Roger Blassberg

I wonder if it's associated with the auxiliary water pump whirring away. Do you have air conditioning ? Maybe something there. I suppose that the driver's door problem is related to age rather than mileage. It sounds like hinge pin trouble. If you lift on the latch end of the door when it is open, does it rock on the hinges? I think that these have to be drilled out, but not certain on that one. 49k miles eh? Welcome, O Lucky Man!!

...if you imagine a vertical cross section through the rim, offset is the distance between a vertical line through the face of the wheel (where it mets the drive flange) and the centre line of the tyre. The steering and suspension behaviour is altered if you go too far away from the standard value, which is expressed as a number in mm. A reputable dealer will know what the standard value should be and advise you accordingly. Obviously the actual diameter of the wheel and its width are expressed in inches, just to confuse matters by mixing units of measurement. The letter in the width designation, eg "J", refers to the cross-sectional profile of the rim. You should be aiming to achieve a total rolling diameter (wheel + tyre) about the same as the original, otherwise you will alter the gearing and the speedo accuracy. Best wishes RB

Yes, me too. But what a difference. The old Corrado Tax seems to alive and well and living in Milton Keynes and it pains me to be exploited, but when she's howling along there's a contented feeling if the genuine article is in place. Best wishes RB

Just got off the blower from my local supplier, Murray MacDonald in Hatfield, Herts Chains, tensioners (not Mk4 type, made by Febi Bilstein or similar) about £80, clutch (LUK) £84, all plus the stealth tax. I expect there are a few gaskets, fasteners, plus the ever - popular "consumables" involved as well. Are these manufacturers' parts of good quality? I would rather not have to do an encore performance in the near future. These costs pale into insignificance, even when adding in 10 hours labour, compared to the full - house replacement engine. Best wishes RB

That "new engine for £1 750" rumour is beginning to sound more and more attractive. Best wishes RB

Phew ! That's a relief !!

Yes, I rather thought that it might..... Time to sell the children into slavery. So it may be top and bottom tensioners and chains, plus a new clutch. Maybe a gearbox rebuild too as it has next to no synchro on 1st, is reluctant to go down into 2nd and whines in 4th. Best wishes RB

Thanks Kev, Of course the $64 000 question is, "Can the top pad be replaced with the gearbox in situ if it is found to be on its last legs, or is it just the bolt that is easily servicable?" Best wishes RB

Firstly, apologies to those who must have answered this many times before. What is involved in inspecting/changing just the top timing chain tensioner? I think I understand that it can be done without dropping the gearbox and clutch. There is also a lack of clarity in my mind about the use of Mk 4 parts; the car is a '94 VR. Can anyone help me with a list of parts required and their numbers? Advice on the advantages and practicality of using the Mk4 tensioner would be gratefully received. Vince at Stealth had a listen a couple of weeks ago and said that it was not at all noisy, and my local specialist had a look last year when the top end was renewed, but I want to have a look-see myself in any case, particularly as recent threads have stated that wear is not always obvious merely by listening. Thanks for your help. Best wishes, RB

Is it by any chance stuck on or near Maximum? Mine did that a few weeks ago and then recovered itself completely after I refilled the tank from about 1/4 full. If it is the voltage regulator - yes, there is one -, the water temperature gauge will misbehave as well. Best wishes RB

Well, I bought new rotors from VAG, and true to form they didn't advise me about the covers. What's the matter, aren't they in business to sell spare parts - and what happened to professional integrity? Yes, I know, at this stage in life I should understand the inadequacies of others, but I've rarely come across such a crowd of sour-faced and plainly dis-interested incompetents. I feel better now, thank you. Best wishes RB (Grumpy Old Man, but paying customer nonetheless)

Kev, did you ever find out what that spare bit was in your series of photos of your new rear discs the other day - the part that looked like a spacer? I'm about to do mine, so it would be good to know. Best wishes RB

It sounds like a broken wire or two in the loom where it goes through the bellows in the doorframe - when you open the door and it straightens out, the contact is re-established. Or maybe some sort of fault associated with the cabin light microswitch which is operated by opening the door(s). Best wishes RB

Does anyone have a view on what are sensible losses for transmission, ancilliaries (with and without a/c compressor running), tyre rolling resistance etc on a standard VR? Thanks in anticipation. Best wishes RB

Oh no!! I've seen more opinions on this than I have had hot dinners and I'm rather confused. Needless to say, a call to the Technical Advisor at VAG elicited no recommendations at all other than to have the car regularly serviced. Mine runs oil temperature of 116-118 deg when driving, a little higher in traffic. Water temperature is about 90 deg when moving along but goes up to 105 in stationary traffic, especially in the summer. Both fans are working and at all speeds. Is there an oil cooler kit which anyone could recommend - I assume it would have a thermostat incorporated. Best wishes RB

If you had a new head only relatively recently, I would doubt that it's leaking valves or weak/broken springs. A head gasket is also most unlikely unless you have seriously overheated it or have failed to keep the corrosion inhibitor concentrations to specification. I would most strongly agree with the others; don't let them take it apart without a second opinion, and get a leak-down test to confirm the low pressure. If it's going as well as you say, there's no rush, irrespective of the reputation of your spanner man. If you have a four-figure sum to throw around, by the way, I'll PM my bank account details :lol: Best wishes RB

Kev, looking back in this thread, you say that new rings entail a short engine rebuild. If it's just broken or worn rings, cannot they be renewed into re-honed bores? And cannot the block be overbored with new pistons if the bores themselves are worn? I know that the 2.9 block is already 1mm overbored - is that the limit of reliability? Comparing a 30mph head wind when driving home at 70mph, with the same wind as a tail wind when you came to work, the aerodynamic drag is over 6 times as much !! At 25 deg C. ambient temperature, your engine will produce about 5% less power (10 bhp) than at 10 deg C., all else being equal. It makes a big difference. Best wishes RB

Was any reason given for the previous head-gasket failure? Was the head checked for flatness, and was any work done on the valves/springs? There may be a residual problem there. But, and I think it's a big but, you seem to have no evidence of a problem other than one opinion on compression pressure. All of us get "off days", which can be caused by a tank of poor quality petrol, disadvantageous atmospheric conditions such as warm low pressure air, even just a strong head wind!! Mine has done 173,000 miles. After the head replacement and in standard trim, it gives 191bhp on Vince's rollers, uses about the same amount of oil as yours (including a very minor oil leak) and feels good and strong. Moral: there's plenty of life left in a VR at 108k. Best wishes (to all including the new arrival) RB

How many miles on the engine? Is it using a lot of oil? Smoke after a long over-run usually means valve guides or valve stem oil seals. If the scraper rings are gone, you'll get blue/grey smoke with power on. I do hope it's either the head gasket, or maybe a leaking valve. If the compression pressure comes back up temporarily after a squirt of oil into the relevant cylinder, then it's probably rings/bore wear; if not it's most likely gasket or leaking valve Just for information, a new head, complete from the block upwards and including cams and followers, was £750+vat exchange, from VAG this time last year. A lot of money, but a bargain for a total renewal. You save a lot of labour charges as well if you go in this direction, and you can forget top-end problems for years to come. My total bill, including the above, was £1600 incl.vat. Best wishes RB

The piston winder is for the rear calipers - I don't believe that the pistons in the front have the recess for the winder and in any case they just slide straight back in. Take the opportunity carefully to wipe any dirt off the side of the piston before it is pushed back through the dust seal. Fit the caliper back to the carrier without the inner pad in place and lever it against the disc gently but firmly using something made of wood or hard plastic. Then, undo it again and fit the new pads. Make sure that the fluid level is not above the MAX mark once the job is finished, otherwise you will loose the red light warning when the pads wear down next time causing the float to drop below the pre-set level. Finally, re-set the pads by pumping the pedal a few times before you drive away; my sister crashed into a lamp post when she drove away immediately after her (ex !!)-husband had not done so. :shock: Use white grease for the rear spoiler, apparently available from Halfords. Best wishes RB

It sounds as though a baffle in the exhaust is loose, and is partially restricting the flow. Give the silencers a shake and listen for evidence. Best wishes RB

The popping and banging on the over-run may be caused by a split flexible bellows in the downpipe. This could upset the lambda probe, and ultimately the cat, with all that that entails. A new downpipe isn't desperately expensive, but is a bit of a bar steward to fit. Best wishes RB

.......not to mention your CV joints and your front spoiler. Best wishes RB

The buttons for mine are to the right of the steering wheel, below the light switch, because the position shown in the photo (above) is occupied by the seat heater controls. The ABS light is as per the photo. Incidentally, the HRW switch doesn't light up any more; is there a bulb in there or do I have to buy a new switch? Best wishes RB

I get 5 litres of Silver for £10.95 from my local supplier; even the VW retail is only about £16 which isn't too bad. I use this in my Passat. For the VR, I use Magnatec, about £12 for 4.5 litres from the Cash and Carry ; any feedback on that particular oil?? Best Wishes RB