davidwort

A rad for a 16v with air con will go in, and you need the top and bottom hose to suit (could be expensive), however I can't see why you need a bigger rad on a 1.8 16v, the 2.0 16v does perfectly well with the same one, just don't buy a 50 quid one from German, Swedish and French, it's a 1.6/1.8 carb golf one and although physically the same size has fewer cross tubes and doesn't cool as well. A new genuine 16v rad is about 120 quid I think :( if you're quoted much less it may not be a proper 16v one. If you've had overheating problems on a 1.8 then something else is wrong, thermostat, expansion tank cap etc... David.

The early Corrado interior uses mk2 golf door handles, these were also used on the pre 1988 Passat which has chrome handles on the GL5 model front and rear doors, so find a Passat GL5 in a scrappy and bag yourself two sets! David.

saw a cut away of the two heads on a US website, can't remember where :( ..the 2.0 heads have additional water channels between the inlet ports, which have to be avoided when porting the heads! Can't see it makes much difference though, perhaps the 2.0 heads may be kept a bit cooler, but never heard of any problems using 1.8 heads on highly tuned 2.0's or turboed engines. David.

Yep, VW alternators are rated 14V and you should get near this across the battery with the engine running, any less e.g. 12V and your brushes are dodgy or a diode is shot in the alternator windings :( former is a quick cheap fix with a new or good second hand brush pack, latter means you need a new alternator, or at least the windings and diode plate from another same Amp output VW alternator (should be about a tenner second hand from a scrappy, but watch out for worn bearings). I've just been through this and ended up getting a 90Amp alternator as a replacement for my old 65Amp one, which is better if you have a big ICE install. David.

not much, ancilliary bits really and the sump pan and oil pickup pipe, got one in my C (6A block), David.

It will swap over but the 2.0 generally came with a 90Amp unit, most 1.8's have the smaller 65amp one, not so good for powerful ICE setups! David.

yep, it is, but not very cost effective these days, worth finding a few engineering firms from yellow pages etc.. and asking what it would cost to do. A second hand one off a Passat 16v cost me 10 quid the other week though! David.

My 1988-91 passat haynes manual covers the 9A, although a lot of the photos are geared towards the 8v passats. David.

Haynes Passat manual, can't remember the stroke but bore is 92.5mm I think. Compression should be 10.5:1, I'll check tonight if no-one else knows, info is probably in owners manual too. David.

If they're wrong you'll get either a warning buzzer at idle (warning low oil pressure as soon as you turn the engine on) or a warning at 3000rpm ish - low pressure at normal running speed, at least that's how the 4 cylinder cars pressure senders work. David.

If you've got the time, then I'd say buy a set of cheap spring clamps from Halfords and do the fronts yourself, you're looking at a good couple of hours labour for a garage to change the fronts and they're pretty simple to do, a Passat or golf 3 Haynes manual has most of the info you'll need as the suspension is pretty much identical. Just make sure the top nut on the strut is free before jacking up the car and unbolting everything. It's the first sort of DIY job I did on my first cars, after fitting a new stereo! If you do it carefully and make sure the springs are properly seated in the leg and top cap then at least you'll know it has been done properly!, a lot of garages will throw it all back together and I bet they won't take their torque wrench out of it's box! Once it's all back together, then get your alignment checked by a garage. David.

I found it helpful to put some silicone grease on the ARB bush as I slid it and jiggled it into place along the ARB and under the bracket that clamps it down, that was on my 16v, but I think the parts are pretty much identical. David.

read the club GTI forum on this issue, unless you have a highly tuned 2.016v with high lift cams etc... then the general consensus is stick to the 42.5mm inlet, it's not restrictive on power and gives far better torque than the 50mm version. One mk2 16v owner has tried both on a tuned golf and got both worse power and torque figures throughout the rev range when he swapped to the 50mm. It's also more than just the mm diameter, the 42.5mm is a different design (slightly) and this affects performance too. Pretty much all post 1990 golfs, corrado's and passats use the 42.5mm with good reason it seems. David. 170bhp+ and 150lbft torque on a 2.0 16v and 42.5mm inlet :)

I got a second hand alternator for 10 quid at the weekend, took my old one apart and put the outer winding with the diodes wired into it into the casing of my old 16v alternator (the new one was an 8v unit and the casing is different), hey presto, proper charging again!, not bad for a tenner I thought, I've also got a spare brush pack too now, all that was involved was undoing about 6 phillips screws and 20 mins work including re-fitting it :-) David.

What output do you get across the battery with lights, HRW, fan etc all running?, is it a lot lower than with them off? (engine running of course), I've changed my brush pack but it looks like either the windings or the diodes/rectifier in the base of the alternator(not changeable) are rubber ducked as the brush pack makes no difference, so a new alternator is needed. I'm basically not getting full charging from the alternator even though it's enough to prevent the red dash light coming on, I have a voltmeter fitted and you can see the problem from there as it wobbles around depending on load and drops below 12V if I haven't had the battery on trickle charge over night, the battery is a whopping great Diesel Hella one and less than 12 months old. David. I havent checked this mate, but im assuming the alternator is charging fine as when i fire the car up the voltage accross is a steady 13.8 volts and it doesnt move, its only when i take thecar for a burl that it starts getting silly, would it make sense that way and saying that the battery is on its way?? your situation does sound different, especially seing as your battery is a few years old, they can die after only a couple of years, depending on how the car has been used. David.

I'd stick a bigger Amp/Hour one in than spec for either, think my Hella one is 72Ah and certainly higher than my previous Bosch Silver (63Ah which GSF list for all corrados I think) and the spec for diesel cars, helps when you have things like aftermarket ICE and alarms that take a small but contant drain when the ignition is off. David.

What output do you get across the battery with lights, HRW, fan etc all running?, is it a lot lower than with them off? (engine running of course), I've changed my brush pack but it looks like either the windings or the diodes/rectifier in the base of the alternator(not changeable) are rubber ducked as the brush pack makes no difference, so a new alternator is needed. I'm basically not getting full charging from the alternator even though it's enough to prevent the red dash light coming on, I have a voltmeter fitted and you can see the problem from there as it wobbles around depending on load and drops below 12V if I haven't had the battery on trickle charge over night, the battery is a whopping great Diesel Hella one and less than 12 months old. David.

Glad to see things are better now David. Interesting to see the 'TA' rear dampers as they have 5 grooves, the adjustable off the car koni versions are the same but with 3 grooves, but the grooves are still as far apart! - you obviously just get more room for tweaking with the TA versions. BTW, I still need the front lower on my 16v with the eibachs, so I'm going to get some front lowering caps to try to loose a few more mm from there, possibly due to the 16v being a fair bit lighter at the front than the VR. David.

I've not had great experience of GSF parts being totally correct, not bad in most cases but in a number of nistances it seems more like 'if the part physically fits' it's listed for a model This is how I got sold shocks that were wrong and a radiator that's designed for an 8v carb car and not a 16v and I always clearly state the mdel and year of my car. Be very carful that pattern parts match exactly the spec for your model of vehicle, I'm not saying Euro car parts or anyone else (including VAG) don't make similar mistakes, but it's safer to compare the old VAG part when buying any new one, even genuine VAG, bearing in mind that parts get superceeded too. Shocks are very difficult as there are so many options that look physically the same. David.

solved it pretty much: It was a broken wire in the loom close to the sender on the head, the wiring gets very brittle and corroded where exposed and not in the black plastic sheathing, I had to solder a new length (about 15cms) into the loom. Gauge is much better now, but disturbing it seems to have affected the level it sits at when warmed up, and I've had one or two erratic flashes of the warning LED, so I may have slightly damaged or got a less than perfect connection in the gauge unit on the dash, I took it out (water and petrol unit) from the main cluster as it just slides out when you've pulled off the needles and fashia. David.

Mk 3 16v system has a major advantage in that it's mappable and as a result it is possible to get better power, torque and fuel economy... in theory anyway. In reality the K-jet is reliable, feels responsive and works very well, plenty of 170bhp+ 2.016v's running on K-jet. The major disadvantage in changing from K-jet, apart from potential cost of replacing components that break in the future, is the changes to the cars wiring etc required, could end up being a major headache. For the record, (on K-jet)I've gone from 1.8 to 2.0 (on 2 different engines) and from standard head to ported and polished and different exhausts and manifolds and all I've needed to do is tweak the warm up regulator to get it running a bit richer. In fact the money I have saved on not having to have re-maps has more than paid for my new ported and polished head. David.

yep, sort of, 1990 corrado has passat caps 357 412 341, the only mark 2 golf that shares this is the PG engined golf G60, so it's a good mod for golf owners to lower a bit with some second hand Passat or Corrado caps. Only thing to remember is the Corrado changed front suspension slightly in 1992 so what I'm saying only applies to 1.8 16v's and G60's with the earlier style top mounts/bearings. Now I'm wondering if the later style caps can be used on the earlier Corrado's, as there are 2 part numbers for the 1992 on cars 1H0 412 341(later mark 3 golf type) and 357 412 341A(for the very last Corrados) I've just checked on ETKA and 1H0 412 341 is listed as for vehicles with heavy duty suspension but 191 412 341 is also listed(higher mk2 type) as is 357 412 341A(for later chassis numbers), very confusing. Looks like some mk3's had the golf 2 type suspension others had the later corrado style, but the early corrados and G60 golfs had golf2 type but with lower sitting spring caps, so I don't think the higher sitting spring caps will fit a later corrado. :? David.

Anyone had any experience with either of these? I've heard the JOM ones (from Venom) aren't great quality? Not sure how much they lower either as the JOM/Venom parts are the same code for mk2 golf and early corrado, but the corrado already has lower caps than mk2 golfs as standard (about 10mm). All I need is a few mm lower on the front due to my Eibach springs on my 1990 16v. thanks, David.

from the 'Carnoiosseur' website, I especially like the 'Helps eliminate CD track jumping'. Is that a tie-wrap I see holding it on? :lol: I quote: Increased road performance and improves cornering. Helps prevent tyres touching inner wheel arches. Assists worn springs. Helps eliminate CD track jumping. Front and rear applications. Fits all vehicles with coil springs. Reduces tail sagging. Special materials used with own damping function. also suitable for cars driving under heavy load. supplied in pairs. £21.95

I think you could dislodge some muck only for it to get stuck somewhere more critical, I don't like oil or coolant flush chemicals for this reason on old engines, fine if you regularly use it on a newish one. David.