davidwort

:shock: No you don't just tilt the roof half way up, pull the lining panel towards the back of the car and it pops off the underside of the roof panel, then you can get at the 4 torx screws, 2 either side to remove the panel, 5 mins work.

there is a max mark on the side :wink: if the reservoir is too dirty to see the level clearly sometimes a torch shone down into it helps, or try to judge the level from just looking inside with the lid unscrewed, careful not to drip fluid, it'll damage paintwork

sounds like the place to go to buy RHD MOT failure Corrados then!

not knocking the GSF ones for the price Jim, mine has been fine on a modified engine for a couple of years now, even on the rolling road, it's just they don't have the efficiency of the proper 16v specific VAG ones in extreme conditions, they do feel very light compared to the proper VAG ones though.

given that the standard VAG ones are excellent at cooling and last well over 150K (given the correct coolant/mix) I'd say go VAG if you plan on keeping the car for any length of time, I'm pretty sure the VAG ones are alloy anyway, they're certainly more strongly built than the GSF ones.

this is a little complicated, the GSF rad I have has the right dimensions for the corrado 16v (1.8 or 2L) but is not strictly the correct rad. It's actually one intended for a 1.6 carburettor mk2 golf and doesn't have as many cross tubes as the proper VAG 16v one, which is around 120 quid. In practice the GSF ones are OK, but are not as efficient as the genuine part and would struggle in hot climates, I have noticed that the cooling system temp sits a bit higher in traffic too, on the move it's fine though. If you wanted a bigger rad, there is a wider one for the 16v that was intended for cars with air-con, this requires new top and bottom rad hoses from VAG to match. You can also run twin fans on these.

takes a day or so to update insurance details at the DVLA from insurers database, I had to wait after changing a reg plate on the car as it came up as no insurance details found when I first tried to get the tax online.

firstly you need to check the continuity in the wiring from the sender to the dash, if this is OK then the gauge is probably the problem, particularly if none of the other dash functions are affected. I'm pretty sure the gauges can be swapped out and are probably the same in most of the Corrado dashes and passat ones, ideally you want to borrow another dash and swap the connections over to it to test. My bet is on the wire though, they get brittle with age under the bonnet and the wire is probably broken inside somewhere near the sender. the other senders on the side of the head are temp ones for the ECU and warm up regulator circuits IIRC

PIA did mine a few weeks back, difficult to get at, we managed with it up on the ramps and lowering the subframe and letting it hang front the wishbones still attached to the car, trouble is you can't get force onto the inner joint to un-screw from the rack then if the subframe is loose. I'd imagine dropping the whole subframe is easier, but then you'd need to disconnect and drain the rack unless you can get all the hoses and pump off in one go. My track rods were FEBI ones from AVS http://www.vwspares.co.uk/ and seemed good quality, IRO 20 quid each. new boots are advisable too.

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... t=#p677601

:lol: deja vous?

all three temp senders on the side of the head are identical, so it makes no difference which way round they go, if you suspect one sender, swap them round, if there is still no difference in the gauge it may be the wiring that has broken to the gauge or the gauge itself. the oil filter housing looks fine, the spare wire is for a pressure gauge if fitted, just part of the standard loom from the factory, usually it's tied up with a tie-wrap use your oil temp gauge as a guide until you get this fixed

depends exactly what corrosion it failed on I guess, perhaps you could take off the subrame and get it repaired or just blasted and painted/powdercoated, wishbones for the G60 can be had fairly cheaply new, easiest to get ones complete with bushings. the subframe and wishbones can get pretty scruffy looking as they take a lot of punishment down there, but they don't suffer from structural problems very much AFAIK.

remove passenger dash undertray, various screws find the tab on the side of the lower housing of the motor, you need to lift this slightly to allow the motor to twist and drop out very easy when you've done it once :)

yeah, did mine a few years back, VAG hoses can be v-expensive, I had the short one blow and the others were starting to look bad, choice was 200 quid on VAG hoses or 110 on Samcos... difficult choice :lol: one thing I've discovered is the bottom rad hose, if your front mount isn't in good nick the samcos have less give than rubber so you'll get leaks from the hose being pulled on acceleration it seems OK as long as you don't stretch the samco onto the bottom of the rad too tightly back to the engine, i.e. sort of tension the hose if that makes sense, they have a little give, and of course a shot front mount is bad news

yep 1.8 def doesn't have lambda or knock sensors I'd suggest checking the injector spray patterns, system pressures and make sure there is smooth movement in the airflow plate, pops and bangs would be unburnt fuel what are the plugs like, are they all in the same condition? does the pump noise pitch vary, they all buzz, but warbling up and down is bad what's the ignition side like, are the leads/cap/dizzy in good nick, oil in dizzy?

5 of the 7 mk2 kit ones fit the 1.8 16v Jim, and I don't think the 2.016v parts are any different on the C I'd imagine the mk3 ones are different, as it has different rads and pipework on the ABF you can get lengths of hose (per metre) for things like the shorts lengths to the heater matrix, small bore to expansion tank etc, only problem one would be the reducer bend from the side of the head as this is not in the samco kit at all, but I'm sure you could make up what's required from samco or similar parts. bits that work from the mk2 kit are, top and bottom rad hoses, 3-way hose to water pump head and oil cooler, curly one from cooler to pipework and short reducer from pump to pipework.

favourites on the 2.0 16v seem to be dodgy lambdas, particularly if it's had a pattern one fitted, ISV's (cleaning sometimes isn't enough), incorrect ignition timing and incorrect engine timing (e.g. one tooth out on cambelt) following a belt and tensionner change. plug leads can get too high resistance on them and dizzy's suffer from oil seeping into them as well as the occasional dodgy hall sender, although with the latter this usually kills the ignition altogether. Vac leaks on the small pipes, connectors and inlet tract rubber boots is common.

I was under the impression that once corrosion got into the handbrake release mechanism of the old style mk2 calipers (and possibly the mk3 style alter ones) that they will continue to sieze, sometimes they'll last a while and sometimes not, for the sake of 40 quid or so for a completely new/refurbed caliper I'm glad I made the choice just to swap them out, been trouble free for over 6 years now. The mk3 ones are less prone to siezing the handbrake mech so it made sense to go for those, no different hoses or pads to mess with either unlike the mk4 ones.

so is that on LHD cars then? as I said, I have a VR6 RHD rack which is TRW as far as I can tell and ETKA (above) only lists ZF for LHD VR's.

just use a socket on the crank pulley bolt and turn in the appropriate direction, check down the timing hole in the top of the gearbox to make sure it's 100% lined up, crank pulley mark against timing cover arrow is usually good enough though. re-tightening the tensionner can be a bugger though, seems to pull it a tooth or so either way as the cams often rest just slightly in the wrong position when the timing belt is slackened

engine timing or ignition timing?

I'm not so sure, ETKA only lists ZF racks for LHD VR6s I've got a VR6 rack at home (with the longer tie rods) and it's identical to my 1990 16v rack apart from the 22 spline inlput from the UJ As mentioned in another thread James R fitted a SEAT Ibiza rack (6K2422061B) to his VR6 and this part is now listed as a replacement for the 2.016v 22 spline rack other VW/SEAT racks will fit too, but only the 16v/VR6 models have the quicker ratio rack like the C

main advantage I've seen from platinum plugs is how long they last, on my mk4 at 40K I thought it was about time I swapped the plugs, rang around to get the best price for four and managed to get them for around 30 quid which I thought was ridiculous compared to the valver standard Bosch ones (IRO £2 each) Went to change them and I couldn't spot the difference between the old ones and the new ones, VAG specify 40K on those ones, but they seem to last far longer.

nothings certain on a car over 10 years old, buy the cleanest car you can for the money (IMO regardless of model) , keep your options open, there's a lot of tat about that people want far too much money for and a few good ones that owners don't realise are worth more to the enthusiast than the book price. Be prepared to travel and don't rush into the first one you find. All Corrados can be rewarding to own and drive, but they can all be money pits.