dinkus

James, I wonder if you could help me, my V6 has just failed it's MOT and one of the items was the abs light not coming on. I have checked it out and it was a blown bulb, replaced is and now the light comes on with ignition and goes out when you crank / start The problem I am concerned about - is there a time span that you / they / the tester's look for, or is just as case of "light on - start engine - light off" ok "pass"??? Thanks in advance Simon That's all they're looking for, you should be fine.

Hmmmm. Interesting. Got a feeling it'll be rather like and on/off switch with single piston calipers though... Mebbe... I've got 312s tho :norty:

How's about an Audi 200 MC?

Green stuffs are fine for Corrados, red stuffs will take too much warming up. The more weight you've gotta stop, the bigger the brakes you need. Scruffythefirst's Dax Rush has 280mm, single pot brakes on it with bog standard pads and disks. If it weren't for the 4 point harnesses, you'd get thrown clean out of the car when he stamps on the brakes. Thing is, it only weighs 650kg. An R32 is a lardy bugger, so has monster 380mm brakes to be able to stop just as quickly as the kit car. Similarly, as the brakes have to expel a huge amount more energy, they get a lot hotter - hence suggesting red stuffs. Both green and red stuff pads will brake just as well, but are designed for different operating temperatures. You'll struggle to get a Corrado's brakes hot enough to make the red stuff pads work properly on the road, so won't work very well. Similarly, if you put green stuffs on an R32, you'd overheat them pretty easily and they wouldn't work very well either.

GSF?

There are two differences that I know of: The grade of steel - cheaper disks use cheaper steel, so it's more prone to cracking/distorting/wearing out than better grades. If you're looking at drilled disks, then you also have the way they're made. The Zimmermans are just standard disks that have holes drilled in them. Proper 'drilled' disks are actually cast with the holes in them. Doesn't sound like a big difference, but the proper cast holes are far stronger than the drilled ones. Once you get up into megabucks brakes then you're looking at exotic alloys and treatments on the disks and then multi-part disks where the actual friction surface bolts together with a lightweight bell to attach to the hub. As you say though - you'll notice far more improvement in braking performance from better pads/callipers than you will from the disks. But the better grade of disks you buy (to an extent) will improve how long they last for.

Tarox make some seriously nice high-end brakes, so I'd guess their disks are ok. Probably not dissimilar to the Brembo Max ones if they're standard size tho.

Yeah, it's criminal how much they're charging for exactly the same jack over here! The tag lines on the UK website are funny tho - they change with every page load :lol: Well I was actually talking to one of the guys from work who'se based in NY today and he mentioned that he was going to be sending a load of parts back to the UK... so I had a brainwave and asked if I could get the jack delivered to him... so it might accidentally get dropped in the box and end up here :lol: So if all goes to plan - I'll have paid $85 for a low-profile, aluminium trolley jack! 8)

Yeah, it was screwed in :roll: I just ordered that one from Northern Tool which may just happen to turn up in the UK with a box of other parts from the USA ;)

Changed my oil pressure sensors in the car park at work. Only had the one guy stop and ask if I was ok :lol:

Yeah, it's nowt that important, but either way it's only a couple of quid from VW for a new one.

I believe this is usually to the drain hole on the sunroof getting blocked, but no idea how to clean it out :lol:

Ahh yeah Zimmermans! They were the 'cheapo' ones I was referring to in my post, but couldn't remember the name of them. Avoid. :lol:

Sounds pretty nice! Just be aware - brakes need running in and will be downright scary the first time you take the car out so leave a lot of braking room! They will get better and better as they bed in tho 8)

Hmm, on closer inspection that Torin one is exactly the same as the Clarke one... but with over double the price tag!

The Halfords one was pants cos the handle seemed to slop about a lot before actually doing anything - not ideal when you've only got a few cm of movement. Either way, the Halfords ones are about 3cm too high to fit under anywhere sturdy enough to jack on at the front of the car. That one in the US is considerably cheaper than anything I've seen here (£40+ tax, shipping), but they are still 11kg, so would need a big group buy to warrant shipping them over. Hmmm... lots of hassle...

No worries. Bear in mind the black wears off after a few hundred miles tho ;)

Definitely something to do with the cat, but don't know if taking it for a blat will clear it up or not.

Yeah, not a bad tip Toad. This looks like it's exactly what I want... shame it's in the USA tho :(

That'd be useful - my main issue is I'm not sure where to get them from. I might have a search online, but here's a link to the sexy ally Clarke one on the Machine Mart website.

Had heard that Pagid don't make the FRs any more - not sure if that's true and/or what sizes it's for tho. EBC pads are supposed to produce much less dust than the FRs, so should be ok with your bling there. Personally, I'd go for plain disks - Grooves are just there to let the gases escape from the pad surface, but unless you're braking very hard a lot then you won't get any benefit from them (other than looking cool). They'll also make the pedal judder a bit under load too. Disks are drilled to help the disk cool, but unless you're getting the disks stupidly hot anyway, you'll notice no difference. Similarly, they weaken the disk and are likely to crack and they soon fill up with brake dust anyway. Also - think about how much contact area between pad and disk you've just lost from the holes and grooves... So yes, go for grooves if you must, but don't bother with drilled holes unless you want the bling factor. And as I'm on a brakes rant - the reason you warp brake disks is not because you use them hard, it's because you use them hard then sit in traffic with the brakes on straight afterwards. The disk that's under the pad won't cool as quickly as the rest of the disk and it'll distort. That's why if you go on a track day you're recommended to stop the car and leave the brakes off when you're done.

So after swearing numerous times at trolley jacks that don't quite fit under the car I've decided to get a trolley jack of me own that will actually fit. I know you can use the scissor jack to raise it up first, but it scares the hell out of me using that, and I know you can also park the car on some bits of wood, but again - can't be bothered. Similarly, the £20 jobs from Halfords are cack (tried one at the weekend and it was useless) so want one that will actually raise the car when you pump the lever (ooh err) rather than just wobble about. I had a look in the Machine Mart catalogue and they have a very sexy looking low-profile, rubber footed ally one by Clarke that would be ideal...buuuut it's £93! Anybody else got suggestions for a decent low-profile trolley jack that doesn't cost the earth?

I've got VAG steel and Pagid FR pads. They work, but they're mighty dusty. I've heard good things about the Black Diamond disks and altough the old Green Stuff pads were rather ropey, they're supposed to be pretty decent now. I'm hoping the disks have a fair amount of life left in them yet, so don't plan on replacing them any time soon, but will most likely be going for the EBC Green Stuff pads next time around. Whatever you do, don't get cheap pattern disks, particularly cross-drilled ones - they're shite and will wear out quickly. The cross-drilled ones also have the added excitement that they'll probably crack if you use them too hard.

Blimey - My 1.2 Corsa couldn't handle the power - must be mighty scary with a 2.1 in it :?

No idea what's going on there, but surely take it back to the guys that fitted the engine and tell them to sort it...