fla

Just a thought Kev whilst you mention chucking some Slick 50 in jest (er who would really use that on anything apart from v low temp applications anyway?), i have a non-ptfe based lube (which i used to supply some years back) which doesnt clog up even at temperature. Maybe a squirt of that might help? Certainly makes contact surface super smooth and last absolutely ages.

Ok, so its ok to just disconnect the battery for half an hour? Mine was removed for most of the day on saturday, plus it had gone flat anyway. Should I do anything new to the TPS? Kev you're right hter are various codes etc and a procedure to reset it, i think its somewhere here in the forum. I've got a copy at home but am a bit wary of changing any settings, unless anyone has some good tips. Dr Mat?

Ah, forgot to mention that I haven't reset the Basic Settings after replacement of the TPS (thanks to Mr Haywire). I'll do that on VAGCOM in the next days. Maybe this will affect it too? What is the effect of simply disconnecting the ISV apart from a faster idle? If it is simply a higher tickover then all we are doing is burning a bit more fuel at rest i guess? But performance and normal use-wise is ther any effect?

Does this mean you will get no heat in the car if used?

I have just changed the coolant in my car and it gave me a good opportunity to clean up various parts of the engine. I've got aircon so the bay is pretty cramped to say the least. However, after cleaning some of the plastics and then spraying with some cockpit shine, the manifold etc looks REALLY terrible. I've gently used a wire brush on it but other alloy parts also look tarnished and dull. What have you guys tried to clean it up and polish it to make it look, well, smart. Not of course to A20Lee's standard (IMHO the smartest looking engine I've EVER seen bar none). BTW, cleaning the INSIDE of teh bonnet makes a hige differnce to the cleanliness of the engine, maybe because light bounces off it nicely. IIRC someone had a polished manifold for sale recently - who, how much etc?

Do you think spraying some light oil into the ISV would help at all Kev? And how do you get to the throttle butterfly? Also, silly question i guess (but just goes to show I'm learning my way around the car), where would the air leaks be and how do i test for them?

Oh BTW, Zarman, do you have any pics of your panel installed on the car as I cant make out what is happening on your pic further up the post? If you can also post some of the kit from the front and back to understand whats happening and a finished result I'm sure others would also find it useful. Certainly Lee would with his superduper VR.

That's a nice red. The ones I have on the digital displays are red on the verge of maroon, although the filter doesnt look that way. I've also replaced the green filter on the heater dials (rotary controls) with the same red filter and the colour is not that good. Plus it doesnt transmit to the two side dials. Seems like its LEDS as the way to go.

No bud, mines a VR and I dont know if there are any related recalls on it. I hope that the ECU is not the problem, but I'll try and VAGCOM it in the next days. Otherwise, any suggestions gentlemen?

Terrible now. When the car is idling and I open the throttle, to anything above 3000 rpm, on releasing the pedal it ALWAYS cuts out, unless i really control the throttle down to tickover. This I've only tested in the drive as i'm too scared to take it anywhere in case it dies on me without any tools. ISV was cleaned out with carb cleaner, but I didnt use any WD40 or the like to lube the body - is it necessary? Also how do I get to the throttle butterfly? My theory is that probably the ISV needs lubrication, and as Kev has mentioned above the butterfly may be gunged. I've wound the dashpot in about 2 turns but I havent checked it on VAGCOM yet. Didnt seem to make much difference though.

Found the drain hole and managed to access it with difficulty and flushed the system through with water. Ran the engine up to about 70C allowed to cool and redrained. Refilled with a nice new mix of G12+ so hopefully things should be OK. Bloody hard to access it because of the aircon. Anyone else with aircon drained the rad?

Zarman, where are those inside handles from? Look cool.

synth music - brilliant. Hence my taste for Depeche. Also Frontline Assembly, Covenant, Delerium. Sorry we're abit off topic now - ok, flush the rad with the heater on mid.

Err you may have to inlcude me in that too mate as looking at kevs age on the side he's a few years younger than me. Not too many of us old gits on the forum I guess? Long live Depeche Mode and 80s music.

Yes, and its one area that causes immense problems in a C.

Recently i suffered from the notorious "pulling to junction" stalls. I've cleaned out the ISV and checked the pressure of the dashpot against the throttle (increased it by one turn). As this is such a common problem, can the ISV be replaced by something else or a different setup? What is the setup in the 20V engines and can this be applied to the VR?

Coolant is blue and I'm replacing it with G12+ so i just wanted rid of all the old muck in the system. Dont think its ever been changed and the previous owner just topped it up so i dont know what kind of mixture there is there. Plus there was a hissing sound under the left side of the dash (another thread of mine) when the cooling fans trip in (at about 100C) which I am hoping to isolate. Does it help to keep the heater on full to remove coolant from the matrix (obviously after the car has been run and water circulated in the system)?

I'd be interested in seeing those pics too. Remember the other problem with the C controls is the light diffusion is also supported by the black cover on the dials, so if this is too far away from the crystal acrylic inside (even a few mm) there will be reduced light to the outer rings. In theory its and efficient system but in practice, well we know the resutls. Also, there is an awfully large amount of black plastic around so it looks even dimmer. I might spray my console matt silver in the summer to lighten things up a bit.

Just a though chaps, what do you think is the feasibility of flushing the radiator (engine switched off)by removing the thermostat, closing the thermo housing and flush water with a hose from the bottom inlet hose to clean out any crap? When the engine is cold the thrmo is closed and wont permit any circulation through the radiator. If you just remove the top hose and flush through (engine off) the water just drops down the side runner of the radiator and doestn enter the tubes. I'd be interedted in comments here.

Not too smelly is it?

I also need the side bit for the backrest. Cant you just use some foam from an upholsterers and cut it to an approximate shape? This should be held in position by the cloth and frame i would guess?

where did you get the leds from (with the built-in resisitors?). BTW, clocks are quite easy, just drill out the bulbs and fix in your resisitor containing leds. I had to wrap teh leads around the connector as you cant solder on to it. AHving said that, if you want to change the coulur to red, just change the filter - much easier and you get a good colour. I changed mine to blue (bummer of a colour to work with) but as I have a combo of blue and red I wish I had used red instead.

I'm using the Halfords Mclaren stuff - quite good at cleaning the leather but needs a fair amount of elbow grease, whilst exercising due care. No leathery smell though, in fact it smells quite pathetic. One section on the seat back bolster (dont kow how best to describe it!) has actually worn through to suede - any ideas on a repair? I've got some leather off-cuts which I can cut to a circle but the colour is slightly different. Has anyone used any leather dyes plus resin to seal any cracks/splits?

I havent done the mirror ones yet - how difficult were they and any tips? Otherwise looks cool. Well done. Now you just need to do the clocks!

Good tips -cheers. I'll have a look this weekend. Can't really today as it's my son's 4th birthday and he'd kill me if I forgot and played with the C instead!