deag

If you get nowhere with the ISV, check your dizzy too! Mine was eventually traced to that. Readings were fine most of time, but once problem developed, the readings went haywire. It seems my old one had a small oil leak from the head. deag.

Thanks guys, I'll have a look. deag.

When you say "won't idle" I presume it's cutting out? Does it drop instantly, in one go, or wonder around 1000 a bit, struggling to keep going? Also, do you notice anything further up the range? I had a distributor problem recently, that effected idle speed, as well as any other engine speed. deag.

How would I tell? Where is the sender switch?

Hi, At the possibility of opening a can of worms... I changed my engine coolant a while back. As far as I know, I did it by the book, replaced the anti-freeze to roughly 45%. But ever since, my water temps have been reading about 70 deg. for normal running. Oil temp seems fine (low 90s most of time). Recently, I was stuck in traffic on a sunny day, so both temperatures went up about 20 deg before cooling kicked in. However, water was always 15 or 20 degrees shy of oil. I can't figure why that should be! Could the sensor be offset? Any other suggestions? 1990 1.8L 16V engine. Thanks, deag.

cheers.

crewe. bentley motors, at the mo!

can't say for sure, but I agree with dunkus. springs and shocks are definitely tuned to weight, so it would follow they're not the same. I think G60s might be the same as 'valvers, but that's just hearsay!!!! deag.

4stud, could you drop some pics, or do a how-to? I've been meaning to do bearings for a bit, and would appreciate it! thanks, deag.

potatonet, what's the part numbers? I'll see if I can't find out if it's corrado specific or no. deag.

I rang my garage this afternoon, who tell me they reckon it's a distributor issue, because it's intermittant. They didn't seem right sure. Anyone recommend a decent VW garage in the area (cheshire)? thanks, deag.

cheers for the help. :) deag.

Hi, Long time no post! Up to now, that was mostly because I had no time to tinker, and corrado had been bobbing along smoothly. But no longer! :cry: :cry: It developed a fault on friday, whereby the engine irratically lost power, or struggled to maintain idle, back-firing when at high revs, and generally coughing and spluttering. On thursday night, I had just refueled, and put in 40 litres, the most I've ever filled. So my best guess is some crud in the bottom of my tank has been sucked up into the gubbins, and is obstructing flow (it's a '90 16V, and I think has a 45L tank). It fires up ok, probably because the pump has a chance to fill the lines. Then, after a few minutes (or sometimes seconds), the revs start to wander about, and generally it drops down to below 500, and sits there struggling. Intervention of the throttle gives a brief respite, but even then the response is late, and irratic... So I got it towed to a local garage, because I ain't got time to do anything more useful than curse alot right now. Any advice on what the likely cause is, and how it could be fixed? Is it just a matter of clearing lines, or could something like the pump or filter need replacing? Any help much appreciated :? thanks, deag.

Hi, Did pretty much this exact process on my 16V a while back, coolant levels all seem fine (just topped it up recently). But ever since the change, the water temp is reading around 70 (ie- it barely moves off bottom). It used to sit at about 90, as you would expect, but since my coolant renewal, something's wrong. Having read a few posts/threads on the topic of temp gauges, it seems this may not be uncommon. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks, Deag.

trev, by "tell-tale" I mean the green light on the switch. don't know if it's a proper tell-tale, but when I move my windows, it dims, so I presume that qualifys it. Follow the red wires back from the switch pack, one should join up with a black, green and brown (iirc), going across to the pass window. The second red goes off up into the column. Remove the cowl, and you should see where it goes in. Somewhere on this wire is a 20A fuse. If you haven't got similar wiring, post pics/description. Sorry for the delay, been out of the country for about a week! Jonester, See above description, you're looking for the same red wire into the column (that powers both window circuits). However, that's ONLY if your '92 VR6 has the same window circuit as the '90 16V. I'm sure someone more knowledgable will correct this, but I think you've a different circuit! Sorry. :? :? Deag.

don't panic. you've come to the right place. I'm on my first C as well ('90 16V), and the first thing I did was fix the horrid mess of window loom botch that was in my car. the red and blue wire is carrying the power for the telltale on the switch itself, not the actual power to the switch and then the motor. Take some pics, and pop them up here, as I don't want to explain everything to you, and then find it's retro-fit from something else (with different wiring). Must get on with that "how-to" I've been meaning to.... deag.

There's no relay. Follow a wire back, it's joined into another one in the steering column. what's your problem? deag.

had a look at mine over weekend. yes, I do have a delay circuit. :oops: I think now that it's as suggested, a problem with the circuit board on the unit itself. Took it apart, had a play, but it's not much better. A trip to two scrapyards revealed no likely donor vehicles. A Mk 3 golf had a similar looking unit, but with four wires, so I let it be. Any suggestions on where else the light unit was used by VW? Thanks, deag.

Steve, If you've a G-reg 16v, like me, there's no delay circuit (I think!). The light has a feed (red wire) and one return (brown wire, let's call it Return A), both of which run down the driver's A-pillar. If you look at the light unit, you'll notice a further return (this on mine has a block connector, and I presume should be used for the reading light and the "always-on" setting. Let's call this Return B), and there's a feed and return coming out of the connector, going left. This is to the pass vanity mirror light. Basically, the return for this circuit, Return A, goes to the driver's door switch, where it can earth, and from there also goes behind the dash to the pass door switch. So, if either door is open, there is a path back to earth for the light, completing the circuit, and the light comes on. However, mine is somehow finding an alternative path back. I think this is happening via Return B. If you follow Return B, it runs down the same loom, down the A-pillar, and onto a stud on the body (along with one or two others on the same stud), near the base of the A-pillar (remove the fusebox cover, and parcel shelf, get into the footwell and have a look!). Last night I found that if I disconnected Return B at this stud, now my interior light worked properly on the doors, but that also controlled the reading light, and the pass vanity mirror light! :roll: :roll: Bit strange that. So I think the wiring is wrong in these return circuits. I think basically Return A and Return B are wired up incorrectly at the light unit, or else the circuit board on the unit itself is shorting them. However, as you've a similar age 16V with the same problem, I'm beginning to suspect a mistake at the factory. Wonder if anyone else with a 16V on a G has had a similar problem. I plan to go to a scrappy tomorrow to get some bits, and will see if I can get a better idea from a similar passat or golf (assuming they've no corrados!). deag.

that could explain it then. that and cheap rubber on the aftermarket wheels, probably. what are the original wheels called? or even better, what's the VW part number? deag.

I have the same issue with a 16V. I've checked some of the wiring, the switches work, and make that return to GND an open circuit, which should make the light go out. But it doesn't. It's finding another way back. So I began ripping my trim off to follow wires. Man my car has been hacked about!!! Those same earth wires to the door frame have been used for stereos, speakers, god knows what, over the years! I'm slowly working the loom back to original, and I imagine that will cure the problem. But some of the wiring I've seen makes me cringe. Some people have no respect for good harness design!!! I reckon you'll have a similar issue steve, as Henry (or is it neil?!! :) ) has pointed out! Let me know if you sort it, and I'll do similar if I get there first! deag.

same henry? I did have a test recently, it was fine, needed a new balljoint on the bottom of the pass front upright. but I inspected things last night, it all looks ok. Rusty, but ok. Did all this while changing the wheels back to standard. After crawling to the nearest garage for air, drove home and couldn't believe the difference! It's like a completely different car. I was so pleased, I took it out again, and did some more naughty driving :wink: The high speed stability is there, the low and medium speed cornering is wonderful, basically, my car handles! Before it just crashed and banged it's way to understeer oblivion. So I'm quite pleased. But confused. The wheels I took off were 195/45 R16s front and 205/45 R16 rear, standards are 195/50 R15. The old wheels shouldn't have been that major a factor, unless the offset from hub to wheel centre was wrong. The old wheels were ET41, anyone any idea what the standard wheels are, or what the suspension is set up for? must say, I'm loving my C now!!! :lol: :lol: deag.

Henry, Neil, when you say "check" bushes, what will tell me if they're knackered or not? Plastic scoring? Oil on surface of rubber? thanks, deag.

I measured my ride heights, 340mm front and rear, so it's been lowered 20mm, or sagged some and lowered some. The wheels are my primary suspect at this point, they're 205s and I don't think there's a spacer been used, so the tyre centre will be inboard of where it should be, by 10mm (assuming it's 185s it was designed for and the wheel offsets are similar). Don, when you say "measure the wheels diameter", I presume you mean wheel and tyre!? I can imagine I'll be able to work out the camber angle from this, but what should it be at nominal? We've not got too technical just yet! :) What would be REALLY useful to know at this stage is what should be done when lowering a C by 20mm to maintain ride and handling integrity? As I mentioned, I suspect the wheels, but is there anything else I can check/discount (apart from front geo's, which I hope to get done this weekend). Thanks for the input so far.... 8) deag.

thanks henry. 360mm front and rear? thanks chris. deag.