craigowl

Ah......not much left to do then, Yan? You could always get started on this......

I saw how this complex system worked when I had front off car the other week. I think you can release them one at a time, but the fact that the bonnet is still held down by the latch you have not freed may mean that the bonnet will not pop up at the freed side unless you or someone can lift it unevenly at that side. IMO is best to release both catches at once. Those loops are nasty sprung things and IIRC, they both pull inwards towards the centre to release both latches simultaneously. Hope this works - and forgive me if I'm wrong! loops/spring are 28 and 29 in drawing. Diagram is poor, I'm afraid.

Grateful for that input, Crasher. 8)

When I changed a lot of my cooling system the other week, I found the coolant red light in the dash would not go off. I suspected the Waxoyl I had taken the opportunity to spread about when the front of the car was off had got onto the terminal that plugs into the radiator. Sure enuf, after spraying both ends of the electrical connection with electrical cleansing aerosol, light went out when it should have. Thereafter I cleaned all terminals (lights, foglights, indicators, etc) that had been disconnected with the spray and everything lit up as expected. Good luck with whatever it is, Jim.

It is alleged that G12+ lasts much longer without changing. Depending on what you read this ranges from 3 years up to life of car. :? For the past 30 years in my experience, changing of coolant has had to be about every year or two, so this news about G12+ is very welcome. However, scepticism about such claims is never totally diminished until we have several years experience of the new thang. I recall oil changes at 3k miles and many keen people - some of 'em on this forum - probably stick closer to this than the 10-20k type intervals that are so well known now. Anyone know the VAG recommendation for change intervals for G12+?

Two advantages of not having the 10-minute run on when "cold" are: 1 - Pump runs a lot less time, hence less wear. (Some of us are probably in agreement that the pump appears to fail too easily and needs all the rest it can get!) 2 - Less drain on battery. (Some of us know of the unacceptable voltage drop on the battery for some, as yet unfathomable, reason from the time the engine & hence alternator stop, such that after about 10-20 days the engine cannot be started.) Call me cynical, but it would not surprise me if VAG resorted to sacrificing the 10-minute "cold" running aux pump facility to try and improve the pump wear and battery drain. (Why do expensive surgery if you can bluff your way out of it using an Elastoplast?) The "fix" don't work, anyway. :lol:

I am almost certain mine does not go into a "10 minute afterrun program" regardless of temperature. What you say about the stopping and restarting of the fans after a hot run fits in well with the intended behaviour of the system, if I am following everything. IMO the aux pump is performing forced circulation to a cooling system that is still being locally overheated where in contact with the hottest parts of the engine and where being chilled by the fan(s) forcing ambient air through the radiator. I suppose if things were left as they are after a hot run - with no aux pump and no fans - the system would only very slowly cool down, leaving local, potentially warping, very hot spots at the top of the engine with the cooler liquid at the bottom. This would completely repress the engine being cooled by convection within the cooling system, hence the need to forcibly circulate the coolant until its temperature is generally below 80C, or whatever, when the danger of greatly overheated spots has passed.

Yep - what dr_mat says is what happens, I believe. It does not carry on running when you switch cold engine off. I read somewhere that it keeps running when you switch off hot engine so that excessively hot spots in upper part of engine around cylinder head can be cooled down a bit, thus preventing head warping. Seems reasonable, as you will notice the relatively large engine block takes several hours to cool down after a good run.

Cold engine - ambient air temperature 11C. Cloudy/dull. Turning on ignition I could hear gurgle then whirring as auxiliary pump got going. Listened for about half a minute with ignition turned on and it kept running. No fans came on. which is what I would have expected. This thread re replacing kaput aux pump. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46362&hilit=auxiliary+pump+Bosch

Thought you would ask that, Dutch! :lol: I know for sure it does it when you switch engine off after a run and then turn ignition back on. Will try cold in a minute. 8)

OK, Struan, you got us drooling with that good write up. :lol: Re the title, you should have excluded your wooly four legged friends, too, lest there be any doubts :? One lesson from your account? Get a good career in the oil industry. 8)

To check for HG failure, the following will help confirm: 1 - water droplets showing up against the oil on the dipstick 2 - dirty coolant in expansion bottle, with oily drops visible. 3 - Exhaust gases in expansion bottle - you may smell them or your MOT station can test for them with emissions tester, I believe. There are others that forum members will know of. I am talking from the experience of it happening many years ago to a Polo 1.3 when we were on the Isle of Arran. :( Never mind - AA Relay met us off ferry and took us and car to home at other side of Scotland . :D

Yes, I hear mine (newish) starting up with whirring and gurgling noises when ignition is switched on but engine not started.

Ah - "The Lothian Factor"! Those mince analogue dial readouts seem to be a pest around here, ReekieVR. :lol:

Re checking temperature values using VAG_COM. Dont really have experience of this tool. I expect there could be stuff for beginners somewhere using search, but I do not recall seeing anything over the years I have been on here. Also, will its price have come down for use with 1995 cars, anyone?

Thanks for that in depth post, kev. As I say, my water temp sits at 70 when doing 70-80mph in 5th gear on motorway run at this time of year. It does readily shift up to 80-100C or so in town traffic, though, and the fans do come on OK. Consumption 28mpg in town/plus a little A-road, and up to 34mpg on long run seems OK? Presumably my gauge is not accurate below about 90C? Chris Gaskell, on CCGB says, IIRC, VR6 takes around 12 minutes to get oil up to 80C - I have found this to be so myself.

Yes, flush it through from top hose and then bottom hose so flow has gone in both directions thro rad. You can check for blockage in heater matrix similarly.

Try and flush matrix with strong flow from hosepipe?

Halfrods? I have some 1970s vintage ars.... aerosols around, too. May put up a pic later. Mudflaps? Always had them over past 38 years and thought they were functional. However........................now....... Found a little rust starting on wheel arch edge 'cos of one and then thought, well....I dont go out in the rain and slush in the C :lol: so....ditch them. :shock:

Could be you have earlier model? We need an expert on Corrado history here, now. :lol: I have no experience of earlier fan control methods.

Much nicer diagram by Ford. Why are VAG so mince all too often? :( Ok, the bits I got were: 1 2 & 5 - (Ford 1032251 and 1032252) that should give you the three main bits of housing 4 6 10 (X3) 18 I did not replace thermostat but recommend you should (3) Hope this helps - it was a saga for me, too. I found Ford's service better than VAG's :shock: :? in that they could get parts next day, whereas VAG took two days.

I did not get all the Allan bolts, gogsboy, but you can use the old ones IMO as they are strong and the torque requirement is low. I ended getting my parts from both Ford and VW. I will give you a list when I have hunted them down. Regards Iain

easypops - I think Supercharged is talking about fan control module I happen to have pic. I believe the metal fuse he is referring to is the thing at the bottom of the black worm I drew. Incidentally, the 5amp fuse was blown on mine - it is for the auxiliary water pump, but IMO you would not experience serious problems if only it has failed.

These overheating problems on some VR6s intrigue me - and make me feel lucky, too. At 70-80ish mph (indicated) over many miles last week, my coolant temp was just below 70C constantly. It does go up to 100-110C ish max in traffic jams, though. Oil takes about 15 mins to get up to 80C and dont think I have seen it above about 115C. I have always given cooling systems good flush out (reverse flush, too) when changing fluid or having system in bits like last week. I would hate to think of fellow forum members chasing annoying overheating problems without first taking fundamental steps before throwing money at problem. Apologies to you if you have checked obvious first - am only trying to help.

Cheers, wiz. :afro: :lol: Re crack, etc. although I grew up in the 60s, like Jasper Carrott says, most of us would not have known the difference between cannabis and Oxo. :lol: