I'm attempting to drain the coolant, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I have to remove the cover underneath first. There's about 8 star-headed screws, and I can't seem to budge one of them. Am I missing something here? I already broke the plastic on one. Surely (Shirley?) it can't be this hard!

 

What year / model are we discussing here ?

 

2002 VDP. 99,000 miles.

 

I had the same problem. All of the screws were rusted solid. Nice of them to think that those screws would never be subjected to road salt and grime. Would it kill car companies to use some stainless steel instead?

 

Pulled mine off the other day for alternaor and water pump replacement. Use some WD40 on the stuck ones from inside and wait till it desolves enough to move. The plastic tabs on each side...I didn't realize how they worked till I yanked them out, pull the circular black piece out as far as it will go, then remove the rest. Mine had a zip-tie attaching the center back piece to the sway bar (keeps it from flapping...I guess), 2 holes drilled either side and the zip tie looping over the bar.

Chuck

 

WD40 is not a great penetrating oil - PB Blaster is exceptional and Loctite has a new product that both freezes the screw and wicks in some penetrant - the screw shrinks, breaking some of the corrosion bond and allowing the penetrant to get in better.