davidwort

classic cold start valve problem, as mentioned above disconnect the cold start valve elec. connection and see if that helps on hot starts, the cold start valve is very crude and if the engine is stopped in a certain position all the extra fuel from the CSV gets sucked into one cylinder, this is part of the reason why cars can run poorly for the first few seconds on a cold start too. Sounds like your ISV needs cleaning too. David.

mk3 golf one is way too curved, I've tried one of them before, so surprised the vento one is OK??? David.

'gigary pockary' :? the passat roof 94-96 ish will go in, a little too curved but OK, you need the whole unit though as the lining has a blind built in, can't just replace the panel I'm afraid or it will look bodged from inside, so it's a full headlining out job. David.

They're all water temp, oil temp one is round the back of the head, all 3 are identical and pretty reliable, they're for the dash water temp and the ECU. If you suspect one, swap the contacts over and see what you get on the dash gauge, should all read the same level. David.

not if you have the 2 pole sender, it replaces the single existing one. David.

would it be worthwhile narrowing part of the spindles too, they seem like quite an obstruction, especially on full throttle? David.

An A3 is a golf really isn't it? :wink: If you suspect the oil pressure sender they're probably around the 30 quid mark from VW, possibly available from GSF or ECP more cheaply depending on the exact part number. If possible I'd try to borrow a pressure gauge and variable sender, or get a garage to check the pressure hot and cold and make sure it's within range, it could be the electronics in the gauge cluster but more more likely just the sender, my mk4 water temp sender has a mind of it's own, I just live with it rather than the hassle and cost of changing it. Apparently it's a common problem on mk4's. David.

5 of the 7 hoses in the mk2 16v GTI Samco set go on, only leaving the header tank to head and heat exchanger hoses, you can buy a couple of metres of 8mm bore samco to do the rad to expansion tank run. Will cost from 120 quid to about 160/170 if you try to do all the lengths of hose from the golf kit plus individual lengths and elbows, probably still cheaper than a VAG rubber set though! David.

Bits left in the parts bin, probably due to the low volumes the Corrado was produced in, especially RHD. David.

Washing machine liquid, not washing up liquid (that's useless), and in any case you wash it off so why would any salt be a problem :?: Petrol is pretty good too, now that really will eat your tarmac drive. Puzzles me a bit why people will spend so much an 'special' products when most are petroleum based or detergent based anyway, are they not :? David.

different housing shape IIRC. David.

try Bio washing machine liquid. David.

I'm beginning to think that's just a trait of a worn 02A gearbox, try reversing a bit more and then dipping the clutch again or rolling forwards a bit when this happens, seems to free it off. David.

there's two issues here, correct alignment of the cables (by adjustment with the VAG tool at the gearstick base) and gear shift/selection on the top of the gearbox, the latter is pretty easy to do (13mm spanner) and you can adjust forward/backward (gear shift) and left/right(gear selection) movement on the two separate cable ends where they bolt to the selector unit, this is just trial and error really and not too difficult to get right, should go forward straight into 3rd with no sideways pressure on gearlever. I'm sure there's more detail on this on the forum if you do a search. The gearstick end alignment needs the special VAG tool/alignment plate and is best left well alone as it's set at the factory and could be very difficult to get set correctly again if you just fiddle with it. David.

Get the weight and bolt from a 1991/2 onwards passat, don't pay more than a couple of quid. Direct fit to pre 92 selector unit. To fit the later style full gearbox selector unit which has a completely modified pair of selection levers you also need the cable bracket mounted on top of the gearbox, the cables are the same parts and don't need to be changed. The weight alone makes the shift forwards and backwards feel heavier and provides more momentum when going into the next gear, doesn't transform the selection but does improve it a bit, worth doing. David.

The Club GTI forum http://www.clubgti.com/forum is very useful for this sort of info, particularly the 2L 16v thread in the engine section - loads of info. In summary, 16v's are costly to get more power from, headwork is expensive and parts are not cheap. I'd suggest shopping around a bit for a flowed head (but not purely on price) and get the inlet manifold (lower part) port matched to it. You should get somewhere between 10-20bhp from a flowed head on a 16v, most benefit at the top end of course. The standard cast iron exhaust manifold is perfectly adequate but will benefit from internal polishing/cleaning up casting a bit. I'd also replace the crank bearing shells as you don't need to take the block out to do this, providing it's currently holding good compression and the bore walls look OK when you take the head off. You should see a good 160-170 bhp on a KR inlet cam with this sort of spec engine, to achieve more you need to spend a lot of money on Blueprinting, wild cams and rolling road sessions. Speaking from experience I think you'll be very happy with a 2L 16v with a flowed head if the car is a daily driver, you'll loose no economy or reliability if you keep everything else standard and it will run very smoothly. David.

When I had my car (16v) up on the garage ramp to do the front wishbones I noticed that they were almost flat with the full weight of the car sitting on it's suspension, that's with Eibach springs which only lower it by 20 to 30mm. Any lower and the wishbones would be pointing up as you say - not the way the suspension design was intended! David.

Always puzzled me a bit this, I reckon it's mostly down to old cars running cheap or worn out brake parts and particularly the pad quality. My 16v brakes are fine, providing the rear calipers aren't siezed, the pads and disks are all good and the fluid has been changed and bled properly. I also think drilled or grooved disks are a waste of money, they'll just eat pads and run the risk of cracking. By all means fit G60 brakes if you want to improve the resistance to brake fade(not that that's ever been a problem for me), but I can't see it generally improving the feel or responsiveness in most day to day driving. I think VW got it right really, now the mk1 golf... :pale: David.

Heater or A/C controls and ash tray obstructed by gearstick. Need to remove front bumper to change headlight bulbs on some rear washer pipe leaks and breaks, fills the tailgate with water and corrodes the door lock before you notice Standard wheels and tyres (16" excepted) make it handle like a barge water drips in on door controls - some things never change! felt door seals stay damp and then freeze shut in winter, you then have to spend ages melting everything with warm water or ripping the seals apart :wink: David.

Blind spot, or rather the lack of coverage of the blind spot by the drivers door mirror. Crud headlights on a 130-150mph car! David.

can you explain this a bit better? i had a good look around the warm up regulator but couldn't find any screw. maybe a diagram like the one above would help me!!! does any body who's reading this know if it could be down to the distributor? like i said, it's running an audi 80 16v dizzy as it was the best we could get hold of. could this be responsible, or can i eliminate this? This might help: http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/fuel_i ... tronic.htm It's possible the WUR is faulty, but not sure if this would cause your symptoms, although you can tweak this it's set at the factory and shouldn't be played with if you have a problem elsewhere, I agree. the adjustment screw is under a brass tamper proof cap on the back of the unit and needs to be carefully drilled through to expose it, you need to remove the unit to do this. I'd suggest starting by eliminating the cheapest things to fix or replace. Are all of your vacuum lines and joints in good condition, are you sure the plugs, leads dizzy, rotor arm etc all OK? Are you sure the injectors have the right spray pattern? Do you have any air leaks in the inlet anywhere? It does sound like a fuelling rather than electrical problem though. David.

you stick a small sized allen key (needs to be long) in here and twist, only small amount. You really need a CO meter but if the engine is in fairly good tune otherwise you can do it pretty much by ear (runs smoothest). David.

You really do need the injector spray pattern checked and the fuel pressure, also the metering head could be dodgy, worth swapping it with another to eliminate that, have you done a compression test? At the top end valvers tend to run a bit lean, so it's a good idea to get the CO adjusted, MOT max is 3.5 so you can bump it up quite a bit. Adjusting the control pressure by tweaking the screw in the back of the warm up regulator is best for top end lean running, you'll get a richer mixture throughout the rev range but probably a bit more power at the top end. Doesn't sound like it's just top end running that's your problem though. Oh, and the 50mm manifold is not great for torque on a 1.8, you can get away with it on a lighter mk2 golf or on a heavily modded 2L, but it won't make you go any better in a 1.8 Corrado. David.

Whip a plug or two out, that will give you a pretty good idea of how rich the engine is running. Have you checked the leads (visually and with a multimeter for resistance), rotor arm, dizzy cap, ignition timing and engine timing? If you haven't already then think about replacing the injector o-rings too. David.

When they get old the Bosch alternators often get dodgy diodes, even if it appears to charge OK the battery can still discharge back through the alternator when the car is not running. Sometimes you can feel the alternator is warm when the car has not been run, e.g. first thing in the morning. You can check for current drain from lights etc, by putting an ammeter in series with the battery and then if you get more than a hundredth or so of an amp drain start pulling fuses to see which circuit is at fault. David.