jonrb

I think I might just get one of those crappy cassette adaptors and then use my personal MP3 player for now. Not a very elegant solution, but will be less hassle than making a decision on what head unit to buy. :) Turns out the CDX-F5550 can be bought on-line for £118, so the £104 I can get it for isn't such a stunning bargain after all anyway.

I have the opportunity to buy a SONY CDX-F5550 for £104 all-in, which seems like a good price. Totally legit - I do some work for Sony and they are kind enough to give me staff discount in their on-site shop. It looks ok and has the main feature I want, which is CD / MP3. Is it any good, and would it be a straight swap fit for the ageing standard-fit SONY unit in my '96 Corrado VR6? I'll probably need to make a decision pretty quickly as they are flying off the shelves somewhat. There were probably 8-10 on the shelves yesterday and today there are two. :shock:

Well, you learn a new thing every day. I've had my '96 Corrado VR6 for 9 years and I never knew you could change the colour of the display on the standard Sony head unit. Guess I should have read the manual really. :oops:

Thanks Ady It is sorted now - turned out to be the Engine Speed Sensor had indeed failed and the ECU got confused and buggered the Hall Effect Generator into the bargain so both have now been replaced. Unfortunately it was expensive, although I had quite a bit of other work done at the time. Cheers Jon

Now you tell me :D Well, I'm sure my engineer tested that. He's pretty trustworthy.

I've just had a call from my engineer. Seems that the Engine Speed Sensor was indeed buggered, as was the "possibly good" one that Reggit gave me, and the Hall Effect Generator was also U/S. Both now replaced and running well. The car has failed its MOT on "excessive play in the brake pedal" which is very likely the master cylinder. So that will probably need replacing too. :( However, that is the only thing it has failed on. The rear axle bushes were indeed completely shot as were the rear bump stops. They've now been replaced. So the car is almost there. :)

I've just had a call from my engineer. Seems that the Engine Speed Sensor was indeed buggered, as was the "possibly good" one that Reggit gave me, and the Hall Effect Generator was also U/S. Both now replaced and running well. The car has failed its MOT on "excessive play in the brake pedal" which is very likely the master cylinder. So that will probably need replacing too. :( However, that is the only thing it has failed on. The rear axle bushes were indeed completely shot as were the rear bump stops. They've now been replaced. So the car is almost there. :) --

Thanks Ady, but I am indeed sorted now. Well, kind of anyway. Reggit sent me his "possibly good" one and it made no difference and then a very nice RAC man recovered the car to my indie where the car now is. He hasn't come up with a firm diagnosis yet but is leaning towards the coil pack, which is a bit of a bummer as I only replaced it in December 2003. :( Cheers Jon

I'll have to look into that. The invoice has a generic warranty declaration of 12 months / 12,000 miles (whichever comes sooner) and the work was done 24/12/03 I can't see any other mention of a warranty on the invoice, unfortunately. :(

Funnily enough I was talking to my indie today as to how he was doing my car and he says his investigation is leaning towards the coil pack. This is a bit annoying, frankly, as I only replaced it with a brand new genuine VAG item about 15 months ago. :(

Hope you get it all sorted out, Reggit. Having exhausted my own knowledge on my own car, I can't really offer anything else other than moral support. I presume you've checked all the usual suspects like coil pack, ignition switch, fuel pump, the little black box under the dash that has something to do with ignition (technical, eh?), fuel relay, ECU relay, ISV, etc.? Have you thought of a health check on your alarm / immobiliser? Perhaps your alarm system is immobilising the car?

The Engine Speed Sensor you sent arrived today, Reggit. Huge thanks for that and you are surely a candidate for Top Bloke of the Month for not only giving it to me but not accepting anything towards the £4.25 it cost you to send either. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have done the trick. :( The engine cranked over a little sluggishly, so I have put the battery on charge, but from experience the engine should have caught under normal circumstances so I'd say I'm 80% certain it hasn't fixed it. :( Still, I'm no worse off than when I started. The car is still going to my indie on Sunday ready to have work done on Monday and I'll just have to return to Plan A of having it recovered there rather than under its own power. Ho hum. :(

That would be great. Even if it only gets the car running intermittently then it will a) prove it is the sensor and b) enable me to drive to teh car's appointment with my indie on Monday rather than having to have it recovered there. I'll PM you with my address. Cheers! Jon

Indeed. Unfortunately I've already cleaned mine (quite how cleaning a sealed solid-state electronic device can cure anything is beyond me though). I'm hoping that Ady_G still has the one he bought in error (or the old one if the new one is on his car) and am hoping to try that.

Did you get it sorted in the end? Sounds like EXACTLY the symptoms my VR6 is currently exhibiting so I'd be particularly keen on learning what your fault turned out to be. :)

Hi Ady I take it that the new Engine Speed Sensor was fitted and you decided to leave it on? In which case do you have your old (used, but evidently still working) one and could I make you an offer on it please? I'll try emailing you directly as well. Cheers Jon

Thanks for the information - much appreciated. My car had Koni top-adjustable dampers and H&R springs fitted in October 2000 and the car has done about 48k miles since then. I'm not planning on replacing the suspension at this point but I do think the bump stops will need replacing by now. If the front bushes aren't going to make a huge difference I'll just leave them for now and just do the rear axle bushes and rear bump stops, since I don't think I've ever hit the front bump stops but regularly hit the rear.

Hi folks My Corrado is handling like a bit of a dog at the moment, and since to my knowledge it hasn't had any of its bushes replaced for years, I think some new bushes may be in order. :) What should I replace? Rear axle bushes and bump stops would seem to be a must as far as I can make out, but what else should I do? From looking at the ECP and GSF websites I've so far identified the following: 1. Rear axle bushes (as already mentioned) 2. Rear bump stops (likewise) 3. Front wishbone inner front bushes 4. Front wishbone inner rear bushes 5. Front ARB droplink lower bushes 6. Front ARB end link bushes (or are these the same as 5?) Are there any others? And which ones should I replace? Thanks in advance Jon

That was a limited offer, unfortunately. According to their website: GSF Car Parts are offering FREE CARRIAGE on WEBSHOP orders totalling £50.00 + VAT until 31st March 2005.

True. I'll give you that one. :D

£24.80 + VAT at ECP and £21.50 +VAT at GSF. ;)

Well, I've had the car up on the trolley jack and axle stands. I hope I chose the right jacking points - I chose the rearmost part of the lower wishbones where they bolt to the car. The 5mm allen bolt was seized solid and WD-40 didn't shift it. However 3-in-1 Pentrating Oil Spray (ooer) and a suitable extension to the allen key for leverage did the trick. As soon as I got the sensor off I knew that cleaning it wasn't going to fix it; it looked brand new with just a tiny bit of oil on it. I cleaned it anyway and reassembled and sure enough the car still failed to start afterwards. :( I decided to test for spark the traditional way whilst I was at it - spark plug out and on the HT lead and held near or against the block. No spark. I had a sniff for petrol but couldn't smell any so I may or may not have fuel. Inconclusive on that, but conclusive on lack of spark. I think I'm going to have to get it recovered to a local garage to be fixed. I know there's a guy in Fleet who does Alfas and VWs, and I know that White's service centre is in Aldershot . I've also heard there's someone in Farnborough who mainly air-cooled VWs but does others too. The only trouble is that I have an MOT due on Tuesday (05/04/05) and I have a failed N/S/F ABS sensor (which would be an MOT failure) so I'd need someone to do it all. My RAC cover will take the car to any garage within a 10 mile radius, so covers all of the above. I'd best start doing some research. :(

Thanks for that. I'll get the car up on the trolley jack and axle stands on the weekend and have a go.

Thats encouraging. And if it as easy as that then I may clean it on spec. I have a trolley jack and axle stands, although the car is lying on a gravel / peddle drive at the moment which always worries me with jacking. How would one clean the sensor? Electrical switch cleaner? WD-40? Carb cleaner? Does anyone have a picture of it so I take off the correct thing?

Well, the probe was long enough. It was a bugger to get the socket onto the spark plug though as it is so recessed. I had to Gaffer tape a small tent peg to it in the end, and then it was easy. When I turn the key into the ignition position, the bulb glows very briefly. When I then turn over the engine I get nothing - not a glimmer. I was going to test the tester in a "known good" situation by trying it on one of my other cars, but they have even more inaccessible spark plugs than the Corrado! However, I think the fact the bulb glowed briefly means the bulb works (and it wasn't it blowing because I tried it several times) so I'll make the assumption that the tester is ok. So, does that give anyone anything more to go on? All help appreciated - I've reached the end of my own knowledge.