Roger Blassberg

This may seem obvious, but.......... The gasket has steel washers in it where it goes over the studs. Make sure that you remove the washers with the old gasket (i.e. don't leave them behind) otherwise the gasket will not seat properly. It shouldn't need any sealant if you carefully clean both machined surfaces. Don't over-tighten the nuts. DO tighten the nuts as you would a cylinder head, that is to say working from the middle outwards and in a progressive way. One or two of the manifold screws will be rather inaccessible and can be quite tight, being steel into aluminium. I found it easier if you release the front engine mounting and jack the engine up a little to give more clearance over the slam panel. If you get new manifold screws from VAG, make sure that you also get new washers; you can't get the washers off of the old screws! Make sure that you stuff rags or paper temporarily into the lower inlet manifold stubs and drape a cloth over the cams and chain whilst working with the cam cover off; you don't want to go dropping bits and pieces down into the bowels of the engine. Best wishes RB

Give the car a good run before you drain it to get the oil as hot and as thin as possible. Undo the side filler plug first, then the drain, so that the oil flows easily; otherwise it gloops out and splashes all over the place. The faster it flows, the better are the chances that any residues and metal particles will wash out. Take care not to scald yourself with hot oil. The oil has a peculiar smell by its nature, that's quite normal and not an indication that anything is wrong. Best wishes RB

I did the seals without taking the front off, (with air conditioning). Maybe release the front engine mount and jack up or down as required. Its a fiddle, but possible. Best wishes RB

Hasan, diagnosis at a distance is rather difficult, but it's worth a go. If it slides but only in increments, I must say that it sounds as though the panel and/or cables are binding somewhere; I assume that the motor drive unit has some sort of cut-out to prevent overloading the unit if the roof itself gets too stiff to slide easily. I beleive that there is a thread on here somewhere that tells you how to lubricate the sliders and cables. Best wishes RB

More news on this. I was playing around with the sunroof again and it failed in the partly open slide position. So had to wind it closed on the key, and then remove the motor to see what was going on. The motor was clicking when switched but not turning and I thought I had broken it. Again. With nothing to lose, I decided to open up the drive unit. If you take out five screws, (see them in the picture further back) the various gears are exposed including the worm drive on the motor spindle. I took out the idler gear which takes the drive to the cable pinion and also to the regulating mechanism, and then plugged the unit back into the electrical connector for the sunroof; "hey-presto", the motor still turns, so that is not at fault. I then replaced the idler gear and ran the unit through 2 open/close phases for each of slide and tilt, but NOT connected to the sunroof itself. This ensured that both the motor and the sunroof were coordinated with each other. Finally, it was all re-assembled, and it works perfectly. Somehow the motor controller was out of synchronisation with the position of the sunroof. The moral of the story is that if your sunroof drive unit fails, it may respond to the treatment I have just described. Best wishes RB

Don't know, I used a borrowed 30mm socket which was fine for the minimal torque needed. Best wishes RB

Just done this on my Passat ABF engine, (which, incidentally, your diagram looks like rather than an 8V G60 engine - be aware of the possible differences). I took off the inlet manifold because the top bolt of the 3 on the elbow was very difficult , even completely impossible, to get a hexagon wrench onto with the manifold in the way. The plastic elbow had broken up internally around the seal groove, and the seal itself was totally useless. The mating face on the head was caked in lime deposits and needed thoroughly cleaning up with a plastic scraper and very fine wet and dry paper - all this would have been impossible to do properly with the manifold in place. Best wishes RB

To put this to bed, it's 29mm. And not at all tightly done up (which should have been obvious to me if I had thought about it - screwed as it is into a very flimsy radiator shell). All is well again for the princely sum of £12. Best wishes RB

It is at least partly due to the weather. You know what it's like when you get into the car on a sunny day? It's just like that under the bonnet, only much worse. It knocks the top off the engine's performance as well, (hot air, less dense, less oxygen per cubic centimetre). Those aren't silly temperatures by any means, easily within the reliability limits of modern oils. Best wishes RB

Thanks David. It's just that it seems as though the hexagon is rather shallow and close to the face of the radiator. (You are quite right of course about "Being a Boy Scout", about this and measuring it myself). Best wishes RB

Anyone know the size of the socket needed to undo the radiator temperature switch? Best wishes RB

Thanks Hasan, as an aside, we should get together again now that I am finally back on the road with the VR. Best wishes Roger

Any thoughts or advice on my second question - does it do Basic Settings? Best wishes RB

I'm considering getting an "Interface" (that is, something that you and I know as a cable!!) to enable me to use VCDS-Lite. Has anyone any recommendations as to which one to get? Does it enable me to do Basic Settings? Thanks Best wishes RB

If the disc is warped you will feel it through the pedal and any noise would be intermittent on-off-on-off etc. Check the caliper slider pins are clean and shiny - if the caliper is not free to move back after application the pad may just be touching the disc making a light grating noise; as soon as you touch the brake pedal there is a proper pressure on the disc and the noise stops. Best wishes RB

Just to close this, after having dismantled and rebuilt the caliper and bled out the system, the problem has disappeared. I have new front hoses but not yet fitted them, so I have a spare set to put on sometime. The other good news is that I now have a brand new MOT and can drive the car again, after nearly 4 years off the road. It's like falling in love again with a long, lost girlfriend!! Thank God that I didn't get rid of it when I bought the Stype R. New timing chains, guides, tensioners, all cooling system plastics, clutch, tyres, refurbed Speedlines, complete discs and pads all round, all brake pipes and most flexibles. Thoroughly cleaned interior (electric leather Recaros), spic and span engine bay. Just a few minor bodywork imperfections to sort out now. Even Mrs B has shared my enthusiasm and pleasure, so maybe she can stay after all (I'll leave it to you to guess which one I mean........). A "Good Day" !!!!! Best wishes RB

The nearside front is the offending one; it failed on both ultimate stopping force and on rate of rise of pressure. Rears were balanced on both criteria. As originally stated, discs are brand new with no corrosion, and the pads are new too. It seems to be a hose issue based on your comments. Thanks RB ---------- Post added at 02:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:22 PM ---------- David, on your comments, I did give the discs a good going over with brake cleaner on both faces. The pads were straight out of the box. I didn't get a chance to give the brakes a proper bedding in as the car is neither MOT'd or taxed but, as you say, the lack of bedding in would be reasonably equal. As above, I'll put new flexible hoses on and go from there. Best wishes RB

I took my VR (with 288mm front brakes) for its MOT, and it failed on out of balance braking with the nearside showing lower pressure. The pads and discs are brand new, and the calipers and sliders are not siezed. I dismantled the "offending" nearside caliper yesterday, and there is no sign of corrosion in the bore or on the piston, the piston moves easily and the slider pins are bright, polished, greased and straight. The dust seal is in good order and properly located. There is no binding - the piston releases properly. The flexible hose appears to be ok, no bulges or damage, and flows ok when bleeding. Obviously I have bled the system. There is no pulling to one side under normal, moderate braking. ABS seems to be functioning, the light comes on and then off. Anything else that could cause this? The car has not been used for the past few years, but I have replaced just about everything as detailed above. Best wishes RB

I have replaced the lower balljoint on the nearside of my VR6 - and of course didn't mark the position of the old one ..... The camber adjustment seems to be wildly positive on that side (Top out, bottom in). Obviously it needs to be reset accurately, but as a starting point I want to get it a bit more sensible. Is it simply a question of undoing all three bolts on the locking plate, jacking it up and firmly supporting the car, and then manhandling the roadwheel and hub, out at the bottom/in at the top, and then tightening the bolts back up?. If not, what?? Best wishes RB

I must say I struggle with mine, and had assumed that this was "just one of those things". But now I'll have a look and see if a bit of judicious relignment will make it easier. Best wishes RB

Depends what you want. A 57mm caliper piston will give 11 percent more braking force than a 54mm piston at the pad for a given pedal force, at the expense of a longer pedal travel (because you have to shove more fluid down the pipe to move the larger piston). Think of it as a lever - the longer the effort end moves, the greater the force at the load. I'll get back to you on the identification marks - I have a B4 Passat (I assume with 57mm 288mm calipers/discs) and the VR Corrado with Golf Mk3 GTi 288 setup. Best wishes RB

I hope that you haven't torn the headgasket (where it stands out unprotected by the timing cover) when the tension went onto the wrong side of the chain. If it did, you'll end up with an oil leak. I too think it highly unlikely that you have bent a valve just by turning it with a spanner. Best wishes RB

I always screw the filter drain plug back into the platic filter bowl before applying the 36mm socket to undo it; it reinforces the bowl and lessens the risk of cracking it if it had been over-tightened last time. Also, check the condition of the o-ring on the filter drain plug. Best wishes RB

Other sources of leaking water in that area are the small hoses to/from the oil/water heat exchanger above the oil filter and the various plastic parts and o-rings around the thermostat and transfer pipe. To be honest, I would not put radiator sealant into the system; some of the waterways are barely adequately sized even at the best of times and any further restriction is not going to be in your long-term interests. Best wishes RB

It has been said before, but is worth repeating; undo the filler plug before you undo the drain plug. Firstly, you want to make sure that you can indeed refill the gearbox before you end up with no oil in it, and secondly it makes the oil run out much more quickly and easily.. Fill to the brim of the filler plug with the car on level ground. Best wishes RB