After looking at the Bug’s engine this morning with Patty, here’s what we discovered. Please see the photo below.

See the magic finger pointing at the big red wire coming off the battery? If you barely touch that wire, the power to the car flickers on and off. If the car is running, touching that wire will shut off the engine. The wire doesn’t appear to be loose, nor do any of the other connections there, which usually live under a black plastic shield covering the top of the battery.

This dealer in Silver Spring, Maryland, replaced the Bug’s wiring harness on January 26th of this year, at a cost of $759.46. I think something in the wiring is amiss, don’t you?

I’m taking the Bug back there in the morning, and in a pleasant, non-confrontational way, ask them to look into that condition. That’s why we took the car there Saturday, and Patty and I were clear in what we wanted repaired.

It seems to me that their recommendation (replace the O2 sensor) would not have fixed what we wanted fixed. I’m not saying that the O2 sensor might not need replacing, as this is evidently a known issue with this series of engines.

But I want the car to have an uninterrupted source of power and not be deader than a brick when you want to drive somewhere.

Tune in tomorrow and find out how it goes!!!