engine seems to be making. I found them over on archive.org, so I presume they are in the public domain. Have a listen!
1 Bent fan – 00:11
2 Broken Crankshaft – 00:10
3 Cam Noise – 00:13
4 Cracked or Broken Pulley – 00:11
5 Engine Missing on Two Cylinders – 00:15
6 Foreign Object in Fan – 00:10
7 Good Running Engine – 00:13
8 Good Running Engine Intro – 00:05
9 High rpm miss – 00:14
10 Holey Muffler – 00:13