Roger Blassberg

On a similar line of thought; I once had a back box baffle come adrift and it blocked the exhaust flow almost completely but intermittently, with similar results to those that you report. Best wishes RB

Have you changed the pads recently? Maybe the anti-squeal shims aren't correctly installed or have corroded away, letting the pad just touch the disc. Alternatively, slight run-out of a disc caused by distortion or a bit of bearing play can let the disc touch the pad very lightly. As soon as you touch the brake, the pad moves up to the disc and the noise disappears. So, check the shims, the discs and the bearings. Best wishes RB

Look in the boot (the back panel) which should have a sticky label on it giving, amongst other info., the colour code. Alternatively, it would be on the first page of your Service Book together with the Chassis number and the engine number, transmission type and codes for upholstery and factory fitted options - it's a four digit code usually 2 letters, a number and finally another letter. That will tie down precisely the colour you need, assuming that it hasn't been resprayed in the past. Your paint shop can source the materials on that. To prepare and spray the door and blend in the adjacent panels, I wouldn't expect to see change out of £350, may be more if you need a new self-adhesive rubber trim and the door handle "gets broken" (no, no, it's alright, I'm no longer bitter about that...). I know a good place in St. Albans if that isn't too far for you. Best wishes RB I'm definitely with Henny; don't try it yourself. Unless you are a genius you will make a disappointing job of it.

It's a dash-out job - or at least it had better be; I've just paid for 8 hours labour to get mine done!! Best wishes RB

thanks for the explanation, Henny. What's a CAI ?(see original post). Best wishes RB

But please don't do both at the same time. I'm sorry if that sounds sarcastic, but people do funny things sometimes...... Best wishes RB

When you have finished with that problem, can I borrow it for a while? Best wishes RB

errr, pardon my ignorance please. What's all this about?? Best wishes RB

Check that you didn't rip off the wiring to the lambda probe when you went over the rough ground. I think that if you have jumped a tooth on the cambelt, you would notice more than a lumpy idle. Best wishes RB

as Kev said, it may be that those figures were reports of discrepancies from the normally-expected figures for compression. 1.2 bar is about 18 psi, which on a 94K engine wouldn't be unusual in my opinion. If it runs as well as you say, and doesn't use much oil, then it's probably ok. Pinking, also known as knocking, is a light high-pitched metallic sound from the engine, which indicates pre-ignition. You can't miss it, and is most likely to be heard under moderate to hard acceleration. It's caused by a number of things, such as using fuel of a lower than specified octane rating, carbon deposits in the combustion chambers, or over-advanced ignition timing. Your car will almost certainly have an ignition system which cannot be adjusted other than by the sensors in the engine, including the knock sensors. They detect the onset of pinking and send signals to the ECU to retard the ignition to a point where it stops pinking. If they are faulty or are incorrectly installed, it will pink. You need to attend to it at once because the pistons could be damaged otherwise. Get the wiring to the sensors and the through-bolt torques checked. If that doesn't do it, have the sensors changed. Yes, Corrados cost money to keep going but if well maintained they are appreciating in value, as opposed to the barrow-loads you lose in depreciation on more modern cars. Best of all, you get to meet such nice people on the forum !! Best wishes RB

Check the anti roll bar link hasn't broken. That makes a horrible cattering if it breaks and it can also rip the cv joint boot. Was the cv joint dismantled, cleaned and repacked with grease (hope so if the boot had split and vomitted its contents)? There's a chance that it wasn't put back together with the balls in their original slots, and the wearing surfaces don't match up any more. Best wishes RB

My VR6 idles a bit unevenly, and apparently so do those of others I'm a bit confused by your compression pressures. The pressures should be in the order of 9 -10 barg (bar gauge = pressure above atmospheric), around 150 pounds per sq. in. If those two adjacent cylinders are so far down compared to the others, I would begin to suspect that the head gasket is leaking between them. Alternatively you may have an issue with valves not seating or there is excessive clearance between rings and bores. Is there excessive oil consumption or lots of smoke under acceleration? Try squirting some oil into the offending cylinders and re-testing; if the pressures come up to the results of the others, it looks like bores. Are you getting any other head gasket symptoms, such as loss of coolant, oily water, watery oil (mayonnaise in the cam cover, emulsion on the dip stick), or excessive pressure in the cooling system? Even if not, there could still be a dry leak between the cylinders. There are 2 knock sensors on the VR, low down on the block near to the mountings, one front and one back. They are a bit of a bar-steward to get at. Check the wiring continuity and that the through-bolts are done up to precisely the right torque (15 lb. ft IIRC), otherwise they don't function correctly. You havn't mentioned pinking, so probably there is no problem there. Best wishes RB

Smiff, I'm in St.Albans. If you havn't sorted it by Saturday morning I would be able to meet to have a look. Best wishes RB

Thanks, all. Is there any word on re-setting the ECU ? Does it need to be done, and if so, what do I need to do ? I have the Bentley - is there a reference in there which someone could recommend? Best wishes RB

Fuel to the engine?? Is there a good squirt from a main injector during cranking? I had 2 GTIs, and both of them suffered fuel pump relay failure. Probably relay in position 2, (second from the left on the bottom row but one, ) also check fuse number 5. Best wishes RB

It's in a tin marked "Oil for hydraulic system and power assisted steering", part number G 002 000. Get all the red stuff out first by disconnecting the suction hose at the pump, (it's the shorter of the 2 hoses, the one that comes from the reservoir) start the engine and use the pump to evacuate the system into a suitable container, turning the wheel from lock to lock to get it all out. Reconnect the hose. Dispose of the fluid at your local recycling facility. The refilling is a bit tedious;fill the reservoir, start the engine, then switch off immmediately, repeat this several times making sure that you keep the reservoir from emptying by topping it up. Once the level no longer drops, start it up and turn the steering from lock to lock several times. Don't leave it on full lock Continue to keep the fluid level at Max. Once it has stabilised, you're there !! (instructions courtesy of an old Haynes manual on the Golf, but it's all the same, I'm sure !!). Best wishes RB

When I bought the car 18 months ago, the previous owner told me he had put a Superchip into the ECU at some time in the past, and together with the piles of documentation he handed over was the original standard chip. It looks as though it had to be unsoldered from the guts of the ECU because there is still some solder on the pins. Am I right to think that there will have been a chip holder installed to carry the modified item? I am getting significant pinking from the engine once it is warm, despite using Optimax fuel. The complete cylinder head is brand new and it's not over heating. There is no knock sensor fault reported on the 1551. I'm thinking that this non-standard chip is simply over-advancing the ignition, so I want to replace the original to see if that gets rid of the problem. The question is this; how do I open up the ECU ? And is it simply a matter of pulling out the Superchip and plugging in the standard item (which, you will remember, has some solder still on the pins? Finally, do I need to take any special precautions when delving into the ECU, like earthing myself and it to stop any stray potentials floating around and how do I re-boot the ECU (if at all) once it is all back together? Thanks in anticipation of your help. Best wishes RB

If that doesn't do it, make sure that the fluid in the reservoir is correct. It's not unknown for people to use Automatic Transmission Fluid which is red. The correct fluid is dark green. You say it's noisy - is that in the straight-ahead position or only on full lock? If in the straight ahead position, I would suspect the pump. Best wishes RB

Driver's side, low down at the front, it's a simple vee belt only drives the pas pump, outboard of the other ( ribbed ) belt which drives all the other ancilliaries. Best wishes RB

Relay should be 53, not 35. Have you put it in the right way up and in the second position from the right on the bottom row, directly above the fuses? Best wishes RB

I recall that some time ago I took the steering wheel off my MKII GTI, and got some of the insulating washers on in the wrong way round, and the horn didn't work. Have you had the wheel off? Also there is some sort of sliding brush connector behind the steering wheel to allow the horn connection to be maintained whatever the position. Maybe that's dirty or broken. If a wire has worn through, I would expect it to blow the fuse if it's earthing. Best wishes RB

Good news indeed !! That seems like a bargain price; did you you have the new plugs lubricated ?? My local specialist gave me one a plug lead detatcher (yes, GAVE), but I think they are available from VAG. Best wishes RB

smiff, my Bentley shows the horn relay in position 11 which is second from the right on the bottom row (diagram nr.97-3000, on page 29 of "Wiring diagrams", corresponds with detailed diagram on page 51) Slightly later cars have a relay marked with the number 53, still in position 11 though. It's a 4-pin relay with solenoid terminals 85 and 86, switched terminals30 and 87, 10 amp fuse in position 13. Hope that that is of help. Best wishes RB

Is the number you have quoted the number on the relay cover, or its position on the relay board? They do not correspond with each other. Are you looking in the Bentley? - if you don't have that, come back to me on the forum and I'll look it up tonight. Best wishes RB

That sounds nasty. OK, brainstormings are as follows; Is there a clear path past the remains into the combustion chamber? If so, I suppose you could bring the piston to TDC on the compression stroke (both valves closed)and push somthing like a small piece of cloth into it the combustion chamber to catch the bits, break out / extract the remains and then vacuum out the swarf. Fiddly, risky, probably complete and absolute b.s. given that it is all deep down the recess. On second thoughts, look on it as an opportunity to take it off and give the head an overhaul. It makes a big difference to the overall smooth-running of the engine, (and to your bank balance, I'm afraid) I've never heard of a plug shearing off like that. I wonder if there is a helicoil in there from a previously stripped thread, which has jammed the plug in. I do hope it turns out to be something unusual like that because I would hate to think that it's a run-of-the-mill problem, one which we might all face at some time. Finally, what is the accepted wisdom - should plugs be undone hot or cold? Linear thermal expansion coefficient of steel = 16 E-6 / K, and for aluminium = 23 E-6/ K. So Aluminium expands about 1.5 times more than steel and the tapped hole will expand relative to the plug as it gets hotter, relaxing its grip. So that's it - do it hot. Good luck, Kebabman Best wishes RB