Kevin Bacon

The VW gasket is a metal/rubber hybrid and can be reused providing the 'fins' aren't flat. Don't over-tighten the sump bolts. It's pretty much the sheer number of bolts that keeps the thing in place, they're done up to 11lb or something. Oh and do please check your sump for rust penetration because I could see daylight through mine when it was a stealth. Lucky Vince had a spare one! Also you might want to check the Engine speed sensor as it has an oil seal that can sometimes leaks. Oil leaking from there drips down the block and the creeps around the sump like blotting paper. Kev

Hmmm. The PRV is more likely to jam open or shut through neglect and/or a lack of maintanence than through oil choice. 3 cases is simply too few a number to come to that conclusion. You can check the water pump by freeing off the alternator belt (long 13mm bolt screwed into the hole in the belt tensioner) and spinning the pump by hand, looking for excess lateral play and impeller smoothness. If the car has done over 100K, then it could be the dreaded timing chain tensioners. Kev

The tappets themselves are Hydraulic and sealed so I guess that's what your man was referring to? Kev

a VR6??? lol! who'd want that huge lump of s****throwin the front end about?? for a decrease in power compared to a stage 4 G60, i don't see why'd you'd go through with a swap.... unless of course you've got $5k+ on top of the swap to work out a charger/turbo on that VR6, no sense in a swap, G60 has far more power potential vs. a NA VR6. there we go, that should balance out the bait posts. :D Only people that can't drive properly find the weight of the VR6's engine a problem 8) Kev

Can't go wrong with BBS. Good looking, Tough, light and last forever. I've only ever heard one complaint about BBS wheels and that is keeping them clean is a nightmare! How heavy is the RC compared to an OZ Crono Evolution, which for the 17" model, weighs in at 7.7Kgs, which is pretty light for a 17. I'm thinking of getting a set of 16" cronos because they look very similar to the stock Speedlines, which I like, and they weigh bugger all, which always helps with the handling and braking. I can then fit the Brembo conversion too. So much for keeping my car standard :? Kev

I personally would steer clear. Not only do 18s make the Corrado look like some kind of Noddy-mobile, they will be so darn heavy that when you brake, the wheels will stop and the bodyshell will fly off down the road. The de facto standards for MK2/MK3 based variants are:- 15" Overall, the best for comfort and handling but look small. 16" A good compromise between 15s and 17s 17" Can be harsh but make the car look best. 18" Don't even go there! MK4 variants swallow up 18s no problem because they were designed to take them. Corrados weren't. Kev

But you love it really! Corrados are like Golf. It's an infuriating game but ultimately very satisfying when it's going well. The desire to improve your game keeps you going back for more, and it gets worse before it gets better! I can't think of a single car, except perhaps Toyota Corollas, that don't have a list of common faults! Don't forget the Corrado shares a lot of it's parts with the MK3 Golf and Passat, and they also break in the same way. But oddly enough, the sunroofs on these cars seem to stand the test of time. But Rockwell international are to blame there, not VW. Kev

Well, VW do need a little cash to fund the development of new cars and the other 4% is for my wages! As for Ford parts - cheap on certain models. Vauxhall - !!!! £60 sodding quid for a 2.0 8V cavalier distributor cap!! And peugeot - French parts are really expensive for some reason, especially Renault and Renault now don't even list parts for cars older than 12 or 13 yrs old or something! Kev

In a word, yes. Having driveshafts running lower than parallel (car at rest and unladen) not only upsets the handling, it also puts more force on the CV joints and the brass cones behind the sprung loaded gearbox flanges. How low is the car? If it's between 30-50mm, the driveshaft won't hit the chassis rail (unless seriously laden) but if you've gone lower than 60mm, then yes the shaft will strike the chassis. Are you sure the noise is coming from the front and not just the rear exhaust box hitting the rear axle? Cheers Kev

You don't have to remove the dash as in removed entirely from the car, but you do have to undo the bolts at each end and behind the centre column and pull it forward a bit. This then gives you enough room to dismantle the main heating column, which the matrix is behind. Kev

3rd door handle??? How do you open your doors? Do you just grab the main handle and yank it open (like my girlfriend does :x ) or do you do what I do and that is to gently caress the handle, whispering sweet nothings into the keyhole and praying it stays together? Nah, seriously, I rest my thumb on the lock barrel part and gently open the handle with two fingers. This way you can feel if something is about to pop, unlike the first and brutal method. The only problem I've had with C door handles is a C clip falling off the back of a lock barrel and that and the barrel dropping inside the door. Nice one :roll: Kev

As always, the customer is left to do the graft and figuring out! I would apply but would probably get sacked for giving forum members a 95% discount of all corrado parts!! Kev

Did you change the top mounts when you fitted the lowered suspension? Could also be a ball joint, tie rod end, rear wishbone bush or if it's been lowered a lot, a driveshaft hitting the chassis rail. Kev

Sounds almost as good as my MKI golf 16V... Pull off (happily :shock: )in 3rd and at 20mph you can cruise in 5th! I think the 1600 gearbox that I was running in it was probably a bit too short geared! 20 -> 120+ without changing gear... Now that's my idea of relaxed! :lol: :lol: I used to have a MK1 16V. What a fun car! Mine was Mars red with black Borbet Cs. I did the conversion in 1996, which takes me back a few years :? . Engine was standard + Ashley 4 - 1 manifold and generated 156bhp. Acheived a 6.9 sec 0-60 at santa pod soon after, so it was pretty nippy. I used the standard 16V gearbox so it wasn't quite as flexible as yours! Kev

I'll swap you your 4Motion for my 5 speed Corrado VR6 :lol: For relaxed cruising and rapid get aways with the minimum of fuss, you need an auto, a big engined auto! I used to love my BMW 325i auto for rapid junction blasts......all you do is jump on the gas hard enough for the kickdown to activate and you'll pull away like a scalded cat, leaving manual drivers floundering behind. But for the ultimate tyre screeching get away - hold the revs in N at 3000 and then when the lights change, slide across to 1 or D and then floor it :lol: The box will die pretty much after the 10th time of doing that, but it's just one of those foolish things you do...... Kev

Dr_mat, you genius sir! You're advice was spot on mate. Car purrs like a kitten :lol: Consider yourself the Forum's official VR6 expert! And as an added Wednesday night bonus, removing the battery negative lead for half an hour has also injected new life into my flakey Clifford alarm. Top man.....and thanks. Kev

Can't you just try the old "Hi, it's Kev here from here... " trick ??? He he, shouldn't be difficult fooling VW...."Hi yeah it's Jim from Wolsey VW Ipswich Ltd, you know that TPS you sent Mr Hayward, well it's causing the car to idle at 1200rpm. We've done the ECU reset, checked the throttle angles and all is normal. What do we do next?" Does that sound convincing enough??? Kev

Same here. I've only just noticed my VR getting a bit pongy from that area too :? Kev

Stealth sell VT mounts. Turn2 products come from America only, AFAIK, but my gearbox one arrived a couple of days later and Turn2 help you out with import duty. Kev

Overheating? VR6? Can't see the correlation myself :lol: Seriously though, if you've got a 6 banger that overheats and isn't losing coolant, has no mayo in the expansion tank and the twin fans are doing their stuff, then pick from one of the following popular issues:- Water pump, an air lock, a jammed thermostat or a dead electric pump. A healthy VR will get up to normal operating temp (circa 85-90 deg) quite quickly and stay there all day, and perhaps move up to 100-105 when stuck in traffic for extended periods of time. When the temp reaches 107 deg, the electric pump kicks in, as do the twin speed radiator fans and do their best to reign in those temps. To see if the electric pump is working, simply switch the ignition on when parked up (engine off) and you should hear the pump whining slightly. So, to cut my massive missive down to something more bitsize.....if your temp doesn't go above 110 and you've got no leaks, weird rattles etc, don't worry about it. VR6s just run very hot, period. Kev

Yes but the rear ones don't cause the engine to hit the bonnet if they let go. And who has £140 x 2 + £100 for three VT mounts laying about? I have a VT front and a turn2 gearbox mount and the rear mount is standard and am perfectly happy with that configuration. Kev

Haven't tried that yet, will give it a stab tonight. If it is as simple as that, I'll owe you a few beers but I think there's something more fundamental at fault here and I suspect the internals of the new pot are different to the old one, but what confuses me is the new pot gives the right throttle position angles, so the ECU should be OK with it. At the end of the day, if VW are issuing replacement parts then they should be advising people they need shorter bolts and need to reset the ECU etc etc. I tried to speak to VW technical but they will only speak to dealers. Kev

Your optics are probably mis-aligned or broken. I noticed exactly the same thing with my dials but when I put the passat control panel in, I noticed the Corrado's optics were all busted and if you understand optical fibre, a break in the light path will cut off light transmission. Anyway, the Passat dials light up the same brightness across all 3 dials, but the colour is natural/orange instead of green. You can swap the Corrado green optics over but I didn't bother as the Corrado has orange lighting on the fogs/ABS/rear heater switches anyway, so kind of gels in. See my thread in the servicing section about later heater controls and the optics are behind the white panel on the dials. Kev

So long as the Corrado VR6 has healthy dampers and bushes, it will handle beautifully. VW's choice of spring rate for the VR is spot-on. Just a shame they aren't a wee bit lower. I've put H&R springs and Koni top adjustables on mine and already I'm hankering after my original setup. The H&R/Koni combo is very very good but the roads where I live are terrible and it's a bit harsh at times. Kev

Exhaust popping (or fuel explosions) is normally caused by a defective or missing over-run cutoff circuit. Engines need some way of returning the fuelling to base idle level otherwise the engine just acts as a big air pump blasting unburnt fuel into the exhaust. 16Vs do this by pulling the air metering flap down on over-run. VR6s (and AFAIK, G60s) control over-run shut off electronically based on measurements fed to the ECU from the numerous sensors. If not that, then your valves could do with regrinding as Bruno pointed out, but if your'e going to do that, you may aswell rebuild the whole head! Kev