Reverend Frog

worrying, but thanks! How did you get it fixed?

Having done a few searches on here I am pretty sure that my valve stem seals are nadgered. I’ve got a 2.9 VR6 with 97,000 miles on it. After it’s been allowed to overrun (engine braking) downhill and when I try to pull away afterwards, it bogs down monetarily and produces a puff of smelly blue smoke from the exhaust. So I have two questions: How much, typically, would I expect to shell out for a top-half rebuild to rectify this? I have noisy tappets so would consider getting these looked at while it’s in for the work. (The previous owner claimed it had had a top-end rebuild in recent times, but I can’t remember why it needed it). Will I ruin the car by continuing to drive it until I get this remedied, or shall I just keep the oil topped up and avoid hills ? Cheers

On a drive this morning the car suddenly started running properly again. Does this make the problem seem any clearer? I guess it rules out the spark plugs being filthy as it's obviously an electrical problem and not something physical like that. Could still be coil pack, but I also suspect the ISV, which has never worked properly (and I have cleaned it within the last six months) Damned complicated cars! Was so much more straightforward with my old carb'd Scirocco

It's just got a new MAF so that shouldn't be the issue. I will check all of the above. I still suspect the spark plugs though too...no idea when they were last changed

Ha, thanks for that very eloquent explanation! Car is going in for a service next Wednesday...how much would you be asking for one of your coil packs?

And if we get fireworks, that means the coil pack is goosed? and that's my problem?

Cheers for the advice. Started it in the dark there, didn't see any pyrotechnics from the coil pack. I suspect oily spark plugs.

Searched the forum to no real avail! My VR6 has started running badly as of yesterday: Down on power slightly lumpy idle, like you can feel the car sort of jump slightly every couple of seconds. lumpy sound and ragged response when throttle floored, not smooth Today I checked all the cylinders by pulling the HT leads off one by one. That makes the idle even worse for each, but this suggests that the issue is not as simple as a total misfire on one cylinder. Another issue that I've noticed in recent times is oil smoke from the exhaust, suggesting valve stem seals are going. Is it likely that some of the spark plugs are getting oily and this is what's causing the issue? To further complicate things, since this problem reared its head yesterday the oil burning seems to have stopped! Only other thought is the coil pack - hopefully not though. I know I could just go and check the spark plugs but haven't got much of an opportunity to work on the car, and it needs serviced anyway. cheers

had a look under my bonnet and noticed this pool of water behind the bulkhead, near the wiper motor. am i right in thinking that there is something missing here? and does this pose a problem if water collects here? [ATTACH=CONFIG]81979[/ATTACH]

I'm still struggling mightily with this. I've fixed the wee rocker on the passenger side, to sort out the problem with the damaged O ring. I can slide the roof back OK but when i try to slide it back again (with the roof removed) the mechanisms on either side usually end up in totally different places. sometimes one side engages, sometimes the other, sometimes neither. I'm sure that the cables that govern all this have become misaligned. You only need to look at how the mechanism sits in the tilted and closed positions to see something isn't right. Can someone please tell me if I'm correct in assuming this, and how you can adjust it? I still don't fully understand how the whole mechanism works - what happens to the cables when you turn the motor etc. I am fairly sure neither cable is broken. and does the little air buffer that pops up have anything to do with it? Mind doesn't move Here is the mechanism tilted fully forward (click to zoom on these) [ATTACH=CONFIG]81884[/ATTACH] and here it is in closed position. [ATTACH=CONFIG]81885[/ATTACH] Help! any ideas?

I hope so!

Cheers Paddy, that would be very helpful i hope it isn't the rad support - they're hard to find!

I've noticed metalwork behind my lower front bumper grilles which has actually rusted through in some places. Looks awful. Is this part of the bumper - i.e. will replacing the bumper sort the issue - or is actually part of the chassis behind the bumper? I obviously want to get this sorted Many thanks [ATTACH=CONFIG]81808[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]81809[/ATTACH]

Found it (from 2005!)- very helpful but missing one piece of information - the measurements for the cables in relation to the other parts of the sunroof mechanism when the sunroof is in the closed position. Does anyone know what they are?

Took my sunroof off yesterday after having tried the usual repair and when i replaced it, it now sits too low at the back and too high at the front. when it's in the tilt position it's a good 1-2cm lower than it should be. How has this happened? surely it's a simple matter of aligning the four holes in the sunroof with the four holes in the slider mechanism? I'm stumped

Update: have noticed today that when the window is immobile, the passenger side mirror will not respond when I try to adjust it the first time. On the second attempt it usually moves and this also spurs the window into life. definitely a connection (no pun intended) between those two. anyone shed any light on why this may be?

snipped the wires, exposed the ends neatly, then used a little terminal block

I've searched through a fair few threads and still can't get a definitive answer as to why my passenger window intermittently stops working. obviously there is power getting to it and the switches work, otherwise the window would never operate. I'd been having the problem for quite a while, so investigated the central locking wiring in the passenger door last week and lo and behold, two of the three wires had been severed by the window mechanism (the back and brown - the red was still intact) I fixed this and the window started working (as did my central locking on the passenger side obviously!) But today it's stopped again. what the hell is this? I get clicking from the control unit OK. I'm stumped. driver's side is always fine

I need the red/pink plastic nozzle - part number 535955985 (thank to Leon below for that information) The (terrible quality) image below is of the washer motor assembly inside the bootlid. The loose nozzle is circled in red and the broken remains of the part I need are circled in yellow. I've attached a image of a healthy motor for comparison underneath it. Cheers. Rick [ATTACH=CONFIG]80908[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]80909[/ATTACH]

The car gets run regularly enough, three times a week or so. Last time was Sunday. But then it's been very cold since then, and perhaps the journeys I've made haven't been enough to charge the battery.

The car has never had any bother starting before now. need to check it out tonight. could any number of things by the sound of it! But hopefully just the battery

I'm thinking I agree with Jim about the ignition switch, it seems to be a common Corrado problem. anyone else concur?

Cheers guys. seems so obvious when you say it but it didn't feel like any battery issue I've had in other cars. Not to worry - will change/charge it

Tried to start my VR there and when i turned the key, everything just stopped working - dash lights, interior light, everything just went out instantaneously. The car didn't even attempt to turn over. There was a small 'ping' from the fusebox, or so I thought anyway. Left it five minutes and when i opened the door the courtesy light came on - good sign, or so I thought. So I tried again. I did have headlights, dash lights etc, as before. Everything was once again working on position 2 on the key, but when I tried to start it for the second time - dink - same thing. Shutdown. This time it was permanent - no central locking now, nothing. it's almost like trying to start is just shutting all the electronics off. any idea what this could be? This is very annoying!

The steering wheel was sold with everything connected as I assume it came out of the donor car, so I'd be surprised if they were the wrong way round. I should point out that one way to cure the issue is to turn the ignition off, remove the fuse, turn the ignition on, press the horn push, hear the relay click, ignition off, fuse back in, problem solved, horn works as normal.